Tribal chairman disputes property claim

The chairman of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation said Tuesday that a “notice” published in The Star last week by Lola Campbell warning that she intends to take over a dwelling in Canada owned by the Arrow Lakes Aboriginal Society, has no legal force or effect.

“This ‘notice’ is based on the false premise that the Society’s Vallican property in British Columbia was purchased for the Campbell family,” Chairman Michael E. Marchand said. “The fact is that the property was purchased for the benefit of all Sinixt people, and Ms. Campbell has no right whatsoever to be on the property.”

The Vallican Property was purchased in 2001 by the Arrow Lakes Aboriginal Society, which holds title to the land and its buildings, a press release from the Colville Tribes said Tuesday. That society’s board of directors is made up of the members of the Colville Business Council, which determines who may enter the property and reside there, the release stated.

The tribal news release said members of the Campbell family did reside on the property for a time, but “they have long abandoned it.”

More recently, a resolution of the CBC, the governing body of the tribes, identified persons allowed on the property, in part because of recent trespassing and vandalism of the house. That resolution states that Ms. Campbell is not authorized to be on the property, the tribal release said.

“The Vallican Property is of tremendous cultural importance to all Sinixt people, and the Society intends to vigorously resist these false claims of exclusive possession, which are simply intended to harass and intimidate the people who have been given official permission to be on the property,” Marchand said. “Her claims have no legal force and will not be honored in any court. The property must remain available for the benefit of all Sinixt.”