FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30,, 2023
Contact: Jennifer Wickham
Gidimt’en Checkpoint Media Coordinator
778-210-0067, yintahaccess@gmail.com 

Land Defender Begins Trial in Wet’suwet’en Pipeline Conflict

Injunction Criminal Contempt Charges Threaten
Indigenous Sovereignty

Unceded Wet’suwet’en Yintah (so-called Smithers, BC) – Land Defender, Sabina Dennis, Dakelh, faces criminal contempt charges as trial is set to begin October 30th, 10:00 am PST at the Smithers courthouse. This week of trial will focus primarily on Dennis’ arrest from November 18, 2021, following a 56 day occupation of the Coastal GasLink Drill Pad Site, a highly contested river crossing site underneath the Wedzin Kwah (Morice River).

Dennis is one of the 32 people arrested between November 18 & 19th 2021, during militarized raids of the Gidimt’en Checkpoint and Coyote Camp. This is one of the few cases from three large scale police raids on Wet’suwet’en Yintah since 2019 that have gone to trial. 

A 2018 Injunction from Justice Church continues to threaten the right for Wet’suwet’en people to steward their lands, and has enabled large scale police violence against the Wet’suwet’en and their allies. These upcoming trials will be overseen by Justice Tammen. Dennis and others arrested at Coyote camp potentially face 30 days jail time if convicted. 

“We denounce the criminalization of our relatives at the hands of the RCMP and Canadian justice system, we are the rightful caretakers of this land. Our law has existed for far longer than the courts that continue to oppress our people. This is another attempt to undermine our power as Wet’suwet’en people for the benefit and greed of Industry.” says DinÏ Ze Woos.

Despite years of resistance, and lack of free prior and informed consent, the colonial courts continue to uphold the status quo of destroying Indigenous land and violently removing Wet’suwet’en people and their guests from the Yintah.

Dennis states “We need to stand in the power of our laws as Indigenous Peoples, this is an assertion of our ancient law and continuation of our resistance. We will stand together as Indigenous nations with a long history of standing up for our people and our lands”

The remainder of the arrestees, including Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, will be facing trial dates in late November and scheduled to finish in the New Year. In addition to these cases, DinÏ ze’ Dtsa’hyl Adam Gagnon will complete his criminal trial. 

Upcoming Trial Dates in Smithers Courthouse:
October 30-November 3, 2023: Sabina Dennis 
November 14-17, 2023: DinÏ ze’ Dsta’hyl Adam Gagnon
November 27-December 1, 2023: Coyote Camp Trial
January 8-19, 2024: Coyote Camp Trial

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 29, 2023
Contact: Jennifer Wickham, Media Coordinator, Gidim’ten Checkpoint, yintahaccess@gmail.com, 778-210-0067

URGENT MEDIA ADVISORY: RCMP C-IRG Raid Wet’suwet’en Village Site, Make 5 Arrests 

VIDEO AVAILABLE HERE

WET’SUWET’EN TERRITORY (Smithers, BC) – This morning, a large force of RCMP C-IRG raided a Gidimt’en village site and arrested five land and water defenders, mostly Indigenous women, including Gidimt’en Chief Woos’ daughter. The raid accompanied a search warrant for theft under $5000 with no clear relation to the Gidimt’en village site.

This large-scale action by the RCMP’s Community Industry Response Group (C-IRG) involved more than a dozen police vehicles and officers drawn from throughout British Columbia. The arrests come just weeks after the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) announced they have “initiated a systemic investigation into the activities and operations of the RCMP "E" Division Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG).”

In the days leading to this police action, RCMP C-IRG have been found patrolling Wet’suwet’en traplines and cultural use areas, harassing and intimidating Wet’suwet’en members and disrupting constitutionally protected Wet’suwet’en cultural activities. Members of a private security firm hired by Coastal Gaslink pipeline, Forsythe, have also escalated harassment and surveillance efforts against Wet’suwet’en members in recent days. 

Both the RCMP’s C-IRG unit and Forsythe are named as defendants in an ongoing lawsuit launched by Wet’suwet’en members, which alleges that police and private security have launched a coordinated campaign of harassment and intimidation in an effort to force Wet’suwet’en people to abandon their unceded territories. 

Sleydo’, spokesperson for Gidimt’en Checkpoint, said: 

“This harassment and intimidation is exactly the kind of violence designed to drive us from our homelands. The constant threat of violence and criminalization for merely existing on our own lands must have been what our ancestors felt when Indian agents and RCMP were burning us out of our homes as late as the 50s in our area. The colonial project continues at the hands of industry’s private mercenaries–C-IRG”

The arrests come days before Indigenous delegates are set to arrive at Royal Bank of Canada’s Annual General Meeting to oppose expansion of fossil fuels without consent on their territories, including Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs who oppose RBC’s funding of the Coastal Gaslink pipeline.

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chief Na’Moks offered the following:

“This is harassment, and exactly what Royal Bank of Canada is funding. Ahead of its shareholder meeting next week, RBC continues to fund corporate colonialism, and displace Indigenous peoples from our lands at gunpoint – all for a fracked gas pipeline we cannot afford now or in the future. In the context of the theft of our ancestral land, alleging stolen saws and clothing is outrageous.”

At the time of this media advisory, RCMP remained on site at the Gidimt’en Checkpoint and Tsel Kiy Kwa village site citing a separate warrant. 

