Wet’suwet’en

Court Rejects Jail For Wet’suwet’en Chief Who Defied Injunction

July 5, 2024 Amanda Follett Hosgood, The Tyee. Resist! Canada, Coastal GasLink Pipeline, Indigenous Rights, Pipelines, Wet’suwet’en

A Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief will spend two months under house arrest for interfering with construction on the Coastal GasLink pipeline project nearly three years ago. The sentence comes more than four months after Chief Dsta’hyl, a Wing Chief of the Likhts’amisyu Clan who also goes by Adam Gagnon, was found guilty of criminal contempt for breaching a court injunction obtained by Coastal GasLink. The injunction bars anyone from impeding work on the controversial pipeline project. As he emerged from the Smithers courthouse following Wednesday’s sentencing, Dsta’hyl announced he will appeal his conviction.

British Columbia Court Convicts Three Indigenous Land Defenders

January 15, 2024 Amanda Follett Hosgood, The Tyee. Resist! British Columbia, Canada, Indigenous Rights, Land defenders, Wet’suwet’en

Three Indigenous land defenders charged more than two years ago with defying a court order have been found guilty of criminal contempt in B.C. Supreme Court. Justice Michael Tammen, who delivered his decision this morning, will now consider an application by all three to stay the charges based on alleged misconduct by RCMP officers during the arrests, which occurred along the Coastal GasLink pipeline route in Wet’suwet’en territory on Nov. 19, 2021. The hearing began following the verdict this morning. “There can be no doubt that Sleydo’, in occupying the metal structure on Nov. 19, 2021, knew that her actions would tend to depreciate the authority of the court,” Tammen said, adding that two others arrested the same day and standing trial this week were defying the order and “reckless” in blocking access to the pipeline route.

Updates On Criminal Contempt Trials Of Indigenous Land Defenders

January 7, 2024 Yintah Access, Gidimt'en Checkpoint. Resist! Indigenous Rights, Indigenous Sovereignty, Legal System, Wet’suwet’en

In response to CGL's violation of the Wet'suwet'en law of trespass, Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs issued an eviction notice to CGL on November 14th, 2021. Coyote Camp was established at the CGL drill pad site on September 25th, 2021. On November 18th and 19th, 2021, in response to these acts of Wet'suwet'en sovereignty, heavily-militarized RCMP officers invaded the yintah for the third time and arrested 32 people, including several journalists and legal observers. Land defender Sabina Dennis (Dakelh) was arrested on November 18th at Gidimt’en Checkpoint. Land defenders Sleydo' Molly Wickham (Wet’suwet’en), Shay lynn Sampson (Gitxsan), and Corey “Jayohcee” (haudenosaunee) were arrested on November 19th at Coyote Camp.

Protect Wet’suwet’en Land!

August 30, 2023 Will Hodgkinson, Workers World. Organize! Canada, Indigenous Sovereignty, Police abuse, RCMP, Wet’suwet’en

New details have emerged about the militarized campaign of state and corporate persecution targeting land defenders of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation in so-called Canada. The third annual Peace and Unity Summit was held August 15-16 in Gidimt’en Clan territory, home of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation. Wet’suwet’en leaders detailed how private security operatives and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have attacked and terrorized Indigenous activists using tactics taken directly from a U.S. counterinsurgency “playbook” written by David Petraeus, retired U.S. Army general and an architect of U.S. invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Playbook For RCMP’s Wet’suwet’en Raids Provided By Former CIA Director

August 20, 2023 Sidney Coles, Ricochet. Educate! African People's Socialist Party, CIA, Indigenous Rights, Land Rights, Petraeus, Wet’suwet’en

The RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG), a special unit that polices Indigenous resistance against resource extraction in British Columbia, has adopted the playbook from former CIA director David Petraeus, according to a presentation at a summit held on Wet’suwet’en territory this week. Kai Nagata, communications director at Dogwood BC, spoke at the third annual Peace and Unity Summit for Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan hereditary chiefs, elders and allies from human rights organizations from around the world. Looking around the room, those in attendance sat in shock at what they were hearing and seeing.

