By Canadian Press

‘We’re not giving in,’ Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief says in wake of arrests

Feb 12, 2020 | 3:19 PM

VANCOUVER — Hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation are pledging to continue fighting a natural gas pipeline through their traditional territory, days after 28 of their supporters were arrested for blocking access to a work site in northern British Columbia.

Na’moks, one of five clan chiefs, said the First Nation’s members and supporters should return to the land and remain peaceful.

“We’re not giving in, we’re home, we’re looking after our home,” said Na’moks, one of five Wet’suwet’en hereditary clan chiefs who assert title to a vast 22,000-square-kilometre area because they have never signed a treaty ceding their traditional territories.

Na’moks said he believes supporters are prepared to be arrested again in support of an eviction notice that the chiefs issued to Coastal GasLink after the company obtained a court injunction requiring obstacles to be removed.

“I believe so because we’re being non-violent, we’re being peaceful. We’re actually following the law and the eviction we gave them is following our law,” he said in an interview.

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Supporters across the country have staged demonstrations through the week, including several in Vancouver and along Vancouver Island.

Demonstrators assembled at the Legislature steps on Monday, preventing entry for some on the same day MLA’s returned to Victoria. Similar demonstrations took place in Vancouver and Delta where almost 60 people were arrested.

Some in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en also shut down a portion of Hwy. 19 near the Comox Valley on Monday, a protest that was met with anger and threats by others in the region.

Karla Tait, who was arrested Monday, said she is planning to return to the Unist’ot’en Healing Centre where she volunteers clinical services.

Tait was among seven people arrested there, along with her mother Brenda Michell and her aunt Freda Huson, who are both hereditary chiefs.

Tait said the women began singing and drumming three days before the RCMP reached the site last week and they were singing a women’s warrior song at the time of their arrest.

Coastal GasLink said in a statement Tuesday that it will redouble efforts to engage with the hereditary chiefs and with the Unist’ot’en in search of a solution that benefits the Wet’suwet’en people. The company recognizes the benefits of the Unist’ot’en Healing Centre and will continue to support its operations by doing all it can to ensure the safety of those staying there, it said.

The hereditary chiefs have filed an application for judicial review of a five-year extension of Coastal GasLink’s environmental assessment certificate granted by the B.C government.

The RCMP lifted an exclusion zone Tuesday and Coastal GasLink has said construction will resume this week.

“The right to peaceful, safe and lawful protest, and freedom of expression, are important parts of Canada’s democracy,” the Mounties said in a statement on Tuesday. “However, blocking roadways is both dangerous and illegal. While we respect the right to demonstrate peacefully, police of local jurisdiction will enforce the law with sensitivity.”

Before the exclusion zone was lifted, Cpl. Chris Manseau said the RCMP didn’t know if pipeline opponents planned to set up new obstructions on the road leading to the company’s work sites.

“That’s the million dollar question,” he said.

“The injunction stays in place, the injunction doesn’t disappear. So if the opponents come back and they block the bridge, drop trees, what have you, then I guess we go back up there. It’s a Supreme Court injunction, this isn’t something we cannot enforce.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 12, 2020.

Original story by Amy Smart, Canadian Press