For the third time in three years, the Wet’suwet’en have faced militarized raids on our ancestral territory.
One month ago today, the RCMP violently raided unceded Gidimt’en territory (November 18-19, 2021), removing Indigenous people from their land at gunpoint on behalf of TC Energy’s proposed Coastal GasLink pipeline. The Wet’suwet’en enforced our standing eviction of CGL by closing roads into the territory November 14-17. Following the raids, arrestees received cruel and violent treatment in prison. The conditions set forth by the court are human rights violations to Indigenous peoples. We’re still here. We’re still throwing down. We are more determined than ever to protect our traditional territories for future generations.
In September 2021, Gidimt’en Checkpoint reoccupied Lhudis Bin territory, building a clan cabin on the drill pad site where Coastal GasLink pipeline wants to drill underneath our sacred headwaters, Wedzin Kwa. The Coyote Camp re-occupation of Cas Yikh Gidimt’en Yintah was an historic 56 days long.
CGL took extreme measures to force us from our ancestral lands. They employed fear tactics and threats of violence daily. They surveilled us with helicopters and drones, threatened us with attack dogs, pointed guns at us and chainsawed down the doors to our homes. They put their own workers in danger and used them as political pawns for profit. They tried to break our spirits in prison and in court with torture and colonial “release conditions”.
Again, they threatened to kill us and steal our land. But we’re still here.
In 2010, there were 13 proposed pipeline projects to go through Wet’suwet’en territory. Investors were forced to pull out of these mega-destructive projects through our territory and the CGL pipeline is the only one left, from Enbridge, Pacific Trails Pipeline, Spectra, Pembina, and several others.
Within the first days of the reoccupation there were violent arrests and police brutality on unarmed welcome guests on Cas Yikh yintah. We put a callout for solidarity from our neighboring nations and from our allies. The Haudenosaunee showed up in solidarity and walked the RCMP out of the territory. Gitxsan erected a railway blockade in solidarity with our reoccupation. Others took action in their territories including land back, rolling blockades, highway shut downs and rallies across Turtle Island.
Following the militarized raids in 2019 and 2020 on Gidimt’en territory, callouts for solidarity sparked coast-to-coast actions crippling the “Canadian” economy and shutting down major infrastructure across so-called “Canada ”.
In 2021, outraged responses to the latest militarized raids have yet again rippled across the continent. Join our callout for an International Week of Action December 20, 2021! By forcing divestment of this project we will collectively end this fight for good!
Reconciliation will not come at the barrel of a gun. The governments of BC and Canada make statements about Indigenous rights, and even “land back,” but when it comes to respecting our sovereign jurisdiction on our Yintah, they lie. Canada and BC have the power to call off their police army and to cancel CGL’s permits, but instead, they have declared war against our people, our children, and our Yintah – ripping us from our families, terrorizing and smearing us, bulldozing and burning down our dwellings, and desecrating our ceremonial items and spaces. Governments and oil and gas corporations openly collude on lawmaking and enforcement of industrial projects, undermining our sovereignty and threatening our future generations.
We have a sacred responsibility to our children, to protect Wedzin Kwa, our clean drinking water, our salmon, and the right to be Wet’suwet’en, for all future generations. We will not endure genocide by oil and gas corporate colonizers. We call on our allies everywhere, to rise up, stand up, fight back! Put pressure on investors, on industry, and the government to put an end to the Coastal GasLink pipeline. All Out for Wedzin Kwa! Join the Wet’suwet’en resistance!
CLICK HERE TO READ A DETAILED TIMELINE.
Beginning in September 2021, Gidimt’en and supporters worked tirelessly to establish and fortify Coyote Camp, blocking the pathway of the proposed CGL pipeline. Welcomed to the territory by Dinï ze’ Woos, the house Chief of Cas Yikh house of the Gidimt’en Clan, many guests arrived to support the effort to save Wedzin Kwa, our sacred and uncontaminated water source. We took back the land that is rightfully ours from our oil and gas industry oppressors, and we remain steadfast in our decolonial struggle for self-determination. We are unceded, undefeated, sovereign and victorious.