Wet’suwet’en Water Protector To CEO: ‘You Are Not A Climate Leader’

October 30, 2022 Brent Patterson, PBI Canada. Resist! Canada, climate crisis, Genocide, Indigenous Rights, Water Protectors, Wet’suwet’en

On October 27, Wet’suwet’en water protector Eve Saint spoke at a protest outside the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Toronto as the London, Ontario-based Ivey Business School presented RBC CEO Dave McKay with their Ivey Business Leader award. Ivey notes: “More than 400 guests, including some of Canada’s most distinguished business leaders, attended the formal dinner at The Ritz-Carlton. The award honours individuals who have made significant contributions to the advancement of business in Canada, and demonstrated leadership in both business and their communities.” The day before the award ceremony RBC released its 2030 emission reduction targets. McKay claimed: “RBC is committed to helping build a cleaner future.” But Saint said of McKay: “You are not a climate leader, you are a leader in genocide.

Wet’suwet’en Land Defender: ‘It’s Time To Protect What Is Left’

October 21, 2022 Brent Patterson, PBI Canada. Resist! Coastal GasLink Pipeline, Indigenous Rights, land defender, Wet’suwet’en

On October 19, Wet’suwet’en land defender Molly Wickham (Sleydo’) along with Hereditary Chiefs Woos and Na’moks spoke at a Decolonial Solidarity online organizing call attended by more than 300 people. Wickham told those assembled: “[The drilling at the site of our sacred headwaters] is happening now. The salmon are spawning in the river and you can actually hear the drilling happening from kilometres away. You can feel it in the ground, in the earth, from kilometres away. …The salmon are spawning and you can feel the vibration of the drilling happening.” She highlighted: “We are calling on you, our allies, other Indigenous nations, labour unions, anarchist groups, environmentalists, students, climate activists. The threat to our survival and our freedom is our collective responsibility. Enough is enough. It’s time to plan, prepare and protect what is left.”

Wet’suwet’en Protesters Face Surveillance And Harassment

April 20, 2022 Anish R M, People's Dispatch. Resist! Canada, Coastal GasLink Pipeline, Pipelines, Wet’suwet’en

As the Indigenous anti-pipeline resistance against the Coastal GasLink (CGL) continues in the Wet’suwet’en lands in Canada, the police have been intimidating the protesters and residents of the land and conducting surveillance. On Monday, April 18, the Royal Mounted Canadian Police (RCMP) arrested and later released a supporter of the Wet’suwet’en cause over mistaken identification. According to the Gidimt’en Checkpoint, a group of Gidimt’en clan members of the Wet’suwet’en organizing the resistance, the arrest is an outcome of more than a month of intimidation and harassment by the police. “This tax-payer funded harassment and intimidation is an explicit attempt to make Wet’suwet’en people unsafe on our own lands,” the group said in a statement.

Coastal GasLink Seeks Criminal Charges Against Water Protectors

April 19, 2022 Brent Patterson, PBI Canada. Resist! Coastal GasLink Pipeline, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Pipelines, Wet’suwet’en

“On April 13, 2022 twenty seven land defenders arrested in the fall and into winter of 2021 on Wet’suwet’en territory appeared virtually before Justice Church. Coastal Gaslink’s lawyer, Kevin O’Callaghan, recommended that the charges be criminal contempt, and not civil contempt. …this would mean that the land defenders arrested during the Coyote Camp occupation at the drill pad site and the Likhts’amisyu Chief arrested on his own territory would face criminal charges. We need to make [British Columbia’s Attorney General] David Eby aware that CGL [Coastal GasLink], the CIRG [the RCMP’s Community-Industry Response Group], and RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police]… …are abusing the intent of the court injunction to violently and illegally criminalize sovereign Wet’suwet’en people in an attempt to push through an industrial project that does not have the consent of the true title holders to the land.

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs Confront Royal Bank Of Canada

April 9, 2022 Stand.Earth. Resist! Big Banks, Canada, Fossil Fuels, Wet’suwet’en

Despite abruptly canceling the in-person portion of their annual general meeting (AGM) today, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) faced growing calls to phase out coal, oil, gas, and tar sands funding, and instead invest in a safe, and renewable future. Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and climate finance experts asked the RBC Board and management about their role in violating Indigenous rights by bankrolling projects that perpetuate genocide against Indigenous Peoples, such as the Coastal GasLink pipeline, as well as the role of RBC’s fossil fuel financing contributing to the climate crisis. Melina Laboucan-Massimo, the co-founder of Indigenous Climate Action, spoke to shareholders about how RBC’s financing of the tar sands has detrimental impacts to her homelands, the health of Indigenous people on their territory and to the climate.

