Unist'ot'en Matriarchs Arrested
- Unist'ot'en Camp, February
10, 2020 -
A convoy of armed RCMP tactical units has invaded
sovereign and unceded Unist'ot'en Territory to enforce Coastal
GasLink's injunction. Our Unist'ot'en Matriarchs and lands defenders
have been forcibly removed off their lands.
Unist'ot'en Matriarchs Freda Huson (Chief
Howihkat), Brenda Michell (Chief Geltiy), and Dr. Karla Tait have been
forcibly removed off our territories and arrested. Our matriarchs were
arrested while holding a ceremony to call on our ancestors and to
honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. We, the
Unist'ot'en, know that violence on our lands and violence on our women
are connected. During ceremony, we hung red dresses to remember the
spirits of the murdered women, girls and two spirit people taken from
us. We were holding a cremation for the Canadian Indigenous
Reconciliation industry as the RCMP battered through the gates. Land
defenders, including Victoria Redsun (Denesuline), Autumn Walken
(Nlaka'pamux), and Pocholo Alen Conception have also been arrested.
Unist'ot'en condemns these violent, colonial
arrests and stark violations of Wet'suwet'en law, Canadian law, and of
the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(UNDRIP). This is also a clear violation of the recent directive from
the UN Committee on Racial Discrimination (CERD) requiring Canada to
halt the Coastal GasLink pipeline project and withdraw RCMP from our
territory in order to avoid further violations of Wet'suwet'en,
constitutional, and international law.
We, as Wet'suwet'en, have never ceded our
sovereign title and rights over the 22,000 square kilometres of our
land, waters, and resources within our Yintah. Our 'Anuc
niwh'it'ën (Wet'suwet'en law) and feast governance systems
remain intact and continue to govern our people and our lands. We
recognize the authority of these systems. The Wet'suwet'en Hereditary
Chiefs are the Title Holders, and maintain the authority and
jurisdiction to make decisions on unceded lands.
Our 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 our law to control access to their respective
territories. We have governed ourselves sustainably since time
immemorial. The Unist'ot'en (Dark House) is occupying and using our
traditional territory as we have for centuries. Our homestead is a
peaceful expression of our connection to our territory and demonstrates
the continuous use and occupation of our territories in accordance with
our governance structure. Our Unist'ot'en Yin'tah is a place of
healing. It is home to Wet'suwet'en people seeking refuge from colonial
trauma. People recovering from addiction. People reconnecting with the
land.
We have the strength of our ancestors within us.
We have the solidarity of our Indigenous relatives and allies with us.
We have the power of people shutting down railways, highways, ports,
and government offices all around this country. Thank you to people all
around this planet making our struggle your struggle. The flames of
resistance and the resurgence of Indigenous land reclamation give us
strength. We know our neighbours and relatives are with us. We know the
two-leggeds and the four-leggeds are watching over us. These arrests
don't intimidate us. Police enforcement doesn't intimidate us. Colonial
court orders don't intimidate us. Men in suits and their money don't
intimidate us. We are still here. We will always be there. This is not
over.
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