A charter plane full of RCMP have landed at the Smithers airport, with between 30 and 50 officers equipped with camo duffel bags.
Police loaded onto two buses and unmarked, rental pick-up trucks and headed out towards the yintah. An RCMP helicopter is reported to be heading to the area. Throughout today, helicopters have circled over our camps, conducting low, deliberate flights for surveillance.
The road into our yintah remains blocked by RCMP at 28km, with hereditary chiefs, food, and medical supplies being turned away.
In the middle of a climate emergency, as highways and roads are being washed away, and entire communities are being flooded and evacuated, the Province has chosen to send busloads of police to criminalize Wet’suwet’en water protectors and to work as a mercenary force for oil and gas.
We will not back down. We need all eyes on Wet’suwet’en Yintah. We need boots on the ground. We need solidarity actions throughout Canada.
Comments Off on Rush Hour Traffic Blocked in Montreal in Solidarity with Gidimt’en and Likhts’amisyu
Nov162021
Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info
Early this morning during rush hour, a group of settlers blocked the westbound lanes of Notre-Dame Street with flaming piles of tires and picnic tables, in solidarity with the Gidimt’en and Likhts’amisyu Clans of the Wet’suwet’en people. Notre-Dame is easily choked with rush hour traffic on mornings like this, and even temporary blockades here can cause backups to traffic heading downtown, as well as slow down trucks entering and exiting the adjacent Port of Montreal.
The Wet’suwet’en have been fighting the incursion of pipelines on their Yintah (territory) for over a decade, and have been resisting settler colonialism and the Canadian state for much longer. Currently, a battle is raging against the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline, which, if completed, would bring natural gas to an LNG facility in Kitimat, BC, cutting through Wet’suwet’en territory. In 2020, following a militarized raid on Wet’suwet’en land defenders, a massive wave of solidarity actions known as #ShutDownCanada swept the country, paralyzing railway traffic for weeks and disrupting ports and highways.
On September 25th 2021, Gidimt’en Clan members and supporters occupied the site of a drill pad which would have been used to drill a path for the pipeline underneath the Wedzin Kwa, with devastating effects on all the life that relies on this river. This action established Coyote Camp, which has remained in place blocking access to the drill pad ever since. Sleydo’ (Molly Wickham), a supporting chief of Cas Yikh (Grizzly House) of the Gidimt’en Clan and spokesperson for Coyote Camp, has been calling for solidarity actions across the country consistently since then.
In late October 2021, Chief Dst’hyl of the Likhts’amisyu Clan removed batteries from CGL machines on his clan’s territory, asserting that there would be no further work done on his land. Shortly thereafter, he was arrested, along with a Gitxsan supporter. In response, a highway blockade was held for 5 days by members of Six Nations in so-called southern Ontario.
On November 14th, Gidimt’en Clan members and supporters enforced an eviction notice that was initially delivered to CGL in 2020 by the Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs. CGL workers were given 8 hours to evacuate Cas Yikh territory before Morice River Forest Service Road, the logging road providing the only access to the territory, was shut down permanently. When only a small number of workers left, CGL was given a 2 hour extension to leave. When this deadline passed, the road was disabled, effectively preventing all work from taking place on Cas Yikh territory. A solidarity rail blockade was carried out in nearby Gitxsan territory shortly thereafter.
The events of the past few days represent a major regaining of territory for Gidimt’en and their supporters, and the potential for another wave of solidarity shut downs across so-called Canada. While it remains to be seen how the RCMP will respond, we want to make clear that we are watching from afar, and we will continue to act in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders however we can to “shut shit down”. We unconditionally support their fight for sovereignty, self-determination, and for the lands and waters on which they depend. We encourage others to respond to the calls to action by disrupting colonial infrastructure wherever they are.
Yesterday, we took our land back. With our Haudenosaunee allies, we enforced our ancient trespass laws and have permanently closed access to our territory. The Morice Forest Service Road has been destroyed and access to Coastal Gaslink is no longer possible.
Yesterday, we took our land back.
With our Haudenosaunee allies, we enforced our ancient trespass laws and have permanently closed access to our territory. The Morice Forest Service Road has been destroyed and access to Coastal Gaslink is no longer possible. pic.twitter.com/TcM0pOi4j6
We are upholding our responsibility to defend our sacred headwaters and put an end to the destruction of the Yintah.
We will never give up. Join the resistance and come to the yintah.
