The Struggle Against the Black Snake on Wet'suwet'en Yintah
On the Front Lines of "The War within Canada’s Borders"
Wet'suwet'en tribal members have become "intruders" in their traditional territories in the eyes of the Canadian government. The bridge crossing the Wedzin Kwa, the life-giving river of the Wet'suwet'en people, has been turned into a military checkpoint as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) "defend" the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline from water protectors. On November 18, 2021 more than a dozen people, including Indigenous land defenders, a photojournalist, and documentary filmmaker, were arrested at gun-point in Wet'suwet'en territory.
They were at the Coyote Camp, set up by water protectors on the Morice River Forest Service Road, a main access point to work sites and camps for the CGL - A $6.6 billion liquified natural gas pipeline which will run for 416 miles across northern British Colombia (BC). Approximately 120 miles of pipeline stretches through unceded Wet'suwet'en territory - Land that was never "legally" signed over to the Crown or ratified by treaty with the Commonwealth of Canada.
The camp was established to stop CGL's plans to drill a tunnel for the pipeline under the Wedzin Kwa - A river so pure people can drink directly from it. On November 14 members of the Gidimt'en Clan - One of the five clans of the Wet'suwet'en Nation - Along with other clans and supporters served an eviction notice to CGL. The elected band council of the Wet'suwet'en have approved the CGL, and this forced "consent" is what the RCMP is using to justify their military campaign against water protectors, but the band council are the result of colonial law imposed on First Nations in Canada.
Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs, who oversee the management of all traditional lands, have categorically rejected the CGL. The band councils are the result of a racist law known as Canada's Indian Act, imposed more than 100 years ago to try and dictate every aspect of the political, economic, and infrastructure development of First Nations. In laymen's terms, CGL greased the palms of the Wet'suwet'en band council, gaining their "consent" - Without ever consulting the hereditary chiefs whose approval CGL never would have gotten!
* Photo via Unist'ot'en Camp
RCMP Arrested Dozens of Water Protectors and Journalists
November 18 Injunction Served Against Water Protectors Described as "Rescue Effort" by Authorities
Early in the morning on November 18, 2021, Gidimt'en water protectors and journalists at the remote Coyote Camp (near CGL pipeline "man camps") were served an injunction by the RCMP - The police brought dogs, assault rifles, and chainsaws with them. Gidimt'en spokesperson, Wet'suwet'en supporting chief, and leader of the counter-pipeline movement Sleydo' was among those arrested. One of Sleydo's last social media posts read: "They are breaching the door with an axe and have k9 units!!"
Another camp lower down the Wedzin Kwa or Morice River, known as 44 Camp, also had a small structure burned to the ground on November 18. "Water is Life" and "No Consent" banners hung from cabins, but there were no people, since all of the water protectors had been jailed in Smithers, BC. In all the RCMP arrested 29 people, part of an ongoing government-sanctioned effort to enable the construction of CGL through unceded Wet'suwet'en yintah or land.
The hereditary chiefs of Wet'suwet'en - Whose authority is recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada - Have made repeated efforts to evict the pipeline's owner TC Energy and subcontractors from the territory. On November 14 after CGL was issued an eviction notice from the Gidimt'en clan of the Wet'suwet'en, which TC Energy chose to ignore, water protectors used a CGL construction vehicle to demolish a segment of road leading to the "man camps"! The company hadn't even told pipeline workers they were being evicted by the Wet'suwet'en.
Meanwhile TC Energy was scheming with provincial authorities and the RCMP, who sent dozens of officers from outside of the area to raid the multiple camps, after establishing an "exclusion zone". The area has been off limits even to Wet'suwet'en, whom the territory rightfully belongs to, since November 18. CGL is seeking conditions that would bar Sleydo' from returning to her home on Wet'suwet'en territory, where she lives with her family, and whose husband was arrested despite not being actively involved in recent blockades. CGL has also challenged the First Nation status of Sleydo' and another tribal member, a strategy designed to keep water protectors out of the area, deemed "completely racist and sexist".
