Unist’ot’en Camp Update – Idle No More
Galiano Island & Unist’ot’en Camp Fundraiser Launch
Galiano Island and Unist’ot’en Camp reunite to help kickoff another spectacular project to keep pipelines from entering sovereign and unceded lands. Last year this incredible duo joined forces to design and build a Bunkhouse on one of the territories of the Unist’ot’en. This year this duo will be joining forces to fundraise and construct a new HEALING CENTRE!! All people in the general area are encouraged to attend. We can see a world free of Fracking, Tar Sands, Pipelines, and Tankers in the horizon!!
Photo by Max Wilbert Photography (Facebook) Max Wilbert Photography (website)
Updates will be posted on the Facebook event page Galiano Island & Unist’ot’en Camp Fundraiser Launch here. You can also sign up on the Active Islands Website here.
Background
Founded in 2009, the Unist’ot’en Camp is a resistance community whose purpose is to protect sovereign Wet’suwet’en territory from several proposed pipelines from the Tar Sands Gigaproject and shale gas from Hydraulic Fracturing Projects in the Peace River Region.
The camp is located at the shore of the Wedzin Kwah and mouth of the Gosnell Creek. These are all tributary to the the Skeena, Bulkley, and Babine Rivers. The proposed pipelines from Enbridge Northern Gateway and Pacific Trails both seek to cross the rivers at the exact point where the resistance camp is built on the Unis’tot’en Territory of Talbits Kwah.
The Unist’ot’en (C’ihlts’ehkhyu / Big Frog Clan)along with other strong uncompromising allies will stop this destructive path, for the future generations, for the biodiversity, and for solidarity with our neighbours living amidst the heavy impacts in the Tar Sands Affected areas in Northern Alberta, and regions heavily affected by Fracking Natural Gas and Shale Oil, as well as communities impacted by Refineries, Pipelines, and Fuel Terminals and Port Expansions.
You can stay up to date everyday on their Facebook page Unist’ot’en Camp here.
Or you can check out the their website Unist’ot’en Camp here, for updates.
Unist’ot’en Opposes Bill C51
Deep in the forest, surrounded by the rapid on-going destruction of ancient lands, there grows a powerful place of healing and decolonization. Despite what can often seem like a concerted effort to extinguish indigenous culture, the Unist’ot’en clan have built a place where anyone willing to refuse to destroy the land are welcome to join them in this healing. On the banks of the Wedzin Kwa, Wet’sewet’en people have reconnected with the land and with their ancient culture, and relationships have been built with peoples from other lands near and far.
“With the impacts of climate change and toxic dangers from industrial projects based on greed and selfishness we have always expressed our concern that this is not just a challenge that my people need to overcome but a challenge that faces all of humanity.” says Freda Huson, Spokesperson of the Unist’ot’en People. “Together we must make a collective effort to provide an outcome that will allow for our survival as humans. We need to decolonize and heal the planet because if we don’t, she will make us pay. That is why we are making a Healing Center on our lands. It will be a place for healing and decolonization.”
Why is it that people who at are the forefront of a movement of peaceful healing and reconciliation should be concerned with being labeled and treated as terrorists?
Read the entire opposition statement on the Unist’ot’en website here.
Check out the YouTube video:
How To Stop An Oil And Gas Pipeline: The Unist’ot’en Camp Resistance
Over the past four years, the Unist’ot’en clan of the Wet’suwet’en nation have literally built a strategy to keep three proposed oil and gas pipelines from crossing their land. Concerned about the environmental damage a leak could cause on land they’ve never given up, they’ve constructed a protection camp to block pipeline companies. As opposition to the development of Alberta’s tar sands and to fracking projects grows across Canada, with First Nations communities on the front lines, the Unist’ot’en camp is an example of resistance that everyone is watching.