More on the eviction via Gidimt’en Checkpoint and It’s Going Down:
Wet’suwet’en people are once again in control of Wet’suwet’en yintah! Dinï ze’ Woos asserts jurisdiction by enforcing our laws with the 2021 Evacuation Order. The Morice River FSR has been disabled, blocking trespassers from our yintah!
Sunday morning, members of the Gidimt’en Clan evicted Coastal GasLink (CGL) employees from unceded Wet’suwet’en territory, upholding ancient Wet’suwet’en trespass laws and an eviction notice first served to CGL in 2020 by the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs.
Employees were granted 8 hours to peacefully evacuate the area, before the main road into the Lhudis Bin territory of the Gidimt’en clan was closed.
Sleydo’, Gidimt’en spokesperson, commented on the eviction enforcement:
The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs have never ceded, surrendered, or lost in war, title to this territory. That means that what they say goes. The eviction order from January 4th, 2020 says that CGL has to remove themselves from the territory and not return. They have been violating this law for too long.
Yesterday also marked Day 50 of the establishment of Coyote Camp, where Gidimt’en members, under the direction of Chief Woos, have reoccupied Cas Yikh territory and successfully blocked Coastal GasLink’s efforts to drill beneath Wet’suwet’en Headwaters.
Comments Off on Report-back for Wednesday, October 27, 2021 – Gidimt’en Yintah
Nov022021
Anonymous submission to MTL Counter-info
On wednesday morning an action was put into effect in response to the posturing of RCMP in Likhts’amisyu territory which is approx 40 km away from the Gidimt’en drill site occupation. The action was in solidarity with Chief Dtsa’hyl who, while acting as an enforcement officer for Likhts’amisyu clan disabled 10 heavy machines which were being used to destroy their unceded territory and build a new road, which CGL says they own. It was assumed by police presence and a variety of other factors that enforcement would occur, and it did. The main objective was to show force, solidarity, and defiance to the incursion of the Canadian state and industry on Wet’suwet’en Yintah.
The action consisted of several components and was completed without arrests or injury. Tactics were deployed successfully and though police presence and security/worker aggression had potential for escalation and direct conflict, none occured.
At several points along the Morice West FSR, on Gidimt’en territory, trees were felled and other detritus was put into the road, along with improvised caltrops. This only occured once Dtsa’hyl was arrested and reinforcements were deployed by the RCMP. Over a dozen CGL workers were successfully turned around at one side of the blocks, after a tow rope they were using to pull away a tree was severed with an axe and they were instructed to return to their vehicles. On the other side of the blockade several security workers were also approached by people in bloc which resulted in their immediate retreat. The space was held while other tactics were deployed further down the road, and when it was clear that heavy machinery and RCMP were nearing the front lines to remove the debris, a blockade was set on fire and Gidimten supporters evacuated into the woods and safety.
The fight is just beginning. Solidarity with Dtsa’hyl. Solidarity with Likhts’amisyu. Solidarity with Gidimt’en. Solidarity with all Indigenous people fighting for their land and water. We keep us safe.
RBC finances the Coastal GasLink pipeline. On the night of Tuesday October 26, anarchists in Montreal coordinated some actions in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en land defenders. We smashed the windows at 5 RBC branches across the city, and used a fire-extinguisher filled with paint to vandalize the facade of another.
In the lead up to the Olympics on stolen Native land in 2010, rebels across so-called Canada attacked the sponsor RBC. Over a decade later, it is time to recreate this inspiring wave.
If RBC wants to fuck around, RBC is going to find out. The institutions, companies, and individuals responsible for ecocidal industry have names and addresses. RBC branches, ATMs, CEOs and board members are no exception.
It’s easy: a well-masked crew or individual emerges from an alley, takes a look around to make sure that the coast is clear, then dedicates under 30 seconds to throwing rocks through the windows before disappearing.
For more tips, read “A Recipe For Nocturnal Direct Actions”, “How to Fill Fire Extinguishers With Paint” and “How To Safely Post Communiques” at mtlcounterinfo.org/how-to
The Tails operating system was used to make this video, and to submit it.
In a video statement posted late Wednesday, Gidimt’en Checkpoint spokesperson Sleydo’ reported that Chief Dtsa’Hyl of the Likhts’amisyu and Kolin Sutherland-Wilson of the Gitxsan fireweed clan were arrested by RCMP forces, following growing tensions at the presence of Canadian authorities on Wet’suwet’en territory. Over the last few days, blockades against RCMP and Coastal Gaslink (CGL) personnel have been erected and machinery has been “decommissioned” and shut down.
