Chief Woos drove four hours Friday from Prince George in central British Columbia to his territory south of Houston.
He wanted to see how his daughter was doing after learning of the “military-style” police raids the day before against members of the Gitimt’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation and supporters who were blocking the construction of a multi-million dollar natural gas. pipeline.
He knew she was there when the RCMP came in and arrested 15 people, including the elderly and a journalist. Images, videos and reports emerged throughout the day showing officers in tactical gear with assault weapons and police dogs as helicopters and drones circled overhead.
But the RCMP did not let him enter its territory.
“Like any other parent would be, [I’m] worried about my daughter and what she looks like there, ”Woos said, standing by a fire at the 28-kilometer mark of Morice Forest Service Road, where a police car blocked a small bridge and officers, many of them wearing covered facials and sunglasses despite the the sun was sinking low behind the snow-capped mountains, swirling.
“They are letting the workers in, but not us,” Chief Woos said. “This is the territory of Gitimt’en.”
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A years-long standoff in Wet’suwet’en territory south of the small town of Houston escalated this week after the Coastal GasLink pipeline company failed to comply when Wet’suwet’en’s hereditary bosses announced Sunday that they would begin to enforce an eviction notice served. to the company in 2020.
According to a press release on November 18, pipeline workers were given eight hours to leave the area, a time period that Chief Woos extended later in the day by two hours.
The hereditary bosses of Wet’suwet’en oppose the construction of the company’s gas pipeline that would transport natural gas through their territories, from northeast BC to Kitimat on the Pacific coast. The company successfully sought an injunction from the British Columbia Supreme Court in January 2020 to build the pipeline unhindered, resulting in police removing dozens of pipeline opponents from the area and dismantling barricades and checkpoints. .
“They are letting the workers in, but not us,” said hereditary chief Woos of Wet’suwet’en. “This is the territory of Gitimt’en.” #CoastalGasLink #RCMP
On Sunday, the company did not leave the territory and Gidimt’en members and supporters closed the road leading to construction sites and worker camps, announcing on Twitter that “[On Tuesday], we take back our land. With our Haudenosaunee Allies, we enforced our old transgression laws and permanently closed access to our territory. Morice Forest Service Road has been destroyed and access to Coastal GasLink is no longer possible. “
A video posted by the Gidimt’en checkpoint showed heavy machinery seized from the company that was used to dig a trench in the road and build a barricade with logs and a crushed truck.
The highway closure left some 500 pipeline workers in camps with rapidly dwindling supplies and no entry or exit routes.
On Thursday, the RCMP moved to the Gitimt’en checkpoint in an operation that it characterized as a “rescue” to clear a route for the camp workers to leave the area and for supplies to be brought in.
The enforcement was dictated by actions taken by protesters blocking Morice River Forest Service Road, endangering the safety and well-being of hundreds of people whose supplies were at critical levels, said RCMP Assistant Commissioner Eric Stubbs, in a statement issued Thursday night. “We have made significant efforts to facilitate meaningful dialogue among all stakeholders, and specifically with the group opposing this pipeline project, to no avail. It was no longer possible to delay our efforts to rescue workers. As such, our application operation had to proceed immediately. “
Freelance journalist Melissa Cox, who was arrested Thursday, described police throwing people to the ground, hitting and, in one case, using a baton while making arrests.
Later on Thursday, the human rights organization Amnesty International issued an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, BC Prime Minister John Horgan and RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki expressing “grave concern” over the increase in police officers in area. “The increase in the police presence has raised alarm and fear in the communities and has increased existing tensions … We are concerned about the possibility of more arrests and the risks of an escalation that this situation brings.”
The police raids sparked solidarity actions and marches in communities and cities in Canada. Neighboring Gitxsan people blocked the CN rail line through Hazelton, while Fort Street in Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, was temporarily blocked by a modest group carrying a banner that read: “Wedzin Kwa is life” and “Put an end to colonial violence”.
In Vancouver, climate and indigenous activists gathered at City Hall, while the iconic crossroads of Winnipeg, Portage and Main were also blocked for a time by protesters gathered outside the RCMP headquarters. Additional rallies are planned for the weekend, including one in Burnaby at the Deer Lake RCMP headquarters.
In Gitimt’en territory on Friday, police moved to Coyote Camp, where Gitimt’en members and supporters have been blocking the company’s plans to drill under a river since September. Gitimt’en Checkpoint’s Twitter page reported that heavily armed policemen entered a structure using an ax.
A police officer at the checkpoint said the media and the public could not get through due to safety concerns related to the damaged road and ongoing “operations”.
Late in the afternoon on Friday, several shuttle buses passed the police checkpoint transporting what appeared to be farm workers, followed shortly after by police vehicles transporting opponents to the pipeline. As supporters at the barricade drummed and cheered, screams could be heard from inside one of the RCMP vehicles. By Friday night it was unclear how many had been arrested.
Chief Woos watched from the Wedzin Kwa side, the river that flows from the glaciers in the nearby snow-capped mountains. He gestured toward the waters.
“That is what we are protecting,” he said, “not just for Wet’suwet’en, it is for everyone on the river … and for future generations.”
The arrests and the week’s conflict, he said, would not spell the end of efforts to prevent the pipeline from crossing Wet’suwet’en territory. “We’re going to keep moving,” he said. “We are going to continue, we are going to get stronger.”
Reference-www.nationalobserver.com
They want to be “leaders” then actually show direction. We’re trying to do the best for our nation by creating a strong economy. One that allows us to transition quicker to renewables but we’re going to be so poor, buying US and Saudi oil that we won’t have any EV infrastructure to stem change. Stop stifling our economy, trying to bully the govt. If you’re so wise then give us solutions, not more problems.
Further to my last comment. The train we were running was what we call a ‘bomb train’. It’s was straight residue and loaded LPG. So way to go for attempting to derail a train, hauling special dangerous commodities, which require Emergency Response Action Plans, on your own land. Very responsible of you. Difficult to fathom the stupidity, trying to explain how it’s the “white man’s” fault that your town got blown up.