The Sts'ailes (Halkomelem: Stsʼaʼí:les), also known as Chehalis (/ʃəˈheɪlɪs/ ⓘ shə-HAY-liss) are an indigenous people from the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada.
[1] The band's name community is located on Indian reserve lands at Chehalis, which is on the lower Harrison River between the towns of Mission and Agassiz.
The Sts'ailes do not participate in the 1999 framework Treaty process with British Columbia, citing the need to establish cultural identity and to be stewards of their ancestral homeland.
Salmon fishing rights have been a point of controversy, which reached a climax in 2012 when the provincial government sued the Sts'ailes council for operating an illegal fishery.
Chief Harvey Paul argued that the salmon stock had been faithfully managed by the Sts'ailes for millennia, and that the illegal fishery was both hearsay, and the result of provincial mismanagement.