Sleydo’ also stated that more law enforcement were on their way to make potentially further arrests, and support was urgently needed. “We need everybody to get your boots on the ground. Please come to camp. We need support for Likhts’amisyu. Support the Wet’suwet’en in the struggle that we’ve been on for ten years now. We need everybody to just shut shit down. Wherever you are, whatever you can do. If you can’t get here, you need to start making noise, start making a fuss. Get things going wherever you are.”
UPDATE 10/29/2021: Dtsa’Hyl and Kolin have been released.
Journalist Michael Toledano, who was been reporting on the ongoing struggle against the RCMP invasion and CGL resource extraction, reported earlier in the day:
After Coastal Gaslink pipeline workers used heavy machines to block Wet’suwet’en chiefs from their own land, Likhts’amisyu chief Dsta’hyl disabled the equipment – turning CGL’s blockade against them. The Likht’samisyu have now decommissioned 10 pieces of heavy equipment.
We’re more than a month into the 3rd wave of blockades against the Coastal Gaslink pipeline. Gidimten has blocked the site where CGL plans to drill beneath Wet’suwet’en headwaters since late September. Likhtsamisyu has used heavy equipment to control access to a man camp.
After Coastal Gaslink pipeline workers used heavy machines to block Wet'suwet'en chiefs from their own land, @Likhtsamisyu chief Dsta'hyl disabled the equipment – turning CGL's blockade against them.
“Justice Must Be Served! We are Dealing with Snakes with No Head.” ~ Dtsa’hyl pic.twitter.com/JU65ofe1Ti
— Likhts’amisyu (Fireweed) Clan (@Likhtsamisyu) October 28, 2021
This is #LandBack. There’s no framing this in any Western #colonial lens because colonialism has no idea as to how LandBack can be implemented. They only know that if they relabel it within their own framework it might mean something else. We won’t let you do that.
Yesterday, Toledano reported that indigenous blockades had even shut down access to a “man-camp,” or encampment containing a high concentration of pipeline workers:
The Likhts’amisyu clan then posted:
After pushing through a Coastal Gaslink barricade of heavy machinery, Likhts’amisyu chiefs and supporters have occupied the far reaches of Wet’suwet’en territory. They are controlling vehicle traffic into a man camp. CGL equipment is blocking Wet’suwet’en from pushing further.
5/ A massive man camp has also been installed and occupied. Workers here will likely have to be flown out, because Coastal Gaslink security has barricaded the road. pic.twitter.com/DD0ONQiKVk
This blockade was put in place after Likhts’amisyu Chiefs and supporters were stopped from entering their own territory on Sunday, Oct 24th, 2021, and worked quickly to establish a camp on the road where they were stopped. Read more on Instagram (via anonymous proxy).
This blockade follows Dinï ze’ Woos officially opening a cabin at the Coyote Camp:
[O]n the drillpad site and invites the ancestors to come and stand with us. Before contact, hundreds of thousands of us were here. We coexisted with the animals and protected the Wedzin Kwa since time immemorial. We will always defend Wedzin Kwa River. Dinï ze’ Woos delivers a resolute message to CGL investors, “[CGL] said they were going to drill under this river…And that won’t happen. We’re not going to let that happen.”
Two weeks ago, scenes of Native land defenders pushing RCMP officers out of the territory to cries of, “You are on the land of Chief Woos!,” went viral, as mass wooden blockades were defended from ongoing police harassment and entrance into the territory.
The Montreal International Anarchist Theatre Festival (MIATF), the only festival in the world dedicated to anarchist theatre, is currently seeking plays, texts, monologues, dance-theatre, puppet shows, mime, in English and French, on the theme of anarchism or any subject pertaining to anarchism, i.e. against all forms of oppression including the State, capitalism, war, patriarchy, etc. We will also consider pieces exploring ecological, social and economic justice, racism, feminism, poverty, class and gender oppression from an anarchist perspective. We welcome work from anarchist and non-anarchist writers.
LIHT’SAMISYU TERRITORY – On October 17th, Lihkt’samisyu Chiefs Dsta’hyl and Tsebesa took action as Coastal Gaslink workers continued to trespass on Wet’suwet’en territory in violation of Wet’suwet’en laws and Canada’s own constitution. The Chiefs instructed Coastal Gaslink to remove all equipment from Lihkts’amisyu territory immediately, indicating that otherwise it would be decommissioned and seized by the Likht’samisyu Clan in accordance with its laws.
A video released by the YouTube channel Fireweed Solidarity shows Chief Dsta’hyl pulling up to a Coastal Gaslink worker who asks him, “What are you doing up on the road?” Chief Dsta’hyl replied, “This is our land. I’m allowed to be here, and you’re not. You guys are trespassing. I’m the Lihkt’samisyu security officer here as well as the enforcement officer. You guys are not allowed to be here. I gave you guys warning last year.”
