Indigenous Climate Justice in Post-colonial Canada

Values that underpin Indigenous Climate Action

The land and waters are living beings to pay respect and gratitude towards. What the lands and waters provide humans are gifts that must be received with humility and thanks in order to ensure their continuation for future generations. The animate world exists beyond humans and animals. Trees and mountains are relatives of humans, and must be treated as family. The land and water cannot be owned, they belong to themselves in the same way that westerners perceive themselves as being self determining.

These ancient ways of perceiving are still inherent in the way of life and practices of many First Nations. Below are descriptions of Indigenous groups from the Coast Salish and Wet'suwet'en territories. Both groups describe themselves as progressive: outlining mandates that seek to combine traditional values with methods for leadership that face the realities of contemporary society head on.

Coast Salish and Wet'suwet'en Territories

Coast Salish Territories and the Tseil-Waututh Nation

The Coast Salish Territories are the lands stretching along the Northwest coast of North America: from the mouth of the Columbia River in Oregon to Bute Inlet in British Columbia. Archaelogical evidence of human occupation in these lands dates back some 8000 years. There are more than 75 different tribes living in the Coast Salish Territories. Among them is the Tseil Waututh Nation, whose lands surround the Burrard Inlet in North Vancouver with additional lands in the Indian River Valley.

The governing systems of the many tribes of the Coast Salish territories differs from tribe to tribe. The Tseil-Waututh Nation has an elected government: a Chief holds the highest position of power and a band of elected council members support the Chief. On the Tseil-Waututh Nation website, the description of their mission as a governing body emphasizes stewardship towards the land, and ensuring ecological prosperity for future generations. “Our elders and ancestors laid the groundwork for us to continue living on this land. Our greatest strength is standing together united as Tseil-Waututh people as we create a sustainable future together.”

Wet’suwet’en Territories and the Five Clans

The Wet’suwet’en Territories are the lands in the northwestern central interior of British Columbia, including the areas around Dzun Kwuh River or Bulkley River. We’suwet’en means “People of the Dzun Kwuh River”. These territories are home to five different Indigenous Clans: Gil_seyhu (Big Frog), Laksilyu (Small Frog), Gitdumden (Wolf/Bear), Laksamshu (Fireweed), Tsayu (Beaver Clan).

The governing system of the Wet’suwet’en Territories is a hereditary Chief system. Chiefs are identified by elders and shamans often while still in their mother’s womb. The chosen leaders are given a specific and thorough education beginning in childhood on how to be leaders of their people, and before a chosen Chief is permitted to take their position they must leave their clans and live alone in the wilderness for an extended period of time. In this way they learn the ways of the animal world, and are tested on their skills when they return. This process is vital to how Chiefs must lead: with the utmost consideration for both the animal world and the human world simultaneously.

Climate Justice Movements lead by First Nation Communities

Kwekwecnewtxw Watch House and Trans Mountain Pipeline Resistance

Led by members of Tseil-Waututh communities and allied groups, the Kwekwecnewtxw  (meaning Watch House or “a place to watch from”) is the name and place emblematic of the current Indigenous resistance against the construction of the Trans Mountain Pipeline. The movement is lead primarily by Coast Salish youth, spiritual leaders, and members of Coast Salish communities. The resistance began with the construction of a traditional Coast Salish Watch House on the unceded Coast Salish territory on Burnaby Mountain. This location is strategic, as the Watch House also now stands directly on top of the path intended for construction of the pipeline. Since the construction of the Watch House in spring 2018, more than tens of thousands of people have participated in the resistance, with over 250 arrests to date.

See footage of the Kwekwesnewtxw Resistance here [1]

Unist'ot'en Camp and Coastal Gaslink Pipeline Resistance

“Our people’s belief is that we are part of the land. The land is not separate from us. The land sustains us. And if we don’t take care of her, she won’t be able to sustain us, and we as a generation of people will die.” – Freda Huson, Unist’ot’en Hereditary Spokesperson

The same form of resistance also took place on the Wet’suwet’en Territories in 2010 when a log cabin was constructed by the peoples of the Gil_seyhu Clan (Big Frog Clan) in Wet’suwet’en Territories. Within this clan, the Governing Body’s name is Unist'ot'en, and it is for this reason that the resistance bears the name Unist'ot'en on an international level. The log cabin was erected directly in the path of the Federal government’s construction plan for three proposed pipelines. The companies TransCanada, Chevron, and Enbridge continue to push forward with their plans for pipelines despite of the strong lack of consent from the people of the Gil_seyhu Clan, and unanimously throughout the Wet’suwet’en Territories. As the Unist’ot’en mission statement declares, the erected cabin is not a protest or a demonstration. Rather, the people of the Wet’suwet’en Territories are asserting their sovereign right for free and prior consent as it has been agreed upon through federal jurisdiction, but moreover as the original inhabitants and caretakers of these lands.

From winter 2018 to the present, tension has escalated at the Unist’ot’en Camp as TransCanada pushes forward it’s plans to build the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline, overriding the clear refusal of the Unist’ot’en. Coastal GasLink served the peoples of Unist’ot’en Camp with an “interim, interlocutory or permanent injunction” and financial damages for “occupying, obstructing, blocking, physically impeding or delaying access” to their own unceded territory. Instead of naming the Unist’ot’en and their chiefs, who collectively hold title and govern Unist’ot’en territory according to Wet’suwet’en law, the applications personally named Freda Huson and Warner Naziel (Chief Smogelgem). This action could be interpreted as an attempt to demobilize the Indigenous resistance by isolating two individuals instead of acknowledging the interconnectedness of the Wet’suwet’en peoples and the lands and waters they live on.

See footage of the Unist'ot'en Resistance here [2]

Resistance Continues

The resistance at the Kwekwecnewtxw Watch House and at the Unist’ot’en Camp continues now. The First Nations resistance in these camps remains unwavering as the Federal government relentlessly pushes forward it’s own agenda. Construction of the respective pipelines has begun in some areas of the construction routes, while it is halted in others. Meanwhile international exposure of these resistances grows and the awareness of the catastrophic effects of climate change takes hold on an increasing scale worldwide. At it’s core, the Canadian settler state was not founded on ideals and economic strategies that prioritize a reciprocal relationship with land, unlike the First Nations. Without aiming to dehumanize the state and the majority of it’s leaders, is it possible to assert that the social construction of the world these leaders see is in need of a major paradigm shift if they are to make sustainable decisions for the health and longevity of our planet? If First Nations’ values were implemented at a federal level, what would the result be? It must be noted that not all First Nations oppose the pipeline, in the same way that not all federal government members approve it.

In the wake of colonialism, the Canadian government assumes it’s right to make decisions for the land it calls Canada, and meanwhile pockets of Indigenous resistance surge and remind those listening that the land we live on cannot be claimed, owned, or exploited without consequences. A process of healing from the effects of of a non reciprocal relationship to the earth is vital in order to ensure the health of future generations.