Wet'suwet'en Witness Bibliography
Actions to take in support of the Wet’suwet’en: Click HERE
October 14, 7:00 pm
Wet'suwet'en Call for Justice; and has anything changed since Oka?
The Wet’suwet’en, led by their hereditary chiefs, have stood against the CGL pipeline’s incursion into their territory for many years. In 2019 the pipeline owners obtained an injunction that led to the harsh removal of land defenders from their territory by the RCMP. In spite of incomplete environmental mitigation by CGL, and a pandemic, construction continues. This is a way-too-familiar story across Canada. Indigenous resistance stands in the way of planet-damaging industrial encroachment — logging, for instance (Barriere Lake and Grassy Narrows) or massive dams (Muskrat Falls) or fracking ( New Brunswick).
Speakers
Chief Adam Gagnon: respected chief name, Dsya’hyl, of the Likhts’amisyu, Wet’suwet’en Nation, and Donna Sinclair, author and journalist, North Bay
Wet'suwet'en Call for Justice; and has anything changed since Oka?
The Wet’suwet’en, led by their hereditary chiefs, have stood against the CGL pipeline’s incursion into their territory for many years. In 2019 the pipeline owners obtained an injunction that led to the harsh removal of land defenders from their territory by the RCMP. In spite of incomplete environmental mitigation by CGL, and a pandemic, construction continues. This is a way-too-familiar story across Canada. Indigenous resistance stands in the way of planet-damaging industrial encroachment — logging, for instance (Barriere Lake and Grassy Narrows) or massive dams (Muskrat Falls) or fracking ( New Brunswick).
Speakers
Chief Adam Gagnon: respected chief name, Dsya’hyl, of the Likhts’amisyu, Wet’suwet’en Nation, and Donna Sinclair, author and journalist, North Bay
In the words of the Council of Canadians, if the CGL pipeline is pushed through Wet’suwet’en land, it would permanently alter the on-the-ground context for the rights and title of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs. It violates the principles that the Hereditary Chiefs have successfully fought to have recognized, which they have practiced for generations, and which allow them to continue to care for the land in ways consistent with their traditions. These traditions prioritize the health of the land for the future, which is important in the face of the climate crisis.
FIRST STOP INFORMATION RESOURCES: Visit the Unistoten Camp web site and read the Wet’suwet’en Supporter Toolkit 2020 See Council of Canadians "Five Things You Should Know About W'etsuwet'en's Fight for their Rights" See Amnesty International's Three Ways You Can Take Action |
Videos
Likht’samisyu Chief Dsta’hyl Confronts Coastal GasLink An important message from Sleydo (Molly Wickam), spokesperson for the Gidimt'en Checkpoint. on the current state of the struggle (posted 3 October 2020) Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (National Film Board) Print Information
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October 21, 7:00 pm
Environmental Justice, Racism and Northern Ontario
This session will focus on environmental racism. It is our hope that this webinar will enable participants to make connections with the Wet'suwet'en struggle in order to grapple with the intersection between Indigenous rights/sovereignty and the environment, and thereby, to explore how pipeline development et al in this case, is a form of environmental racism. We'd also like to enable participants to make connections to our Northern Ontario reality where this has/is also happening.
Speakers
Bruce McIvor, lawyer and historian, First Peoples Law Corporation, Vancouver
Mary Laronde, consultant to Union of Ontario Indians and Councillor, Teme-Augama Anishnabai, Temagami.
Environmental Justice, Racism and Northern Ontario
This session will focus on environmental racism. It is our hope that this webinar will enable participants to make connections with the Wet'suwet'en struggle in order to grapple with the intersection between Indigenous rights/sovereignty and the environment, and thereby, to explore how pipeline development et al in this case, is a form of environmental racism. We'd also like to enable participants to make connections to our Northern Ontario reality where this has/is also happening.
Speakers
Bruce McIvor, lawyer and historian, First Peoples Law Corporation, Vancouver
Mary Laronde, consultant to Union of Ontario Indians and Councillor, Teme-Augama Anishnabai, Temagami.
Reconciliation on Trial: Wet'suwet'en, Aboriginal Title and the Rule of Law, First People's Law, June 10, 2020
Wet'suwet'en Reading List, First People's Law No Place for Fairness: Indigenous Land Rights and Policy in the Bear Island (Queen's Press, 2009) First Peoples' Law Public Education Materials |
Videos
Navigating the law to protect the environment: Environmental Racism and the Law (Sept. 10, 2020) Temagami: A Living Title to the Land (~ 1990s) Teme Augama Anishnabai - n'Daki Menan |
October 28, 7:00 pm
Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls
This session will shine a light on the human rights crisis for Indigenous women and girls and two-spirit people that results from resource development in First Nations territories. It will also show how all Canadians must take responsibility for answering the 231 calls for justice made in the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. We need to act now.
Speakers
Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Liaison Unit Manager, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and and Helen Rose Wabano, a Two-spirited traditional acoustic musician/composer from Katawapiskak, in the traditional land of Mushkegowuk Cree nation
Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls
This session will shine a light on the human rights crisis for Indigenous women and girls and two-spirit people that results from resource development in First Nations territories. It will also show how all Canadians must take responsibility for answering the 231 calls for justice made in the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. We need to act now.
Speakers
Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Liaison Unit Manager, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak and and Helen Rose Wabano, a Two-spirited traditional acoustic musician/composer from Katawapiskak, in the traditional land of Mushkegowuk Cree nation
Reclaiming Power and Place:
The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
CALLS FOR JUSTICE
Extractive and Development Industries
The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
CALLS FOR JUSTICE
Extractive and Development Industries
- We call upon all resource-extraction and development industries to consider the safety and security of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people, as well as their equitable benefit from development, at all stages of project planning, assessment, implementation, management, and monitoring.
- We call upon all governments and bodies mandated to evaluate, approve, and/or monitor development projects to complete gender-based socio-economic impact assessments on all proposed projects as part of their decision making and ongoing monitoring of projects. Project proposals must include provisions and plans to mitigate risks and impacts identified in the impact assessments prior to being approved.
- We call upon all parties involved in the negotiations of impact-benefit agreements related to resource-extraction and development projects to include provisions that address the impacts of projects on the safety and security of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. Provisions must also be included to ensure that Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQQIA people equitably benefit from the projects.
- We call upon the federal, provincial, and territorial governments to fund further inquiries and studies in order to better understand the relationship between resource extraction and other development projects and violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. At a minimum, we support the call of Indigenous women and leaders for a public inquiry into the sexual violence and racism at hydroelectric projects in northern Manitoba.
- We call upon resource-extraction and development industries and all governments and service providers to anticipate and recognize increased demand on social infrastructure because of development projects and resource extraction, and for mitigation measures to be identified as part of the planning and approval process. Social infrastructure must be expanded and service capacity built to meet the anticipated needs of the host communities in advance of the start of projects. This includes but is not limited to ensuring that policing, social services, and health services are adequately staffed and resourced.