Wet’suwet’en defendants allege Charter violations, seek stay of court proceedings

PRINCE GEORGE, BC - February 28, 2023: A dozen Wet’suwet’en land defenders and supporters have applied to the Supreme Court of British Columbia to have criminal contempt charges stayed in light of widespread Charter violations stemming from police misconduct.

Alleging an “abuse of process,” the court applications highlight the RCMP’s “disproportionate and excessive use of force” against peaceful land defenders during a series of militarized police raids in November of 2021. In violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the applications allege that arrestees were variously denied their right to security of person, subjected to unreasonable search and seizure, arbitrarily detained and imprisoned, and denied reasonable bail without just cause.

 “The RCMP/CIRG’s enforcement tactics impaired the Applicant’s individual Charter rights, but the police misconduct also displays a systemic disregard for Indigenous rights and sovereignty and the Charter more generally,” the court filings state.

The applications are grounded in Wet’suwet’en law and sovereignty, situating the arrests within a larger context of Wet’suwet’en-Canadian relations. Each arrest took place on the unceded lands of the Wet’suwet’en Nation. Defendants acted under the lawful authority of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs to uphold decisions made collectively by the nation in its governance hall (bahlats) to protect unceded Wet’suwet’en lands and waters.

“The Wet’suwet’en have asserted a right to live on and protect their territories for thousands of years, primarily through the feast hall governance system carried out communally by its clans and house groups,” the application states. “The impacts of the manner of enforcement are not limited to the individuals arrested, but extend to the efforts at reconciliation between the Wet’suwet’en and the federal and provincial governments,” it continues.

In a 2020 Memorandum of Understanding, the governments of Canada and British Columbia recognized the Wet’suwet’en hereditary system as “a legitimate government with title” to 22,000km2 of unceded land. Despite this, the RCMP have repeatedly undertaken large scale, violent invasions of Wet’suwet’en traditional territories and have established a sustained campaign of surveillance, intimidation, and harassment, which is currently the subject of a separate lawsuit by Wet’suwet’en members.

  “Society is rightly concerned with how a special unit of RCMP (C-IRG) acts with impunity, using racist language and violence against unarmed indigenous women. Now it's in the courts hands to decide if this is still acceptable in 2023,” says Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, spokesperson for the Gidimt’en Checkpoint and one of the twelve defendants seeking a stay of criminal contempt charges.

Contact:
Jennifer Wickham,
Media Coordinator, Gidim’ten Checkpoint
yintahaccess@gmail.com
250-917-8392

WET’SUWET’EN STRONG

Under ‘Anuc niwh’it’en (Wet’suwet’en law) all five clans of the Wet’suwet’en have unanimously opposed all pipeline proposals and have not provided free, prior, and informed consent to Coastal Gaslink/ TransCanada to do work on Wet’suwet’en lands.

The Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs represent a governance system that predates colonization and the Indian Act which was created in an attempt to outlaw Indigenous peoples from their lands. 

The Wet'suwet'en have continued to exercise their unbroken, unextinguished, and unceded right to govern and occupy their lands by continuing and empowering the clan-based governance system to this day.  Under Wet'suwet'en law, clans have a responsibility and right to control access to their territories. 

The validity of the Wet'suwet'en house and clan system was verified in the Delgamuukw and Red Top decisions that uphold the authority of the hereditary system on Wet'suwet'en traditional territories.

At this very moment a standoff is unfolding, the outcome of which will determine the future of Northern “BC” for generations to come. Will the entire region be overtaken by the fracking industry, or will Indigenous people asserting their sovereignty be successful in repelling the assault on their homelands?

The future is unwritten. What comes next will be greatly influenced by actions taken in the coming days and weeks. This is a long-term struggle, but it is at a critical moment. That is why we say: The Time is Now. If you are a person of conscience and you understand the magnitude of what is at stake, ask yourself how you might best support the grassroots Wet’suwet’en.

*Please note that the camp sign up found by following this link is for the unist’ot’en Camp. The Gitimt’en camp is a distinct project with different sign up protocols.

As Coastal GasLink attempts to destroy our homelands, we are surveilled, harassed, and criminalized even when we pray for our yintah.

GIDIMT’EN YINTAH ACCESS

Gidimt'en is one of five clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nation. The creation of the Gidimt'en Camp was announced in our balhats (feast hall), with the support of all chiefs present.

The Gidimt’en Checkpoint is controlling access to Cas Yikh House territory within the larger Gidimt’en clan territory at 44.5 km on the Morice River FSR. The collective House Chiefs made the decision to support Gidimt’en Checkpoint December 14th, 2018. The five clans ratified the decision in a balhats (feast) in Witset on December 16th, 2018.

On Friday, December 21st, a judge granted Coastal Gas Link an extension to their injunction against individuals at the Unist’ot’en Camp, applying it to all the forest service roads south of Houston.

Gidimt'en Checkpoint was established on the road leading to the Unist’ot’en Camp. CGL’s lawyers have been arguing that the Unist’ot’en are essentially a rogue group without a rightful claim to aboriginal title. The Gidimt'en intervention shows that the Unist’ot’en are not alone, and that the hereditary chiefs are prepared to uphold Wet’suwet’en law by refusing to grant CGL consent to access the Yintah.