Coast Salish Oppose Actions by B.C. Métis Federation: FNLC Stands in Solidarity

September 25, 2024

(xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.) The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) stands in solidarity with the Coast Salish peoples and fully supports their Statement of Solidarity in Opposition to the B.C. Métis Federation (BCMF).

The Statement, endorsed by 45 Coast Salish Nations, bands, and communities, is an unprecedented show of unity in defence of Coast Salish laws, ancestors, names, and histories.

We join the Coast Salish in denouncing the claim recently filed on behalf of BCMF by their legal counsel Olthuis van Ert, and the ahistorical and deeply offensive assertions made in it. The claim represents a threat to any First Nation in what is now known as British Columbia whose territory BCMF erroneously asserts is home to the “Pacific Northwest Métis” and their so-called “communities”.