Sinixt

The Sinixt band were the original inhabitants of the area around what is now the West Kootenays in British Columbia, Canada, and part of the northeastern part of what is now Washington State in the United States of America. The Sinixt have a convuluted history as they were declared extinct by the Canadian government in 1956, but in actuality, still exist. No such declaration of extinction was ever made official in the United States. This had led to several problems with the Canadian government since, including the implentation of the Columbia River Treaty, which, by terms of the treaty, flooded several tradtional Sinixt graveyards.