This story was originally published by Grist and appeared here as part of a collaboration with the Climate Channel

When Chief Dsta'hyl arrived on a Saturday morning in October, large construction vehicles rumbling back and forth on the icy soil. He watched an excavator dig the soil, its yellow hydraulic arm moving against the green backdrop of the forest he called home his whole life.

The area under construction is located in the territory of Wet'suwet'en, an aboriginal people currently known as British Columbia, Canada. As the support leader of the Likhts'amisyu clan, Dsta'hyl's mission is to enforce the Wet'suwet'en law in the area.

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The scene he witnessed-construction workers preparing to build pipelines through Wet'suwet'en territory without their consent-blatantly violated these laws. And Dsta'hyl has seen enough. After warning the site construction manager of their unauthorized entry, he arrived the next day and found a pair of orange vest safety subcontractors hired by TC Energy, which built a fracturing natural gas pipeline called Coastal GasLink or CGL. He informed them that he would grab one of their excavators, then step onto the heavy vehicle and disable it by disconnecting its battery and other components. Although he plans to leave the vehicle in place, Dsta'hyl said he wanted to make a statement to the company that the traditional leaders decided to expel it from their territory last year.

In a video posted on social media, a security officer asked Dsta'hyl what he wanted from them. He laughed hard.

"Leaving for you," he said.

In another clip, Dsta'hyl is standing in the car with the camera from the lower angle facing him. "You are trespassing illegally. We want to make sure you know that we are serious."

Soon after, the crew left the area and drove their pickup trucks and construction vehicles—without a big machine. Although Dsta'hyl communicated his message, the confiscation of assets was short-lived.

"In the middle of the night, they stole that one back," he said.

This incident is one of the latest deadlocks between Wet'suwet'en and Coastal GasLink regarding the proposed pipeline. If the pipeline is completed, 2 billion cubic feet of fractured natural gas will be transported daily from northeastern British Columbia to a proposed pipeline in the Pacific Ocean. Processing facility coast. Although the company stated that it had obtained all the permits and approvals required to construct the pipeline, the hereditary chiefs of the five tribes of Wet'suwet'en aboriginal people argued that because they never allowed the company to build on their territory violated their laws— —Not to mention Canada’s own laws.

The tribe organizes itself into five clans, each of which is subdivided into multiple "houses". The tribal leader is responsible for overseeing a specific area within the tribal traditional territory, which covers approximately 22,000 square kilometers (8,500 square miles). The hereditary chiefs made the decision to manage their territory.

"This is a fairly complex governance system," Dsta'hyl said, adding that Wet'suwet'en have been practicing these laws for thousands of years.

The Wet'suwet'en government was recognized in the 1997 Supreme Court of Canada ruling, which held that Aboriginal people never gave up their rights or ownership of their land. Moreover, like other aborigines in the westernmost provinces of Canada, Wet'suwet'en has never signed a treaty with the British royal family or the Canadian government, which means that their territory is unconcessed.

"They never surrender or cede their territory, so what they are dealing with is an intrusion by the pipeline company and the police, and they are basically invading," said Clifford Atleo (Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth), assistant professor of resources And the environmental management of Simon Fraser University, whose work focuses on indigenous governance.

"What Wet'suwet'en is doing is protecting their land," Atleo said.

Fearing the destruction of their territory and the harmful effects on water, wildlife and humans, some members of Wet'suwet'en have taken direct action on a series of proposed pipelines in the past decade. They set up dozens of checkpoints and cordon lines to prevent construction workers from entering Wet'suwet'en land and important locations. In 2009, members of the Unist'ot'en ​​clan established a checkpoint near the small bridge leading to their territory, and they have maintained it with indigenous and non-indigenous allies for more than a decade. Later, another blockade was established on the same road in the neighboring Gidimt'en territory. In January 2019, a series of police raids in the area attracted the attention of the international media.

On Tuesday, January 8, 2019, Vancouver International Solidarity with Wet'suwet'en rally. Photography: Jen Castro / Flickr

The officers, dressed in tactical equipment and armed with military rifles, stormed into the Gidimt'en checkpoint and arrested 14 land defenders while dismantling the camp. Documents obtained by the Guardian indicate that during the raid, the officers were prepared to use lethal force against the Wet'suwet'en land defenders.