The worker replied, “I know nothing about this” and Chief Dsta’hyl continued, “I gave all of you warning about this last year and I’ve got it all on video that you guys are not supposed to be here. I let everybody know that your equipment is going to be subject to seizure. We are going to decommission and seize your equipment. You can tell that to the head office and have them get in touch with me if you want.”
Coastal Gas Link has been damaging wetlands that flow to Parrot Lake, where the Lihkt’samisyu have reclaimed a traditional village site and established a community. The pipeline construction is the same one that the Wet’suwet’en people have been resisting for the last several years and which burst into national attention with the 2020 #shutdowncanada movement.
Chief Dsta’hyl seizing the CGL equipment on Oct. 17 2021.
Equipment seized by order of the Lihkt’samisyu Clan Government
Later the same day, Chiefs Dsta’hyl and Tsebesa went to the location where CGL’s excavators were located and decommissioned an excavator. According to video of the incident released on the Sovereign Likhts’amisyu Facebook page, when the Chiefs approached CGL workers, Chief Dsta’hyl said, “I am the Lihkts’amisyu Enforcement Officer. I am asking you guys to all, please, leave.”
Chief Tsebesa stated, “Obviously CGL has never gotten consent from any of our head Chiefs or anything so this is the way our Chiefs are dealing with it. Like I said to you before; our law, our way. That’s all.”
Chief Dsta’hyl then proceeded to affix vinyl stickers to the side of the machine, indicating that it had been seized “By order of the Lihkt’samisyu Clan Government.” The CGL workers stood by and recorded the scene on video cameras without interfering.
Standing on top of the machinery, Chief Dsta’hyl addressed the workers saying, “We have to report back to the Clan Government in order to enforce the law. You guys are trespassing and we want to make sure that you guys know that we mean business when we say that we’re going to seize equipment from you guys. We are going to seize this piece of equipment and once we seize it, it is property of Lihkts’amisyu Clan Government. We’ll give you a chance to get it back and we will have the Chief Justice Hanamuxw here of the Gitsxan Court that will be proceeding with the court case for you guys. So it’s up to you guys to prove that you are not trespassing on Wetsuwet’en land.”
Chief Dsta’hyl then proceeded to decommission one vehicle, and stated that, “it’s the beginning of many that are going to be decommissioned over the next few days there until CGL moves all of their equipment off of Lihkts’amisyu territory. So it’s going to be really important there that they adhere to our message because we are basically governed under Gitsxan/Wet’suwet’en Law. So now what happens is our government is going to be looking after our interests ourselves on all of the land, logging, mining, and everything else that is on our territory and this is just the beginning.”
The site of the seized CGL equipment on Oct. 17 2021.
In response to the call for a week of solidarity actions to defend Wedzin Kwa, about 75 people gathered in Kingston, Ontario on Thursday October 13 for a Wet’suwet’en solidarity rally and march with banners, music and chants. We met up in Skeleton Park and listened to a few different speeches – one person spoke about how indigenous land defenders are leading the way in the fight against climate change and ecological destruction. Another shared an excerpt from a zine critiquing state-led reconciliation efforts. One person gave a powerful speech about the necessity of clean water for indigenous communities and for everyone, and reminded us all that showing up and participating in this struggle was meaningful and important. We marched down Princess St and handed out hundreds of flyers to a largely supportive crowd.
The Wet’suwet’en fight to defend their unceded territory from colonial invasion and resource extraction has inspired us for a long time. We were also very inspired by the successive waves of Shut Down Canada solidarity actions that took place all across so-called Canada right up until spring of 2020, including here in the Kingston area. We are angry that Coastal GasLink and the RCMP continue their attempt to push through this destructive pipeline project – but we will say that it felt good to come together in solidarity once again, break through some of the lingering pandemic isolation, and recognize the commitment, energy and strength that exist in our community.
We hope this small contribution to the Week of Action sends hope and encouragement to the folks at Coyote Camp, members of the Gidimt’en clan and their allies, currently holding it down and blocking construction. We are watching, we are ready to act and we’ve got your back.
On October 9th 2021, as part of the Week of Action in solidarity with the Gidimt’en, some folks in Montreal shutdown trains and took the streets for a demo. This action forshadows that if Canada and the RCMP continue their aggression, they will likely be met once again with coordinated, nation-wide actions to #ShutDownCanada.
