“Whatever man builds, breaks. You can’t warranty a pipeline. This for our grandchildren, and great great grandchildren, and those not even born yet. That’s who we’re doing this for.” – Dinï ze’ Madeek

On January 14, Gidimt’en Checkpoint reported that Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs along with the Office of the Wet’suwet’en met on the Yintah to witness firsthand the destruction caused by Coastal GasLink (CGL).

“They wonder why we’re mad. Look at the clearing … Look at the man camp, enough for a couple armies … It reminds me of when we were kids and we had toys and the white people, they didn’t have it, so they broke our toys. And now they grew up and they’re breaking our land. Just cause they can’t have it.” – Dinï ze’ Gisday’wa

Hereditary Chiefs Madeek, Gisday’wa and Namoks visited multiple sites, including Gidimt’en Checkpoint and the drill pad site, to monitor CGL’s illegal project and denounce the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s third militarized raid on Gitimidt’en Territory this past November.

Standing on the site of one of the Gidimt’en cabins that CGL bulldozed, Dinï ze’ Namoks remarked, “you don’t knock down people’s houses, their homes. Same with burning down [the Skiy ze’ Cabin] over there. I’d go to jail if I went into a city and did that. I’d never see the light of day again. But they’re [CGL] allowed to according to British Columbia and Canada.”

Throughout the day, the Dinï ze’s met with numerous water protectors and supporters. After viewing the ongoing devastation caused by CGL, the Dinï ze’s are strengthened in their demands calling for CGL work to stop immediately, and for there to be an end to the ongoing colonial violence on the territory. The fight is not over!

On January 15, Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition held an in-person and online event to call for the immediate cessation of publicly funded police violence against Wet’suwet’en and other water protectors. The recording can be viewed by clicking here.

“It will never go through—it’s dead in the water now.” – Dinï ze’ Madeek

Video — Woos Reflects on Colonial Violence

(Renewal Update, posted January 16, 2022)