Hereditary Chief Says "Reconciliation Is Not at the Barrel of a Gun"

Chief Na'moks speaking in Smithers, January 16, 2019.

Chief Na'moks of the Tsayu (Beaver Clan) of the Wet'suwet'en recently noted, in the context of the ongoing Wet'suwet'en fight for self-determination, that Canada has failed to live up to its obligations, made in May 2016 at the United Nations, to implement the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Regarding the Prime Minister's solemn pledge at the beginning of the Liberal government's term in office to build a new relationship with the Indigenous peoples, he noted, "I kept thinking of the Prime Minister and how he said there was no more important relationship than the one with Indigenous people. And then here comes all these guns. Reconciliation is not at the barrel of a gun."

Pointing out that the federal government stood by and did nothing to stop the RCMP from attacking the land defenders on January 7, Chief Na'moks concluded that the federal government's refusal to act was an instance of not following the rule of law but "the rule of corporate law."

Affirming Indigenous sovereignty, Chief Na'moks noted that the band council system created by the Canadian state was used to justify the actions of the Coastal GasLink (CGL). "Federally and provincially they'll only deal with their constructs, the bands, because [the government] created them. They don't know how to deal with us, yet we've been here for thousands of years. Our authority and jurisdiction on the land will always be."

Chief Na'moks pointed out that the resistance that the Wet'suwet'en people are waging is a fight for the interests of the earth and all peoples. The fight for Indigenous rights includes the right to refuse development that is imposed from the outside which benefits private interests. "You have to balance the costs and benefits ... You can't just come in with a Gold Rush mentality and then you're out of there. You're setting yourself up for failure."

Another important point made by Chief Na'moks was that the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights will only be fought for and defended by Indigenous peoples. He noted that if governments were left to interpret the Declaration, they would do so on a self-serving basis.

Chief Na'moks is standing with the Likhts'amisyu Clan that is constructing more barricades to prevent further CGL incursions into Wets'swet'en territory. The Chief will be traveling to the UN at the end of April to participate in the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples. He plans to report to this international gathering on the violations of rights of Indigenous peoples by the Canadian state including the RCMP attack and arrests of the Wet'suwet'en land defenders and the ongoing refusal of the government to secure free, prior and informed consent for the pipeline project on Wet'suwet'en territory.

(National Observer, CBC)

This article was published in

Volume 49 Number 14 - April 20, 2019

Article Link:
Hereditary Chief Says "Reconciliation Is Not at the Barrel of a Gun"

    

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