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RCMP Intimidation Tactics on Wet’suwet’en Territory
The Gidimt’en Checkpoint Facebook page posted a video of recent RCMP attempts to intimidate the Wet’suwet’en on their territory at all hours of the night and day.
The report says, “The last couple of days the BC RCMP have been coming into camp, multiple officers at a time, to walk around harassing people claiming ‘crown land’ patrols. There have been threats of arrest, recording of vehicle information, and intimidation.
“This particular video is at 1:00 am. They have been coming in multiple times a day with threats to keep coming every day. Their motivation seems to be purely intimidation. They have no reason to continue this behaviour other than to be bullies.
“They have been told by the Hereditary Chiefs they are not welcome in Gidimt’en territory. They are trespassing on sovereign land and refuse to accept the 1997 Delgamuukw decision that upheld our Hereditary Chiefs jurisdiction and title. This is not something new. We will continue to hold our ground in the face of police harassment and the violence of the state.”
An earlier post highlighted the contrast between government efforts to subdue the Wet’suwet’en and efforts to meet the demands of Indigenous peoples and the government’s own Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations. Quoting an article in The Tyee, the post says, “By Dec. 31, 2021, three years into the conflict, the RCMP had spent $21.3 million to police the remote resource road.”
The Gidimt’en Checkpoint post continues, “Is this how you want your tax dollars spent?
“They have spent zero dollars searching for our missing relatives, or implementing our Rights and Title, or implementing UNDRIP.
“We know that the governments do not want to acknowledge our sovereignty and jurisdiction over our own lands. But we will. Join us.”
This harassment on Wet’suwet’en territory is only the most recent violation of Wet’suwet’en laws and even of Canadian colonial law. In 1997 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Wet’suwet’en never ceded their rights or title to their land to either the British Crown or the Canadian government, which the Land Defender in the video clearly states multiple times while the RCMP officer makes false claims about Crown Territory and insults his English.
Renewal Update has posted several videos released by Gidimt’en Checkpoint of RCMP making violent arrests, draining water cisterns and bulldozing and burning the camps and cabins set up by the Wet’suwet’en on their territory. In a recent meeting with RBC, a major investor in the pipeline project, a chilling compilation video of many of the violent police actions was shown, and is posted on our website in the information piece on the meeting.
The Wet’suwet’en people and Canadian people have said NO to this pipeline and demand nation-to-nation relations be established with the Indigenous peoples. The Canadian government must immediately stop this harassment and respect the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s hereditary rights to their land, their laws and their culture.
(TML Daily, posted March 10, 2022)
