#cgl off the yintah | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

auressea · 11 months

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Call to Action

Dear allies,

The images published by the Narwhal this week are nothing short of heartbreaking. So I will be brief.

I am sad and furious that this has been allowed to happen. I want people to call the “regulators” who have been deliberately asleep at the wheel.

Our Sacred headwaters, The Wedzinkwa river that we drink from, shows up muddy which should be clear! This is devastating and unacceptable!

Pipeline construction work drowned in a wetland used by salmon, a food that has fed our people for well beyond thousands of years.

But three individuals have the power to stop this work immediately. I have had my allied team set up this link so you can call them. CALL THEM NOW PLEASE!!!

We have warned this would happen forever. We were ignored.

We will never tire of speaking our truth. This river is a part of us. The Land is a part of us.

CGL has proven reckless and violent. They do not care!

Please click this link to call the ministers who have the power to stop this now!!

The work continues on the Wet’suwet’en struggle for autonomy. We thank you for your ongoing support.

Standby for more…

Eve

*** this will take you to an Autodialer Phone Train- which connects you to the voicemail of the relevant 'authorities'. have a script ready

#cgl off the yintah #land defenders #water protectors #landback #Wet’suwet’en #uncolonizing #unsurrendered traditional lands #CKA British Columbia #take action #stop CGL #no more pipelines #leave it in the ground #we said NO!#indigenous people #indigenous land

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sparksinthenight · 4 years

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My Letter to the PM in Support of the Wet’suwet’en People

Dear Prime Minister,

My name is ________ and I live in _________. I am writing to you in order to urge you to give the Wet’suwet’en people the respect they deserve by letting them make decisions about their land. Stop the CGL pipeline, for Indigenous rights, decolonization, workers’ rights, and the environment. Get the RCMP off of the territories of Indigenous people who do not want them there. Don’t prosecute Indigenous land and human rights defenders for their work defending their people and all people.

The Wet’suwet’en are the rightful owners of their territory, and they don’t want the CGL pipeline nor do they want the RCMP on their land. As the Indigenous people of their land, they are culturally, spiritually, psychologically, socially, and in all ways tied to their land in a way us settlers aren’t. They need the land in such a deep and profound way that we just don’t. Therefore it’s their decision what does or doesn’t get built. They have their own pre-colonial government system which works for them and should be acknowledged as legitimate, because it is. And they decided, using their own form of government (which is plenty democratic) that they do not want the CGL pipeline and they do not want the RCMP on their land.

The RCMP has harassed them, arrested them, threatened them, disrespected their ceremonies, destroyed their property, and pointed guns at them. Of COURSE they don’t want the RCMP on their lands. Recently, the RCMP has been helping escort construction crews that are building this illegal, damaging, and unwanted pipeline. The Wet’suwet’en and other Indigenous peoples are absolutely right for wanting the RCMP to leave, the people of Unist’ot’en aren’t safe with them around.

The CGL pipeline would cause a lot of damage to the nature, biodiversity, and health of their lands. This isn’t an opinion it’s a scientific fact. Many Wet’suwet’en people rely on the land for food and they all rely on the land as a source of identity. The CGL pipeline being built through their land would be disaster for to them.

Not listening to the wishes of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and Feast Hall is also illegal. The rule of law dictates that the Wet’suwet’en and their pre-colonial government system has title and decision-making ability over their ancestral land. Section 35 of the Canadian constitution states that Indigenous people and their own government systems have the rights to their land, including the right to stop any development on it. It’s plenty clear about this, despite the fact that various levels of Canadian government have been completely ignoring this law for decades. But it’s still the constitution. It’s also in international laws. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples clearly states that no development can happen on any land without the free, prior, and informed consent of the Indigenous people of the land. The Wet’suwet’en, their traditional government, and their people do not freely consent to the pipeline. Canada has signed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and should follow it. Truly following the rule of law would mean respecting Indigenous rights.

But it’s not even about the law it’s about human rights. Indigenous rights are human rights. Indigenous people have been dispossessed of their lands for too long. Their children are being forcibly separated from them. Many of their communities have no clean water. Many communities face a lack of social services. Indigenous people are unfairly targeted by police. They face violence and hate crimes at disproportionate levels. They also face casual racism. Their daughters, sisters, wives, and mothers are kidnapped and trafficked and murdered. They have been subject to multiple, multi-faceted human rights violations for too long. It’s time for Canada to get better. It’s time for change. Recognizing land rights - land rights, not just land title - is a vital, necessary step to that change. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recognizes this and has told Canada that it must halt the CGL pipeline and get the RCMP off of Wet’suwet’en lands. Canada must listen.

The 28 Indigenous land defenders who were arrestEd from Wet’suwet’en land must have all charges dropped against them. Respecting Indigenous rights also means respecting those that defend Indigenous rights and it also means respecting Indigenous people. The people who were arrested for defending the Yintah were arrested for defending the Yintah. They were arrested for defending the rights of their people. They were arrested for protecting the land that their people need, that all people need. They were arrested for defending the climate. Everything they did was peaceful, was done in a good and kind way. And they have every right in the world to do everything they did. They should not be punished for it.

And not to mention, the impacts that the pipeline would have for the environment and the climate are catastrophic. The more fossil fuels are distributed the more they will be burned. Fracking, which is the source of the gas in the pipeline, is a huge source of methane, the worst greenhouse gas. But not extracting, transporting, or distributing fossil fuels will make decision-makers turn to renewable energy instead, which creates more jobs and safer jobs than fossil fuels do. Everyone’s future will suffer because of the climate crisis. The most vulnerable will suffer the most. We do not need any more pipelines. And cutting lines through ecosystems are one of the absolute worst things you can do to an ecosystem and a pipeline is a line through an ecosystem. The environment is vitally necessary for humanity and it’s going to be weakened with each new pipeline, especially with each new pipeline through vital ecosystems.

Finally, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, the pipeline poses a workers’ safety hazard. Men from all over Canada are being shipped to the Yintah into fairly crowded work sites where the disease could spread like wildfire. It’s safer for everyone to not build this pipeline.

As you can see the CGL pipeline is disastrous for the Wet’suwet’en people and neighbouring Indigenous communities. It’s disastrous for the environment, the climate, the Covid-19 crisis, and global health. It’s against human rights and the rule of law. Reconciliation and decolonization can’t happen if we keep building through Indigenous land without permission. The CGL pipeline needs to be stopped, and no future building or industrial projects should ever be undertaken anywhere without complete and total free, prior, and informed consent of Indigenous people. The RCMP, which has done nothing but enforce colonial violence, must leave from Indigenous land in which they’re not welcome. The way we treat Indigenous people and communities must change. And fossil fuels must stay in the ground as everyone needs the climate and environment.

Thank you for reading my letter and please take my considerations to heart.

Sincerely,

#decolonization #climate crisis #indigenous solidarity #wetsuweten solidarity #citizenship

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