Blog Archives
Reconciliation is Dead: A Strategic Proposal
by tawinikay (aka Southern Wind Woman)
Reconciliation is dead. It’s been dead for some time.
If only one thing has brought me joy in the last few weeks, it began when the matriarchs at Unist’ot’en burned the Canadian flag and declared reconciliation dead. Like wildfire, it swept through the hearts of youth across the territories. Out of their mouths, with teeth bared, they echoed back: reconciliation is dead! reconciliation is dead! Their eyes are more keen to the truth so many of our older generation have been too timid to name. The Trudeau era of reconciliation has been a farce from the beginning. It has been more for settler Canadians than natives all along. Read the rest of this entry
Wet’suwet’en hereditary leaders, supporters call for stop work order on Coastal GasLink pipeline

Pre-construction work on the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline is underway along the Morice Forest Service Road near Smithers in northern B.C. (Chantelle Bellrichard/CBC)
Pre-construction work underway in territory past Unist’ot’en camp
Wet’suwet’en complaints about pipeline builder to be probed by government, police

President of Coastal GasLink pipeline Rick Gateman leaves the Office of the Wet’suwet’en after meeting with RCMP members and hereditary chiefs in Smithers, B.C., on Jan. 10. (Chad Hipolito/Canadian Press)
Wet’suwet’en say traplines and tents destroyed, archeological impact assessment not yet done
Coastal GasLink stops work on pipeline in northern B.C. due to trappers accessing animal traps

RCMP officers look on as contractors pass through their roadblock as supporters of the Unist’ot’en camp and Wet’suwet’en First Nation gather at a camp fire off a logging road near Houston, B.C., on Jan. 9. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito)
Company blames shutdown on hunters accessing animal traps within work boundaries
B.C. chiefs show solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs

Unist’ot’en camp founder and spokesperson Freda Huson at a gathering of Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and supportive chiefs from around B.C. outside of the Coastal GasLink pipeline route. Over 200 were in the Dze L K’ant Friendship Centre in Smithers to hear speeches ahead of a march. (Chris Gareau photo)
Chiefs from around B.C. outside the Coastal GasLink pipeline route in Smithers show support.
by Chris Gareau, Interior News, Jan. 16, 2019
Chiefs from the B.C. coast, Interior and Northwest converged in Smithers to show support for the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs’ opposition to the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline. Read the rest of this entry
Protesters block Nova Scotia’s Hwy 102 in support of B.C. anti-pipeline protests
Supporters in Nova Scotia blocked a portion of Highway 102 on Tuesday morning to demonstrate solidarity with anti-pipeline protests in British Columbia.
Protesters say they were holding a peaceful protest, which took place near Exit 10 at Shubenacadie, N.S. Read the rest of this entry
Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers office occupied in Ottawa in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en
Indigenous People’s Solidarity Movement, Jan 15, 2019
Activists occupied the 9th floor hallway and office of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) at 275 Slater Street in Ottawa and effectively shut them down for the afternoon! Read the rest of this entry
Campbell River protesters call for solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs opposed to pipeline

Laich-Kwil-Tach Nation hereditary chief George Quocksister Jr. (left) spoke in Campbell River’s Spirit Square on Sunday in support of hereditary chiefs opposed to the Coastal GasLink Pipeline in northern B.C. Photo by David Gordon Koch/Campbell River Mirror
Demonstration in Spirit Square follows opening of roadblock by Unist’ot’en camp
by David Gordon Koch, Campbell River Mirror, Jan. 14, 2019
Several dozen protesters were in Spirit Square on Sunday afternoon to show solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs who oppose Coastal GasLink’s planned natural gas pipeline across northern B.C. Read the rest of this entry
Protesters occupy TransCanada facility in support of B.C. anti-pipeline camps

Comrades in Hamilton, Ont., occupy a TransCanada facility for several hours on Jan 14, 2019.
The protest lasted about 6 hours on Monday.
This pipeline is challenging Indigenous law and Western law. Who really owns the land?

First Nations leaders meet with RCMP at the Unist’ot’en camp near Houston, B.C., on Jan. 9, 2019. Photo: Jimmy Jeong/The Globe and Mail
Pipeline owners say they have consent, but Wet’suwet’en leaders are divided
The hereditary chief of the Tsayu clan made a small circle to represent the authority of elected band councils within reserves. Outside that circle, he explained, is where Wet’suwet’en clans wield power over a vast territory.
“We are hereditary chiefs,” he said, “and we have control of this land.” Read the rest of this entry