By Julia Conley, Common Dreams.ย Originally published onย Common Dreamsย underย CCย BY–SAย 3.0ย US.
Indigenous rights supporters held solidarity actions across Canada over the weekend as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police continued their raids on Wet’suwet’en land in Britishย Columbia.
Theย Unist’ot’en Campย reported on itsย official Facebook pageย Sunday that at least 21 people had been arrested since Thursday, when, asย Common Dreamsย reported,ย the RCMP conducted a violent pre-dawn raid to fulfill an injunction on behalf of Coastal GasLink, which aims to build a pipeline in Wet’suwet’en territory in northern Britishย Columbia.ย
The camp uploaded several videos over the weekend of the resistance to the police, who were reportedlyย set to meetย with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs Saturday to discuss reconciliation regarding the injunction, which was filed despite a long-standing Canadian Supreme Court decision stating the Wet’suwet’en had not given up their homeland in the province. The RCMP reportedly refused to attend the meeting after arrivingย late.
According toย Ricochet,ย the RCMP expanded its โexclusion zoneโ Saturday, taking control of most of the territory of the Gidimt’en, one of the five clans of theย Wet’suwet’en.
โThe exclusion zone has been created by the RCMP to force Wet’suwet’en land defenders off our land,โ the Unist’ot’en Camp said in a statement. โIt is a colonial and criminalizing tool to illegally and arbitrarily extend RCMP authority onto our lands. The massive exclusion zone, completely under RCMP authoritarian discretion, falls outside the injunction area. Chiefs and Wet’suwet’en people are illegally being denied access to their ownย territories.โ
The neighboring Gitxsan Nation led a solidarity action on Saturday, blocking a rail line in protest of the RCMP‘s actions, the injunction, and the Canadian government’s failure to intervene on behalf of the Wet’suwet’en people’sย rights.
โThe Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs and their house members have fought the forcible removal from their territories as they seek to protect their sovereign rights and protect the land, water and air,โ Gitxsan hereditary chief Norman Stephensย toldย Richochet. โIf their rights are being trampled, our rights are beingย trampled.โ
More raw footage from Jerome Turner of the Gitxsan blockade of rail lines near New Hazelton, B.C. happening now in solidarity with the #Wetsuweten. pic.twitter.com/4kUx5Epdas
โ Ricochet (@ricochet_en) February 8, 2020
Other rail blockades wereย reportedย across the country, and solidarity actions took the form of rallies and protests at government buildings in Canada as well as in the Unitedย States.
#WetsuwetenSolidarity rally now blocking John Counter Blvd at train tracks. #ygk pic.twitter.com/fYJ4WRtZ0u
โ Kingstonist (@kingstonist) February 9, 2020
52 hours in, and this Indigenous youth-led lockdown at the BC Legislature continues to grow.
Ignore it or not, @jjhorgan, @JustinTrudeau: the solidarity with Wetโsuwetโen isnโt going anywhere.#WesuwetenStrong #WetsuwetenSolidarity #cdnpoli #bcpoli #NoConsentNoPipeline pic.twitter.com/KHiKmXDGWF
โ Torrance Coste (@TorranceCoste) February 9, 2020
Action shoot from today in Seattle. Marched from Westlake to the canadian consulate #AllEyesOnWetsuweten #WetsuwetenSolidarity pic.twitter.com/8NddhUl3Tg
โ Ben Jones (@totalactivate) February 9, 2020
Climate action leader Greta Thunberg also expressed support for the Wet’suwet’en on socialย media.
Indigenous rights = Climate justice#WetsuwetenStrong #KeepItInTheGround https://t.co/1kYNumyoQT
โ Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) February 8, 2020
โIndigenous rights equals climate justice,โ Thunbergย tweeted.
Main image:ย Onย February 8, 2020, aย Wet’suwet’en solidarity event stopped aย Toronto train at Dufferin Street and Bartlett Avenue in Toronto. Credit:ย Jason Hargrove,ย CC BY–NDย 2.0