TC Energy’s project Coastal GasLink (CGL) has proposed a fracked gas pipeline cutting across Wet’suwet’en traditional territories, tunneling under the Wedzin Kwa. Starting in Dawson Creek, the pipeline’s route crosses through the Canadian Rockies and other mountain ranges on its route to Kitimat, where the gas is intended to be exported across the Pacific Ocean to Asian markets. Our re-occupation blocked a critical piece of construction, representing continued resistance over several years against the corporate-envisioned “energy corridor” through the region. The completion of this project would expedite the construction of subsequent bitumen and fracked gas pipelines, and create incentive for gas companies to tap into shale deposits along the pipeline right of way.
“Liquefied natural gas” or “LNG” is an industry term that conceals the dirty truth of fracking, which the government, industry, media, and NGOs have aimed to silence in their relentless quest for profit. Toxic carcinogenic substances are used in the hydraulic fracturing process, and there have been thousands of gas transmission line accidents, injuries, and deaths. The damage caused by pipeline spills causes irreparable harm to the Earth and lifeways of our people.
The drill pad site was occupied September 25th as a testament to the willpower, resilience, and strength of spirit of our frontline Indigenous warriors. We cannot and will not give up this fight for our future. Despite escalated police brutality, threats, and daily harassment, Coyote Camp remained strong as we celebrated a hard-won 56 days of freedom on liberated land. We will not stand by while our territories are destroyed.
On January 4th, 2020, the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs collectively evicted Coastal GasLink from the territory from all 22,000 square kilometers. That eviction still stands today. The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have never ceded or surrendered this territory. That means that what we say goes. The eviction order from 2020 says that CGL has to remove themselves from the territory and not return. They have been violating this law for too long.
Our clan governance system has existed for thousands of years, through hundreds of years of genocide by the colonial state by so-called Canada. They’ve tried to tear our system down, killing our people, and we have survived.
The destruction of our territory has gone too far. Wetlands have been destroyed. Our animals have been sick. We need to protect what is left for all the future generations. CGL cannot be allowed to continue work on Wet’suwet’en territory. RCMP are not permitted to enter Wet’suwet’en territory. They are trespassers and they have to leave.
Wet’suwet’en law pre-dates Colonial Law. It has existed since time began in our territories, and we have that same fighting spirit that our ancestors fought so hard to keep alive in us so that we would be able to defend our future generations, so that we would continue to defend this land, and this river, and this water.
Even after the militarized raids and forced removal of our people, we have not given up the fight that Coyote Camp represented. “All Out for Wedzin Kwa” means that we need all nations, all accomplices, all allies and supporters to get your boots on the ground, come to yintah and enforce Wet’suwet’en law, take action where you live, spread the word, and stop Coastal GasLink!
For an extended daily breakdown of events, follow these links:
WEEK 1: Sept 21-30, 2021
WEEKS 2-3: OCT 1 -18, 2021
ONE MONTH VICTORY and BACKGROUND
DAY 50: NOV 14
“We don’t have to be armed. We use our voice and our bodies and people can shut it down…We also have a responsibility to our family…And that’s where we stand…because this river- we want it for our children and our families.”
– Eve, Wet’suwet’en land defender and daughter of Dinï ze’ Woos.
Join the Resistance
The Wet’suwet’en resistance to colonial Canada and genocidal CGL on Cas Yikh Gidimt’en Territory continues. We are still here. We are still throwing down. This battle will not be over until TC Energy cancels and denounces their genocidal colonial project, Coastal GasLink, and removes their man-camps and equipment from our territory.
Our way of life is at risk. Wedzin Kwa is the river that feeds all of Wet’suwet’en territory and gives life to our nation. We have a sacred responsibility to our children and to protect Wedzin Kwa, our clean drinking water, our salmon, and the right to be Wet’suwet’en for all future generations.
Dirty energy industries use the promise of “jobs” as a primary argument to force impoverished communities, who need money, into accepting their destructive plans. But these promises are usually broken, and the fallout is irreversible. Even for such massive projects as the one proposed here there are very few permanent jobs for local residents. And there are no jobs on a dead planet.
90% of profits go to the company shareholders, in the amount of hundreds of billions of dollars, while our people do all the work and face all the consequences. Should we settle for crumbs from the industry’s feasting table? Or preserve the “critical infrastructure” of our water, air, and lands for the next seven generations?