Jennifer Wickham, media coordinator for the Gidimt'en camp, said in a press release: "Allowing a private corporation to determine two Indigenous women's identities and allowing the corporation to deny our inherent rights to be Wet'suwet'en on our territory is a very dangerous precedent."
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Penticon Indian Band, president of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, said in a statement: "By dragging us through court and using injunctions against us, our Indigenous rights are being violated and are being given less consideration than climate-destroying corporations."
Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs also released a statement: "RCMP should be assisting flood victims and communities, not out invading our Territory and arresting our peaceful people and supporters," referring to devastating floods in BC, which left 18,000 Canadians homeless. Some water protectors were released the next day on Saturday November 19, but the rest were transferred to Prince George Regional Correction Centre for the weekend, with court proceedings beginning Monday November 21. Reports indicate all water protectors were released by Tuesday November 22, with Sleydo' being allowed to return to Wet'suwet'en territory, though she was barred from coming within 75 meters of pipeline construction.
Justice Marguerite Church of the Supreme Court of BC said this was an "acceptable compromise", having heard CGL's arguments to ban Sleydo' completely from the yintah, for consistently encouraging protesters to interfere with CGL's construction. The judge warned Sleydo' that if she violated the order, the next order may be more "stringent" - Implying she would follow CGL's recommendations. "This injunction doesn't take into account Wet'suwet'en law," Sleydo' responded. "I can't go freely on my territory... we're going to challenge it to the full effect that we can."
*Photo credit Brandi Morin/Al Jazeera
Unist'ot'en Healing Centre
"Exposed to the Light"
Fearless leader of the Unist'ot'en camp Howilhkat - AKA Freda Huson - Did not appear to be particularly bothered by recent events. The morning after the 11/18 raid, Howilhkat and other matriarchs were processing moose meat at Unist'ot'en camp calmly, despite the recent chaos and helicopters circling over for the past week. "All I know is it won't last," Howilhkat said. "[CGL] will be their own demise because you can't keep going on with evil and corruptness - It's going to be exposed into the light."
Howilhkat has compassion for her oppressors. "[The RCMP] are here protecting industry because their pensions are invested in it and the governments have to pay back every one of the investors," she said. The board that oversees the RCMP pension funds invested heavily in CGL's parent company TC Energy. Howilhkat has been doing this for a long time, opening the Unist'ot'en camp in 2011, when pipeline companies first began threatening the Wet'suwet'en yintah.
The Unist'ot'en camp is affiliated with the Tx T'sa Wilk'us of the Giseyhu (the Dark House of the Big Frog Clan), which is one of few territories within the yintah currently unoccupied by settlers. Howilhkat's father told her the only way to bring back the culture was to re-occupy traditional territories, so once the sacred water of the Wedzin Kwa was found to be safe enough to drink, she made the Unist'ot'en camp her life's work. "We were wondering why our own people weren't standing up beside us," said Howilhkat in the documentary INVASION.
"All the ones that are standing up - All of the females in my family - We've done a lot of healings in our lives. We've gone through the same trauma as everybody else on our reservations, so that's the reason why we're able to stand up - Stand up against what we know is wrong. That's how we identified other people aren't able to stand up because they're still stuck in their trauma," said matriarch Howilhkat.
In 2015 Unist'ot'en began construction of a healing center on their homelands to fulfill their vision of a culturally-safe healing program, centered on the healing properties of the land. The program combines the healing power of the land, with facilities for treatment, workshops, dining, and living. "We decided to build this healing centre to bring our own people out here and bring healing to them spiritually, mentally, physically," said Howilhkat, "and use this space to make our people strong."
*Photo credit: Amber Bracken/Al Jazeera
* Click here to watch a brief introduction to the Unist'ot'en Healing Centre!