Press release:
All of the following information has been gathered from the Unist’ot’en website, the Unist’ot’en Legal Fund page summary, and timeline details from the Instagram account @gidimten_checkpoint. We did our best to bring together the talking points that have been put forth by the people themselves but encourage you to go directly to these websites to educate yourself further on the situation and what you can do to show solidarity.
In 1997, the Delgamuukw Supreme Court Case was a landmark decision recognizing that aboriginal title is not extinguished in the areas claimed by Wet’suwet’en and Gixtsan. Wet’suwet’en traditional territory spans 22,000 square kilometres in northwest B.C. west of Smithers. Coastal GasLink/TC Energy is pushing through a 670-kilometer fracked gas pipeline that would carry fracked gas from Dawson Creek, B.C. to the coastal town of Kitimat, where LNG Canada’s processing plant would be located. LNG Canada is the single largest private investment in Canadian history.
Each clan within the Wet’suwet’en Nation has full jurisdiction under their law to control access to their territory. Under ‘Anuc niwh’it’en (Wet’suwet’en law) all five clans of the Wet’suwet’en have unanimously opposed all pipeline proposals and have not provided free, prior, and informed consent to Coastal Gaslink/ TransCanada to do work on Wet’suwet’en lands.
The Unist’ot’en Clan is one of five clans that make up the Wet’suwet’en Nation. Unist’ot’en Camp, located on Dark House territory of the Gilsehyu Clan and directly in the path of the intended pipeline, has been a beacon of resistance for over 10 years. It is a space of Indigenous sovereignty dedicated to healing, reconnection to the land, revitalizing cultural identity, and an active example of decolonization.
In January 2020, Coastal GasLink/ TC Energy accessed the territory at gunpoint, following a court injunction, using militarized RCMP forces. In February, the invasion advanced, seeing land defenders arrested, Chiefs denied access to their land, and matriarchs arrested at Unist’ot’en while in ceremony for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The world witnessed the violence on unarmed citizens (in the presence of elders) despite the RCMP’s attempts to create an “exclusion zone” and shut out all media from the events.
Considering the current COVID-19 pandemic, any pipeline workers brought into Wet’suwet’en territory put the community at risk. COVID-19 is causing a global pandemic that’s sending shock waves across the world. We’ve already seen that COVID-19 is in the LNG Canada man camp. Meanwhile Coastal GasLink (TransCanada/TC Energy) is still working in these territories, despite British Columbia declaring a provincial state of emergency. CGL is continuing to bring transient workers in and the workers are not practicing social distancing. Furthermore, the construction of “man camps” increases the risk of violence towards Indigenous women, children, and two-spirited people.
The Unist’ot’en remain steadfast in their refusal to let fossil fuel infrastructure be built across the land. CGL/TC Energy continues to violate environmental regulations and destroy archaeological sites that are sacred to the Wet’suwet’en. Coastal Gaslink has no consent from the Hereditary Chiefs whose territories would be permanently desecrated by the project.
#AllEyesOnWetsuweten #WetsuwetenStrong #ReconciliationIsDead #ShutDownCanada
unistoten.camp
www.yintahaccess.com
actionnetwork.org/fundraising/unistoten2020legalfund/
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