Canada’s highest court has given developers the green light to build a 6,250-bed ski resort on land considered sacred by an indigenous community in British Columbia, in a landmark court case that pitted religious rights against the controversial project.

The case centred around a proposal for a year-round ski resort on the site of an abandoned sawmill in south-eastern British Columbia. Plans for the Jumbo Glacier Resort include as many as 23 ski lifts, a gondola to ferry visitors into the soaring mountain peaks as well as accommodation for thousands of overnight guests.

The project met with stiff resistance from the Ktunaxa Nation, whose traditional connection to the land stretches back millennia. For hundreds of generations they have revered the area, which they call Qat’muk, as home of the Grizzly Bear Spirit.

The community worried that development would drive away the spirit – who figures prominently in their religious beliefs – turning their prayers and ceremonies into empty gestures. They pursued the issue in court, arguing that the destruction of their sacred site was a violation of their religious freedom.

Some in the community drew parallels with manmade places of worship such as churches or temples. “I wouldn’t even get through the gates if I was to show up at the Vatican with plans for a resort,” Joe Pierre said in an interview for a 2015 documentary against the backdrop of the region’s rugged, snow-capped mountain peaks. “It’s preposterous, right?”

The case was dismissed by several courts in British Columbia before arriving at the supreme court of Canada.

In a decision released on Thursday, the supreme court ruled that the project could proceed on the grounds of public interest. The majority of the judges found that the community’s freedom of religion had not been breached and noted that it is not the state’s duty to protect the Grizzly Bear Spirit.

“Rather, the state’s duty is to protect everyone’s freedom to hold such beliefs and to manifest them in worship and practice or by teaching and dissemination. In short, the Charter protects the freedom to worship, but does not protect the spiritual focal point of worship,” the ruling noted.

While two judges agreed that the project interferes with the Ktunaxa’s religious beliefs and practices in a way that is “more than trivial or insubstantial”, the court said that if it were to side with the Ktunaxa, it would “effectively transfer the public’s control of the use of over fifty square kilometres of land to the Ktunaxa.”

Doing so would enable the community to dictate the use of the land, setting a precedent that could run counter to public interest. “A religious group would therefore be able to regulate the use of a vast expanse of public land so that it conforms to its religious belief.”

The developers had made efforts to accommodate the Ktunaxa’s concerns, the court added, noting that plans for a recreational area and ski lifts in areas frequented by grizzly bears were removed from the project.

The Ktunaxa Nation said on Thursday that they were disappointed by the decision. “With this decision, the supreme court of Canada is telling every indigenous person in Canada that your culture, history and spirituality, all deeply linked to the land, are not worthy of legal protection from the constant threat of destruction,” said Kathryn Teneese, the Ktunaxa Nation council chair.

“We’re not opposed to people experiencing that place, we’re not opposed to people going there,” she added. “And I want to make that very clear – we’re not saying it’s off limits, we’re just saying it’s off limits to development.”

Those managing the project said they welcomed the decision but were not overly surprised, given the previous rulings by lower courts. “In our view it would have required a significant change of thought in order to overturn the lower court rulings,” said Tom Oberti, vice-president of the Pheidias Group.

While the government of British Columbia gave its approval to the project in 2012, he was unsure of what the timeline of the project would be. “Basically we’ve been on standby and now that there’s a decision, the board of Glacier Resorts needs to take steps forward.”

Canada celebrates 150 but indigenous groups say history is being 'skated over' Read more

The decision comes amid Canada’s fledgling efforts to confront its historical mistreatment of the country’s indigenous population, a reality acknowledged by the country’s highest court on Thursday. “We arrive at these conclusions cognizant of the importance of protecting Indigenous religious beliefs and practices, and the place of such protection in achieving reconciliation between Indigenous peoples and non-Indigenous communities,” it noted in its ruling.

Teneese of the Ktunaxa Nation said the court’s actions failed to lived up to this promise. “Reconciliation is more than words, it is actions,” she said.

Lawyers for the Ktunaxa noted that the ruling made no mention of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which highlights the obligation of states to protect places of spiritual importance. Canada signed on to the declaration last year.

She pointed go the court’s argument that their decision was grounded in the public interest. “Are we not part of the public? Are we something so separate that our views need to be in another box? I would hope not. I would hope that’s not what this country is about.”