Unist’ot’en Camp
Beautiful recap of our Chiefs’ voyage on Mohawk Territory with Chief Woos’ reflections on the importance of this moment for all people. All our love and solidarity to our Mohawk brothers and sisters, this is the beginning of a long and fruitful friendship
https://www.facebook.com/unistoten/

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Wet’suwet’en Access Point on Gidimt’en Territory3 hrs · 

I am “inconvenienced” by the Wet’suwet’en protests. I live close to Clark and Hastings , am dependent on public transit, walk slowly, and use a cane. So when the buses are rerouted it is quite inconvenient for me. But , I need to talk about scale and proportionality here. Yes it is a drag and inconvenient for me, but it is far more “inconvenient” to have a pipeline you did not agree to traversing your land. It is far more inconvenient to have to live with boil water advisories. It was far more inconvenient to have your children forcibly removed and sent to residential schools, and it is totally inconvenient to have your unceded land stolen.
So while walking the extra way to or from the bus stop (and finding it) is inconvenient and not easy for me it is nothing in comparison to what Indigenous peoples and especially the We’tsuwe’ten are facing.
And, the courage of the protestors give me convenient hope.

MArion Pollack February 25 at 3:48 PM

Unist’ot’en Camp
Wet’suwet’en Territory, February 27th, 2020

We are seeing many pre-emptive and presumptive news reports, erroneously confirming that we have come to an agreement with the RCMP and the state. Before talks had even begun, mainstream and right wing media was reporting an end to the discussion, seeking to quell dissent and silence support for our position.

We confirm that discussions have begun today, but the terms of the discussions have yet to be determined and agreed upon.

We have not yet received, as a gesture of respect from the RCMP, the written confirmation that our demands will be met and upheld while discussions are ongoing, nor that discussions will continue after February 28th.

Please stand by and watch our pages and that of Gidimt’en Checkpoint for progress and updates. We thank you for your continued solidarity and support in this pivotal and stressful time.

Media Contact:
Freda Huson
Tsewedielh@gmail.com
Jen Wickham
Media Coordinator
778-210-0067

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Unist’ot’en Camp· 19 hrs ·  2.27.2020
At 8:53 am this morning the RCMP was seen patrolling the Morice Forestry Road, breaking the agreement with Wet’suwet’en hereditary cheifs to withdraw RCMP during talks with the Federal and Provincial Government. Solidarity actions continue across Canada demanding full withdrawal of RCMP on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory.

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Unist’ot’en Camp
23 hrs ·
For immediate release Thursday February 27th

At 8am this morning, Kingston community members took to the tracks, occupying the main railroad through Kingston at the Gardiners Street Overpass. We act in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and the Mohawk Nation, against the RCMP, the OPP, the governments of Canada, BC and Ontario, and against the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

The Kanyen’kehá:ka (Mohawk people) who we have worked with in the past taught us about the Two Row Wampum and our responsibility to do our own organizing in our own majority-settler community, and to hold our government to account.

We join the tens of thousands of Indigenous People, settlers and immigrants on this land known as Turtle Island to disrupt the only thing that government and corporate power recognizes: the conduits of corporate interests and business as usual. The railroad has always been a colonial tool for resource extraction and is a key component of an economy that is stripping the earth, and leaving its water poisoned, its animals pushed to extinction, and its climate in destructive chaos.

We are acting for Indigenous sovereignty, and the end of an economy which values profit over people and the land.

We oppose the recent acts of brutality by the OPP against Mohawk warriors on their land in Tyendinaga. These attacks have been justified by suggesting that a Mohawk presence on their own land disrupts Canadian communities’ access to food, fuel, and chlorine to purify water.

At the same time, access to clean water and food has not been a reality for many Indigenous communities for decades. We ask you what it says about the priorities of the Canadian government that they will act within days to ensure the movement of goods to bolster settler wellness, but continue to ignore toxic water alerts and mercury poisoning in communities occupied by the original caretakers of this land?

Unist’ot’en Camp
https://www.facebook.com/unistoten/

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Canada is at a critical crossroads. The Wet’suwet’en conflict brings us to a deciding moment in Canada, one that will shape the future of the nation. The divisive conflict is about land, Indigenous law, human rights and the nature of civil disobedience.

Many Canadians feel inconvenienced, some outraged, by protests and national blockades. Efforts to resolve the conflict have highlighted the longstanding tensions between Canadian law and Indigenous land rights.

The national support for the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs includes the support of an increasing number of First Nations and non-Indigenous Canadians from coast to coast to demand the removal of the RCMP presence on Wet’suwet’en territory.

Indigenous resistance to encroachment on their own lands is being viewed as unlawful rather than as a conscientious act of civil disobedience, similar to historical figures like Rosa Parks, M.K. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Peaceful demonstrations by Indigenous Peoples and allies are acts of conscientious objection to laws that need to be re-examined if we are to move to peaceful co-existence, joint resource governance and wealth management.

Indigenous protesters and allies are standing up against unjust laws by making injustice visible to a larger public.

Increasing numbers of non-Indigenous people are demonstrating their support for the hereditary chiefs across Canada. Those people have been viewed by the premier of Alberta as creating “anarchy”, and by the leader of the Conservative Party as needing to “check their privilege” rather than as people of conscience engaging in the right to protest.

Indigenous civil rights blockades should be met with a new diplomacy, not violence by Terry Mitchell, The Conversation, February 27, 2020

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The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples delineates and defines the individual and collective rights of Indigenous peoples, including their ownership rights to cultural and ceremonial expression, identity, language, employment, health, education and other issues. It “emphasizes the rights of Indigenous peoples to maintain and strengthen their own institutions, cultures and traditions, and to pursue their development in keeping with their own needs and aspirations”. It “prohibits discrimination against indigenous peoples”, and it “promotes their full and effective participation in all matters that concern them and their right to remain distinct and to pursue their own visions of economic and social development”.

Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Article 10 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states: Indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories. No relocation shall take place without the free, prior and informed consent of the indigenous peoples concerned and after agreement on just and fair compensation and, where possible, with the option of return.

UNDRIP Article 10: No Forced Removal