A year later, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) raided the Unist'ot'en ​​camp. Several people were arrested in the 2020 raid. During this period, the police saw through a wooden roadblock with the words "reconciliation" and cleared it for the CGL staff to build a house on the territory of Wet'suwet'en. the way.

These two incidents once again sparked controversy over the RCMP’s strategy to suppress protests. Many critics emphasized the institution’s history of excessive use of force against indigenous land defenders and the violent anti-indigenous sentiment in its ranks. The RCMP claimed that raids and continued patrols in the area were necessary to enforce the court order prohibiting protesters from blocking CGL construction. Three years ago, the Provincial Court issued an injunction. Since then, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the company have used legal rulings to restrict access to certain areas and arrest land defenders who hindered the project.

But the indigenous people continued to resist the pipeline, and the strategy used was escalated over the weekend when members of the Gidimt'en clan demolished a section of the road used by the CGL to enter the Wet'suwet'en territory.

On Sunday morning, CGL employees and subcontractors received an immediate evacuation order. "You have eight hours to evacuate this territory peacefully," said Sleydo', the support leader of the Gidimt'en clan, who announced the news over the radio. "Failure to comply will result in the immediate closure of the road."

But the Defenders of the Land saw hardly any movement on this road-even after the company negotiated a two-hour extension. Jennifer Wickham, a member of the Gidimt'en tribe, said that when members of the organization approached the men’s camp they ordered to disband, they found that the construction workers were not ready to leave, and placed multiple construction vehicles and vehicles on the road. mechanical. Serve as the media coordinator of the group.

In response, the land defenders seized a CGL excavator and destroyed a section of the road, then threw a crumpled minivan to the bridgehead. Wickham said that given the ban imposed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police before, a police raid may be imminent.

"We absolutely want them to do this," she said. "As for when, we don't know."

In an email, a spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated that the agency “knows about the protests, and we have and will continue to send police officers to patrol [the] area. No one has been arrested, and we will continue to monitor the situation.”

The latest news from the 2021 Coyote Camp invasion 15 supporters have been arrested, all for violating the ban. There are no criminal charges. They will be taken to Smithers for a bail hearing tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/4vw5dOABhn

Sleydo', the support leader from the Gidimt'en clan

The hereditary chief of Wet'suwet'en said that the ban, the implementation of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and the project itself are an insult to indigenous democratic rights, and pointed out that the 1997 Supreme Court ruling proves that they have the constitutional right to deport CGL. Their territory.

In the so-called Delgamuukw case, the court confirmed that “indigenous ownership is a right to the land itself” based on the occupation of the area and the legal system that predates the colonization of Britain and Canada. However, the Supreme Court’s ruling left many unresolved issues, such as the exact boundaries of the tribal’s traditional territories.

Sledo said that although the chiefs of the House of Representatives have legally recognized powers, the pipeline company has never had meaningful consultations with them.

"They will send information, but they don't actually give us access to this information, and when we respond, they will ignore everything we say," she said. "That's not negotiation, and it's definitely not agreement."

The company often stated that it was approved by Wet'suwet'en because it negotiated an agreement with the tribal elected band committee. The Canadian government established a band council system under the Indian Act of 1876 to promote interaction between aboriginal people and the federal government. The councils are considered the governing bodies for their respective First Nation reserves, and elected representatives from 20 band councils along the pipeline route signed so-called “benefit agreements” with the company to allow construction. The parliament of this reserve approved the project, but the hereditary chiefs, who are representatives of the ancient traditional government, stated that they retain power over their traditional lands, and CGL needs their permission to enter the territory.

The company claims that in the past two years, it has met with hereditary chiefs many times and continues to seek the opinions of Wet'suwet'en leaders, "Sincerely hope that we can complete the project and others." In an email , CGL spokesperson Natasha Westover cited security issues as a reason to prevent the Wet'suwet'en from entering its territory.

“Coastal GasLink is obligated to facilitate [I] indigenous peoples’ access to their traditional territories, but if it is not safe to provide access [immediately], such access may be delayed,” she said. Despite repeated requests, Westover declined to interview CGL executives or other personnel on this matter.