We call on all nations, allies, accomplices, and supporters everywhere to RISE UP in solidarity. We must employ all the collective strength in our hearts and minds to stop the machine of the global empire that is destroying us. The time on the world clock is NOW to unify around our common goal as beings on this planet, to honor Indigenous sovereignty and put an end to end of history! We are in this fight for the long haul and we will not back down. This pipeline will never be built. Join the WET’SUWET’EN RESISTANCE!
Take Action:
🔥 COME TO CAMP.
Come to the land NOW. There is still an immediate need for boots on the ground.
Fill out the registration form on yintahaccess.com.
🔥 SOLIDARITY ACTIONS.
DEC 20 WEEK OF ACTION TOOLKIT: https://bit.ly/3IYHKBR
Find or host a solidarity rally near you. Consider hosting a rally at the site of a regulating, insurance or investment office. Send a direct message to those permitting and backing this project that Coastal GasLink is trespassing on Wet’suwet’en lands, and this pipeline will not go through.
🔥 SOLIDARITY STATEMENTS.
Issue a solidarity statement from your organization or group.
Email to: yintahaccess@gmail.com
🔥 PRESSURE THE GOVERNMENT, BANKS, AND INVESTORS.
yintahaccess.com/take-action-1
💩 Government 💩
-
BC Oil and Gas Commission (2950 Jutland Rd, Floor 6, Victoria BC): WEBSITE
Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer BC Oil & Gas Commission: Paul Jeakins; (250 419 4411), paul.jeakins@bcogc.ca
-
Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations & Rural Development: WEBSITE
Katrine Conroy; (250 381 6240), flnr.minister@gov.bc.ca -
Environmental Assessment Office: WEBSITE
Project Lead: Meaghan Hoyle; (778 974-3361), meaghan.hoyle@gov.bc.ca
Executive Project Director: Fern Stockman; (778 698-9313), Fern.Stockman@gov.bc.ca
Compliance & Enforcement Lead: Compliance & Enforcement Branch (250-387-0131), eao.compliance@gov.bc.ca
🤡 CGL Security 🤡
👿 Banks 👿
Australia: National Australia Bank
Canada: ATB Financial, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Western Bank, CIBC, Export Development Canada, National Bank of Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, TD
China: Bank of China, China Construction Bank, ICBC
Germany: KfW IPEX-Bank, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg
Japan: Mizuho, MUFG, SMFG, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank
Singapore: United Overseas Bank
South Korea: Kookmin Bank
Spain: CaixaBank
US: Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Raymond James, Truist Securities (formerly SunTrust Robinson Humphrey)
🚫 Investors 🚫
TC Energy (formerly TransCanada), is a major North American fossil fuel infrastructure company — and promoter of the now-dead Keystone XL pipeline.
KKR is a publicly-traded American global investment firm headquartered in NYC, with USD $429 billion in assets under management as of June 2021. This purchase was made in partnership with South Korea’s state-run pension fund, the National Pension Service of Korea (NPS).
AIMCo manages USD $118 billion in assets on behalf of 32 Alberta pension, endowment, and government funds. It is a Crown corporation, which in this case means that it is owned by the government of Alberta.
👎 Partners 👎
Learn more at “Who’s banking the Coastal GasLink pipeline?”
🔥 DONATE: DONATE HERE
🔥 CREATE: If you are a musician, please write and record a piece for Wet’suwet’en Hibi C’in!
Hibi C’in is a collection of songs made in solidarity with the land defenders & water protectors of Wet’suwet’en yintah. Send submissions to: wetsuwetenhibicin@gmail.com
🔥 SHARE: Spread the word about our struggle with news and social media outlets.
We are fortunate and grateful that our struggle is being amplified! However, many fraudulent accounts get created when the media picks up a story like ours. We ask supporters to confirm that they are ONLY sharing talking points and directing donations to our official pages, listed here:
Website: yintahaccess.com
IG: @yintah_access
Twitter: @Gidimten
Facebook: @wetsuwetenstrong
Youtube: Gidimten Access Point
TikTok: GidimtenCheckpoint
RallyUp: https://go.rallyup.com/wetsuwetenstrong
Use the hashtags:
#WetsuwetenResistance #DivestCGL
#ShutDownCanada #WetsuwetenStrong #AllOutForWedzinKwa #ExpectUs