Wet’suwet’en Resistance
The recent RCMP raids of Wet’suwet’en land defenders in northwestern British Columbia have left many Canadians shocked and angered. The RCMP are justifying their operation as an enforcement of a BC Supreme Court injunction to clear resettlement camps and allow Coastal GasLink to carry on building a natural gas pipeline. Canadian Dimension stands in solidarity with all movements for Indigenous self-determination.
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Might is not right: a historical perspective on coercion as a colonial strategy
The recent outpouring of support for the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and their supporters indicates that many Canadians are no longer willing to sit idly by while their governments and police forces ignore legal rulings and violate the rights of Indigenous peoples. Meaningful reconciliation will require Canada to have the courage to switch strategies, trading coercion and violence for nation-to-nation negotiations and diplomacy.
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Is reconciliation a peaceful process?
On the international stage, Canada portrays itself as peaceful state; however, the reality is quite different for our Original Peoples that remain in a colonial grip. Words have a history. Words from the past have the ability to colonize the present. Words shape and create reality. “Reconciliation” is a concept that requires an investigation, given Canada’s ongoing genocidal colonial past and present.
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RCMP invasion of Wet’suwet’en Nation territory breaches Canada’s ‘rule of law’
Canada is not a country that follows the rule of law. Canada makes and breaks laws to suit its own economic and political interests, which run counter to those of Indigenous peoples. It is time to be honest about it, and call out Canada as an outlaw, and take action to support the Wet’suwet’en Nation, who have occupied their lands since time immemorial.
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True test of reconciliation: Respect the Indigenous right to say No
The right to say no is the core of any future relationship with the Canadian state and its citizens. It’s a basic right — one which is grounded in our sovereignty as individuals and Nations to decide for ourselves the life we wish to live. Canada has made it clear we have no right to say no, only an obligation to say yes. First Nations leaders and citizens should not wait to see how this plays out in court – they should assert and defend their right to say no now.
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Pacification by pipeline
The framing of TMX as vital to the national interest, and further cloaked with a national security rationale, could make infringement all the more compelling. At the same time, it provides the justification, within Canada’s legal framework, to take measures to prevent opponents from disrupting Canada’s imagined energy future by defining them as threats to (future) national security.
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Colonial past, colonial present
Any real learning and change has to be a bit discomforting, painful even. There is a need to listen to Indigenous voices and visions, to those who have been wronged, and to try and address and redress those injustices. Of course, this has implications for the ballot box come October, but far more importantly, it has implications for how each of us lives our lives and acts together to decolonize these lands.
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Injustice at Unist’ot’en
Our best hope for justice and sustainability in Canada lies with communities like the Wet’suwet’en nation, who take their relationship and responsibilities to their lands and waters so seriously that they will risk all they have to defend it. Our hope also lies with the many Canadians respecting and actively supporting the rights of these Indigenous communities to take care of their territories.
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Sierra Club Canada Foundation statement of solidarity with Wet’suwet’en
Sierra Club Canada Foundation stands in solidarity with peaceful actions taken to support of the legal jurisdiction that the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs’ hold in their traditional and unceded territories, where the Coastal GasLink pipeline is slated for construction without free, prior and informed consent on their lands.
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Defend unceded Wet’suwet’en territory against the RCMP and the BC NDP
Courage Coalition condemns the silence of the corporate media in the face of suppression. There must be freedom for journalists to provide the public with timely reports on RCMP activities. The decisions of the NDP-led BC government and the federal Liberals violate Canada’s constitution, break the spirit and letter of UNDRIP, and violate Wet’suwet’en law, which is still in effect on their traditional territories.
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The Council of the Haida Nation stands in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en
As a sovereign nation, the Wet’suwet’en have the right to live in balance with their lands and waters. The Haida Nation calls upon the Canadian Government to uphold its commitment to Indigenous peoples, reconciliation, and UNDRIP by meaningfully recognizing and respecting Wet’suwet’en authority to make decisions on projects that impact the wellbeing of their people and way of life.
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Putting the RCMP raid on the Wet’suwet’en in historical perspective
Despite Canada’s promises to strengthen its “Nation-to-Nation” relationship with Indigenous peoples, the events in Wet’suwet’en territory confirm that Canada remains committed to its “might is right” approach. History shows us that this is a losing strategy. Meaningful reconciliation will require Canada to switch tactics, trading armed police and military invasions for negotiation and diplomacy.
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Wet’suwet’en: Rule of law?
The situation in Wet’suwet’en territory is a complex one. Too often important parts of the story get lost in the public debate. I did my best to to highlight some important points that are not well understood, particularly by those who are citing the “rule of law” as justification for the injunction enforcement that has taken place, and the arrests and removals that were a part of that.
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Greenpeace statement on arrests of Wet’suwet’en land defenders and solidarity protesters
“Over the past five days, we’ve seen people from all walks of life take to the streets, blockade ports, occupy government buildings and even interrupt rail service across the country in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en people, who are being forced to put their lives on the line in an effort to protect their territory and their rights.”
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Social conflict is inevitable in decolonization battle
If there is to be peace on Turtle Island, Canadian governments will have to go beyond superficial words and gestures and take substantive action to address our rights. Until then, if being Indigenous, protecting our lands and waters and exercising our Aboriginal and treaty rights means we are breaking Canadian laws; then we need to continue to be “criminally Indigenous” for the sake of our future generations.
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The legacy of ‘Oka’ and the future of Indigenous resistance
Though many Canadians saw the events of that summer as a “crisis,” to the Mohawks, “Oka” was just the most recent event in an almost 300-year struggle to protect their land from colonial and capitalist development. With the 30th anniversary of Oka on the horizon, CD’s Sean Carleton sat down with Ellen Gabriel to discuss the legacy of Oka and the future of Indigenous resistance.
