Photo by Mike Graeme
Article 10 of the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) clearly states that “Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their land or territories.”
As supporters of UNDRIP, as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs), and the Paris Agreement, Photographers Without Borders (PWB) stands in solidarity with Unist’ot’en Camp, Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and Indigenous youth. We also recognize and stand with the masses of Indigenous people and non-Indigenous allies/Canadian citizens who have come together all across Canada to demonstrate their rejection of destructive policies, tactics, and and violations as enforced by the Trudeau government.
Photo by Nikki Sanchez
The Wet’suwet’en fought for many years in the Delgamuukw-Gisday’wa court case to have their sovereignty affirmed by Canadian law. In 1997, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Wet’suwet’en people, as represented by their hereditary leaders, had not given up rights and title to 22,000 square kilometers of Northern British Columbia.The Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs have maintained their use and occupancy of their lands and hereditary governance system. Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs are the Title Holders and maintain the authority and jurisdiction to make decisions on unceded lands.
TransCanada does not have the collective free, prior, and informed consent of the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs, all five of whom have rejected TransCanada’s Coastal GasLink pipeline.
We are at a historic juncture. We are witnessing the federal and provincial governments, RCMP, and Coastal GasLink/Transcanada openly violating Wet’suwet’en law, Canadian law, and international law at the same time that the Canadian Prime Minister frames his own government as making an effort towards reconciliation.
Reconciliation efforts have been completely and violently undermined for the aforementioned reasons.
Photo by Nikki Sanchez
In a country that has committed colonial violence in order to establish itself, and currently strives for democracy, it should mean that our government, corporate media and publicly-owned media take massive, peaceful actions and the law seriously; it should not mean spinning narratives in favour of corporations and private entities; it should not mean directing a colonial remnant/entity such as the Royal Canadian Mounted police (RCMP) to commit colonial violence against peoples who have the legal right to defend their land; it should mean having a Prime Minister who does not stand in front of cameras and lie about the law to millions of Canadians.
We condemn the actions taken by the RCMP, OPP and other militarized forces under the federal Trudeau government and other local provincial governments.
WAYS TO SUPPORT
Send AN EMAIL DIRECTLY to the provincial government of British Columbia and the federal government of Canada to respect the rights, jurisdiction, and laws of the Wet’suwet’en on their unceded territories.
Flood the Lines! Take one minute to make a call to the relevant provincial and federal Ministers. This link will connect you directly to their phone lines and there is a sample script. In, B.C. CLICK HERE AND REST OF CANADA HERE.
There are numerous actions and ways to support located at this resource HERE.
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