Gidimt'en re-takes Coyote Camp - Join the Defund CGL actions this week!

A post on the @yintah_access instagram account on Sunday morning (Dec 19) announced:

 

"Early Sunday, Gidimt'en land defenders evicted Coastal Gaslink (CGL) workers and re-established control of Coyote Camp, the site where CGL plans to drill beneath the Wet'suwet'en headwaters. This courageous action took place one month after a wave of militarized raids on Gidimt'en land, where police with assault weapons, dogs, and sniper rifles arrested 30 people, including land defenders, journalists and legal observers.

 

Wet'suwet'en people have never surrendered this land, and we never will. Our lands are not for sale, and the safety of our waters is non-negotiable. In early 2020, Hereditary Chiefs from all five clans of our nation stood together and issued an eviction to CGL. That eviction remains in force today. We are calling for supporters to join us on the ground, or take action where you stand."

 

This assertion of Wet'suwet'en sovereignty in opposition to the CGL pipeline being built on their land stands in a long line of resistance of Indigenous peoples on Turtle Island to settler colonialism that never stopped. The legal foundation of Canada is the Doctrine of Discovery, based on 15th C Papal Bulls, that ruled that European nations could claim "empty land" of the "New World" for their own. But this basis was contradicted by the 1763 Royal Proclamation that declared that the territories of Indigenous peoples that had not yet been impacted by settler colonialism could only be transferred through treaties with the Crown. Not only does this expose the idea that these lands were not populated as a lie, but because there are no historic treaties in much of BC, the supreme court of Canada ruled in 1997 that sovereignty over the 22,000 square kilometres of Wet'suwet'en territory remained vested in the traditional governance system of the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs and called for nation-to-nation negotiations and diplomacy. 

 

Rather that seeking a diplomatic solution, the BC and federal governments, BC courts, RCMP, CGL and their investors are forcing through the pipeline without the consent of the Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs, pretending that they have met the requirement by consulting the Wet'suwet'en Reserve Band Councils. But these reserves occupy a very small amount of Wet'suwet'en territory, nowhere near the path of the pipeline. While these councils are elected, their mandate comes from the colonial Indian Act which restricts their authority and budget.

 

Wet'suwet'en land defenders and their supporters have exposed this hole in the constitutional framework of Canada. But even where treaties were negotiated between the Crown and Indigenous nations, the ability of the Crown to negotiate was based on the threat of naked violence that had been demonstrated in earlier waves of colonization.

 

The BC courts have avoided this constitutional question by awarding interlocutory injunctions to CGL to clear the path for development. The BC government has repeatedly ordered the RCMP to uphold this injunction, while pretending they have no control over them. This is a game that is also played by the federal government as well. 

 

The RCMP army that invaded Wet'suwet'en land for the third time in three years on November 18th and 19th is asserting the settler colonial rights of Canada to these lands. The pipeline, if built, will be a disaster for Wet'suwet'en and for the planet. Stand with Wet'suwet'en land defenders who have re-occupied the CGL rig poised to drill under the river Wedzin Kwa - Stand for justice and for the future of the planet.

 

Join an action this week in your area calling on the CGL pipeline to be defunded (if your location is not listed here, check for other actions this week here: https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/december-21-defund-coastal-gaslink-day-of-action)

 

• In Montreal, join an action on Tuesday, Dec 21st at 11 am ET at the RBC at 26 Westminster Ave N

• In Toronto, join an action on Tuesday, Dec 21st at 4 pm ET at the RBC at 180 Wellington W. https://fb.me/e/SzEobYzH

• In London, ON, join an action on Tuesday, Dec 21st at 3:30 pm ET at the RBC at 621 Huron St E

• In Vancouver, join an action at the RBC on Tuesday, Dec 21st at 12 noon PT at 505 W Broadway.