Call to Action: Solidarity with the Unist’ot’en

UUMFE
Photo source: Indigenous Climate Action
Photo source: Indigenous Climate Action

A post shared by Indigenous Climate Action:

Wherever you live, on Turtle Island or beyond, we need you to take FIVE MINUTES to send emails RIGHT NOW to tell the provincial and federal governments, RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police], and industry: they do not have jurisdiction on unceded lands.

Emphasize the following three points:

1) The TransCanada Coastal GasLink pipeline does not have the collective free, prior, and informed consent of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs. All the Wet’suwet’en Clans have rejected the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

2) The injunction and enforcement order ignores the jurisdiction and authority of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and feast system of governance, and criminalizes land defenders.

3) Demand that the provincial government, federal government, RCMP, and industry commit to upholding the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Anuk Nu’at’en (Wet’suwet’en laws), and that NO RCMP enforcement against Unist’ot’en/Giltseyu-Dark House take place on their unceded lands. Reconciliation and respecting UNDRIP means that Unist’ot’en not be made another Oka or Standing Rock.

EMAIL LIST TO SEND SOLIDARITY MESSAGES:

coastalgaslink@transcanada.com
bcrcmp@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
RCMP.HQMediaRelations-DGRelationsmedias.GRC@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
john.horgan.mla@leg.bc.ca
AG.minister@gov.bc.ca
EMPR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
ENV.Minister@gov.bc.ca
IRR.Minister@gov.bc.ca
melanie.mark.mla@leg.bc.ca
shane.simpson.MLA@leg.bc.ca
mcu@justice.gc.ca

More Context:

From an editorial blog post on thevolcano.org:

On Friday the 14th, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church issued a temporary injunction granting Coastal GasLink, a subsidiary of TransCanada, the go-ahead to proceed with development for a future LNG pipeline on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory, stewarded by the Unist’ot’en. The Unist’ot’en are a clan of the Wet’suwet’en people. Since 2010, Unist’ot’en has been blocking the road to access Wedzin Kwah / Morice River Bridge to continue work on Coastal GasLink’s 670-kilometre pipeline that would send natural gas from Dawson Creek to LNG Canada outside Kitimat. The particular defendants from Unist’ot’en have been named as Freda Huson and Warner Naziel.

The temporary injunction comes into effect on Monday, December 17th at 3:30pm and will remain in place until May 1, 2019.

…

Unist’ot’en Camp was constructed in 2010 to reoccupy the traditional land of the Wet’suwet’en people and is the site of a holistic healing lodge. When interviewed by Star Metro, Chief Na’moks said that “the Wet’suwet’en will continue to oppose the pipeline and occupy the healing lodge, where many adults and youth go for spiritual guidance and cultural connection.” The Unist’ot’en have until January 31, 2019 to file a response to the permanent injunction and there is no other work for the pipeline scheduled for the area until June 2021.

From the Unist’ot’en Camp website:

The Unis’tot’en (C’ihlts’ehkhyu / Big Frog Clan) are the original Wet’suwet’en Yintah Wewat Zenli distinct to the lands of the Wet’suwet’en. Over time in Wet’suwet’en History, the other clans developed and were included throughout Wet’suwet’en Territories. The Unis’tot’en are known as the toughest of the Wet’suwet’en as their territories were not only abundant, but the terrain was known to be very treacherous. The Unis’tot’en recent history includes taking action to protect their lands from Lions Gate Metals at their Tacetsohlhen Bin Yintah, and building a cabin and resistance camp at Talbits Kwah at Gosnell Creek and Wedzin Kwah (Morice River which is a tributary to the Skeena and Bulkley River) from seven proposed pipelines from Tar Sands Gigaproject and LNG from the Horn River Basin Fracturing Projects in the Peace River Region.

Updates

  • Dec 18, Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN News) – “Unist’ot’en camp in B.C. still in place, while different clan sets up new blockade outside of injunction zone”
  • Dec 17, from My Bulkley Lakes Now – “Clans Join Together to Block LNG from Unist’ot’en Territory”

    After a judged approved an injunction against the Unist’ot’en for blocking the Morice River Bridge, other Wet’suwet’en clans have stepped in.

    The blockage has been moved onto Cas Yika territory, a member of the Gidimt’en clan 44 km before Unist’ot’en territory.

    Molly Wickham, a member of the Gidimt’en clan, said the five clans of the Wet’suwet’en are banning together to protect their territory.