Coastal GasLink and RCMP
Violating Gidimt'en
Sovereignty and
Own Agreement
Over the weekend [of January 26-27] Coastal
GasLink
willfully, illegally,
and
violently destroyed Gidimt'en cultural infrastructure and
personal property on Gidimt'en territory without our consent.
This was our infrastructure to be on our land and exercise our
land-based culture. Coastal GasLink's attack on our cultural
practices -- with RCMP's active complicity -- is an attack on our
sovereignty and an attack on our way of life.
This is an area, at 44 km, where Coastal GasLink
have
not
obtained permits and is not even included in their proposed
plans. Coastal GasLink did not provide any copies of permits for
work to be undertaken in Gidimt'en territory, nor does our
cultural infrastructure constitute an 'obstruction' within
the limits of the interim injunction. Therefore, Coastal GasLink
has no permits, authority, or legal rights to dismantle our
cultural site or property. They illegally destroyed Gidimt'en
cultural infrastructure and property with the support of the
RCMP, who watched this happen and acted as industry's private
bodyguards. The RCMP have been notified of Coastal GasLink's
illegal activity under their own law, and the Wet'suwet'en Access
Point on Gidimt'en territory is pursuing criminal charges into
destruction of property and mischief by Coastal
GasLink.
This state and industry-enforced violence is
happening
just
two weeks after militarized RCMP descended onto our unceded
Gidimt'en territories to enforce a colonial court injunction.
Unarmed and peaceful women and elders were faced with heavy
assault rifles and the RCMP trespassing and invading on our
unceded territories. Fourteen were arrested. One of those
arrested was Gidimt'en Clan spokesperson Molly Wickham. This is a
form of violence against Wet'suwet'en women, that is further
violence on Wet'suwet'en lands and sovereignty.
Under 'Anuc
niwh'it'en (Wet'suwet'en law), all
Wet'suwet'en Clans have said No
to Coastal GasLink and all
pipelines on unceded Wet'suwet'en territories. The 22,000 square
km of Wet'suwet'en Territory is divided into five clans and 13
house
groups. Each clan within the Wet'suwet'en Nation has full
jurisdiction under their law to control access to their
territory. The Hereditary Chiefs are the Title Holders and
maintain the authority and jurisdiction to make decisions on
Wet'suwet'en lands. Coastal GasLink/TransCanada has not received
free, prior, and informed consent from or made any agreement with
our Hereditary Chiefs to do work on Wet'suwet'en lands.
The whole world is watching and standing with us.
Canada
knows that its own actions are illegal. Our Wet'suwet'en
Hereditary Chiefs have maintained their use and occupancy of
their lands and hereditary governance system to this date despite
generations of colonial policies and big industries that aim to
remove us from this land, assimilate our people, annihilate our
culture, and ban our governing system. We live out our laws and
cultural practices on our lands. Our medicines, our berries, our
food, the animals, our water, our culture are all here since time
immemorial. We will never allow Gidimt'en sovereignty to be
violated.
This article was published in
Volume 49 Number 3 - February 2, 2019
Article Link:
Coastal GasLink and RCMP
Violating Gidimt'en
Sovereignty and
Own Agreement
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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