On June 23 at 12 p.m., Revelstoke Railway Museum is hosting “We Are Still Here: The ‘Extinction’ and Return of the Sinixt Brown Bag History Talk.” This virtual brown bag discusses the “extinction” and return of the Sinixt people in Canada. Part of the National Indigenous Peoples Day event series, this talk is free of cost.
Laura Stovel, author of Swift River, and Cathy English, curator of Revelstoke Museum and Archives will team up at the Revelstoke Railway Museum for this Zoom presentation.
In 1956, the Canadian government declared the Sinixt people “extinct.” However, they were actually pushed out of the upper Columbia River valley by railway development and the establishment of Revelstoke. despite playing a major role in railway exploration and construction.
The talk will discuss Sinixt history, the actions that pushed the Sinixt people out, and the efforts made by the Sinixt to return to Canada. The court case of Rick Desautel will be highlighted. In 2010 Desautel, who is an American citizen and ancestral member of the Sinixt tribe, won a court case against the Canadian government for exercising his right to hunt in British Columbia.
To find the Zoom login information, visit the official event website or Facebook event.