The Northwest Territorial Imperative (often shortened to the Northwest Imperative) is a white separatist idea popularized since the 1980s within white nationalist and white supremacist groups in the United States. According to it, adherents of these groups are encouraged to relocate to a five-state region of the Northwestern United States — viz., Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Western Montana (or the western part at least to Interstate 15). Northern California, northwest Colorado, Alaska, British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon, and Northwest Territories are sometimes also included. The intent is to eventually declare the region an "Aryan" homeland.
The primary proponent of this idea was Richard Girnt Butler (1918–2004), leader of the Aryan Nations. A secondary supporter was Robert Jay Mathews (1953–1984), who lived in Metaline Falls, Washington and advocated further colonization of the area along with David Lane who wrote a fictional short story advancing a form of the idea titled KD Rebel. The current exponent of Northwest Migration is Harold Covington (b. 1953) of the Northwest Front.