Last Updated on April 22, 2026
A First Nation in British Columbia has filed a lawsuit seeking to reclaim lands it says were improperly taken more than a century ago by a federal Indian agent and members of his extended family.
The Dzawada’enuxw Nation (formerly Tsawataineuk First Nation) filed the lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court on Jan. 26, targeting roughly five square kilometres of land at the head of Kingcome Inlet, including an estuary and lower portions of a glacier-fed river valley. The lands lie on the mainland opposite northern Vancouver Island.
The lawsuit names the province of British Columbia, the federal government, forestry company Interfor, and the Nature Trust of B.C., which currently hold the lands in fee simple.
The B.C. Ministry of Attorney General said it could not comment because the matter is before the courts. But Interfor commented that it has had “longstanding and ongoing discussions” with Dzawada’enuxw First Nation and is not engaged in any forestry operations on its fee-simple land in Kingcome Valley.
A spokesperson for the Nature Trust of B.C. also commented, saying the lands it holds are protected under provincial and federal law and must be conserved in perpetuity. Approximately 484 hectares of those lands form part of a conservation area that provides habitat for migratory birds, five species of Pacific salmon, and other wildlife.
The Dzawada’enuxw lawsuit advances a legal argument that builds on a landmark 2025 court decision involving the Cowichan Nation. In that case, the court recognized the Cowichan Nation’s Aboriginal title over a portion of their ancestral lands in what is now Richmond, B.C.
The Cowichan decision was widely praised by Indigenous leaders but raised a host of concerns about the implications for private land ownership.
According to court filings, the Dzawada’enuxw trace their claim to events beginning in the late 19th century, when the province was allotting Indian reserves.
In 1879, Indian Reserve Commissioner Gilbert Malcolm Sproat outlined a reserve for the Dzawada’enuxw that included nearly all of the Kingcome River mouth, including the lands now in dispute. At the time, the area contained Indigenous houses, food cultivation sites and burial grounds, the claim says.
However, when the land was formally surveyed in 1887, the reserve that was ultimately set aside was significantly smaller and excluded the lands at issue, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit alleges that by the late 1880s, Indian Agent R.H. Pidcock encouraged settlers to acquire land in the Kingcome Valley. One of those settlers was Ernest A. Halliday, whose brother, William Halliday, later served as Indian agent for the region from 1906 to 1932.
The claim alleges that while acting as Indian agent, William Halliday witnessed a series of Land Act declarations that facilitated the transfer of Dzawada’enuxw lands to settlers. The lawsuit further alleges that both brothers benefited from forestry development in the valley and lobbied the province for additional settlement.
By 1914, the Dzawada’enuxw say the Crown’s failure to protect their lands resulted in the destruction and desecration of an ancient burial site.
The First Nation says it has protested the alienation of its lands for more than a century, including the loss of access to burial grounds and lands used for cultivating and harvesting timber.
The Dzawada’enuxw are asking the court to declare the disputed lands “Indian Settlement Lands,” a legal designation that, if granted, would not automatically transfer fee-simple ownership to the First Nation.
Such a declaration would, however, strengthen the Nation’s position in any future claim for Aboriginal title.
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