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs Demand Royal Bank Stop Financing Pipeline

March 9, 2022 Jennifer Wickham, Last Real Indians. Resist! Coastal GasLink Pipeline, Indigenous Rights, Pipelines, Wet’suwet’en

“Today, we told RBC leadership directly that the bank’s financing of the Coastal GasLink pipeline threatens our medicine, our water, our ancestral lands, our culture and our homes. Our sacred headwaters, the Wedzin Kwa river, is the lifeline for our people, and it’s profoundly at risk. Financing Coastal GasLink is the exact opposite of reconciliation. The fracked gas pipeline violates our hereditary title, and has led to years of RCMP violence and harassment of peaceful Indigenous land defenders and the forced removal of Wet’suwet’en peoples from their territory.” “The bank’s leadership seemed open to hearing our experiences and to the opportunity we’re giving them to do the right thing. We’ve been crystal clear: RBC must divest from this toxic project, which threatens Wet’suwet’en land, air and water, and steamrolls Indigenous rights.

Ottawa Convoy Exposes The Racism That First Nations Have Long Known

February 19, 2022 Rachel Snow , Rabble.ca. Educate! Canada, Indigenous Rights, Trucker Convoy, Wet’suwet’en

Early in 2020 and late in 2021, the Wet’suwet’en First Nation faced down police forces as they tried to protect their homelands in northern British Columbia. The province and the federal government had no difficulty in sending in the RCMP to mete out justice. No mercy has been given to the First Nations when they protest. Oka, Ipperwash, Gustafsen Lake, logging standoffs and oil and gas standoffs, including the Tiny House Warriors standing against the Trans Mountain pipeline, were all met with unwavering police forces. The last confrontation in Wet’suwet’en had First Nations from other provinces joining in solidarity. Enter Alberta Premier Jason Kenney and his anti-protest legislation. Kenney quickly enacted Bill 1 to protect “critical infrastructure” and to fine those driven to protest.

Wet’suwet’en Approach UN Over Militarization And Rights Violations

February 11, 2022 People's Dispatch. Resist! Canada, Coastal GasLink Pipeline, Police violence, United Nations, Wet’suwet’en

As the movement against the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline project in Canada continues, indigenous Wet’suwet’en activists have approached the United Nations to raise their concerns about indigenous rights violations. In a submission filed to the UN Human Rights Council on Monday, February 7, activists of the Gidimt’en clan of Wet’suwet’en raised the issues of forced industrialization, police militarization and violation of the rights of indigenous peoples. The eight-page document points out that Canada has overlooked its international obligations under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). It stated that Canada has violated several rights of the community, including the right to conserve and protect traditional lands, and has forcibly removed clan members from their territories.

Summit Strengthens Alliances Against Coastal Gaslink Pipeline

January 19, 2022 Brandi Morin, Ricochet. Resist! Canada, Coastal GasLink Pipeline, Indigenous Rights, Pipelines, Wet’suwet’en

The conflict over the Coastal GasLink project is about more than the fate of a single pipeline or the territory of one Indigenous nation. The precedent set here will have far-reaching consequences, and Indigenous nations and leaders from across Turtle Island are paying close attention. The hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation hosted a Peace and Unity Summit in the town of Smithers on Jan. 15. Wet’suwet’en leaders and representatives of other Indigenous nations gathered to offer solidarity and support in the fight against the Coastal GasLink pipeline. The Wet’suwet’en argue that their Indigenous and human rights, and rights to their territories, are threatened by the multibillion-dollar project, which is backed by the provincial and federal governments.

Wet’suwet’en Water Protectors Evade RCMP As Police Mobilize For Raid

January 7, 2022 It's Going Down. Resist! Indigenous Rights, Pipelines, RCMP, Wet’suwet’en

Two weeks after Wet’suwet’en water protectors evicted Coastal GasLink workers and occupied a key pipeline drill site, water protectors executed a strategic retreat to avoid arrest and violence at the hands of dozens of militarized RCMP. Before a large scale mobilization by police, water protectors vanished into the woods, evading police violence and criminalization. We expect an imminent assault on our people at the direction of Coastal GasLink as we continue to occupy and utilize our yintah.

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