Last winter, after the CGL ban took effect permanently, the heads of Wet'suwet'en unanimously decided to expel the company from their territory.

Wedzin Kwa flows from the glacial lake and runs through the center of the Wet'suwet'en territory. This river provides an important spawning ground for salmon and uncontaminated drinking water for community members.

"You can swim in that lake and then open your mouth to drink. It is so primitive," Sladeo said. "And the river is very clear. You can see these very deep spawning beds. The salmon have returned for thousands of years."

CGL plans to build a pipeline under the river. In September, when members of the Gidimt'en clan heard that construction workers were preparing to dig a tunnel under Wedzin Kwa, they rushed into the scene. Since then, they have built several buildings, including a cabin with a full kitchen and multiple solar-powered "little houses."

As the conflict with the RCMP has escalated in the severe winter in recent years, the Gidim'ten clan has experienced the experience of setting up a blockade at a low temperature of minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, and welcomes the opportunity to camp with only light snow. ground.

"This year's lockdown season came early," Sledo said.

Despite increasing tensions, Sleydo' said the camp members tried to stay optimistic, laughing and telling stories around the campfire at night.

But when the Royal Canadian Mounted Police approached the area, the mood changed. In the days after the outpost was established, a police officer from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police beat and injured a man who had locked himself to the bottom of the bus with electric shocks. Sledo said that the police grabbed the man's legs, raised his body repeatedly, and threw him heavily to the ground to force him to get off the car. She said that the use of "painful obedience" by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is equivalent to torture.

"That person is still receiving ongoing medical care and he has [nerve damage] on his hands," she said.

The National Police Force often sends members of a specialized department that is known for using excessive force against protesters. The roving group is called the Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG), and it attracts RCMP officials from remote areas of Canada to disperse protest camps that oppose pipelines, mining projects, and logging operations.

In recent months, officials from the department have been widely criticized for their aggressive tactics in disintegrating anti-logging protests near Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island. In addition to violent arrests and pepper spray on unarmed protesters, many police officers removed all forms of identification from their uniforms in multiple raids. Judge Douglas W. Thompson of the Supreme Court of British Columbia condemned these actions when deciding to end the ban on Fairy Creek protesters and wrote that the RCMP’s enforcement strategy “resulted in a serious and substantial violation of civil liberties”.

Sledo said that during the Royal Canadian Mounted Police raids on Wet'suwet'en territory, the police often wielded sniper rifles and brought police dogs to intimidate the land defenders. "If we try to defend a space, we will be considered a huge threat," she said. "They used this as an excuse to use violence and excessive force against us."

Despite repeated requests, the agency's media relations team did not provide a telephone interview.

Miles Howe, assistant professor of critical criminology at Brooke University, said that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police often participates in “political policing” because the agency’s goal is to groups that are considered a threat to Canada’s access to natural resources, thereby affecting the surrounding economic interests. Exploit these resources. Howe co-authored a 2019 report that used documents obtained through a record request to show that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police conducted extensive surveillance of Aboriginal land defenders and assessed the risks posed by protesters. Not based on criminal behavior, but based on their ability to gain public support.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police raid in early 2020 triggered a nationwide protest in Canada, leading Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to express tepid support for Wet'suwet'en sovereignty, although he later demanded " Remove roadblocks". A few months later, federal and provincial government officials agreed to negotiate land rights with hereditary chiefs.

"So far, this process has yielded no results," said Jennifer Wickham, who is the media coordinator of the Gidimt'en Resistance.

Instead, the Canadian government subsidized Coastal GasLink and continues to promote the benefits of LNG as a "transition fuel", which will put Canada on the path to achieving its ambitious climate goals. Earlier this month, Trudeau took office at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Scotland and outlined Canada’s plan to limit oil and natural gas emissions in order to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

"For a major oil and gas producer, this is not a small task," he said.

But critics say Trudeau’s promise runs counter to his government’s support for natural gas projects, which have been shown to leak large amounts of methane into the atmosphere, a powerful greenhouse gas. Given that climate change often has a huge impact on indigenous communities, indigenous rights advocates say it is vital that indigenous peoples be fully consulted on resource extraction projects on their ancestral lands.

In 2014, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples urged the Canadian government to seek the “free, prior and informed consent” of indigenous peoples in the early stages of the project. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that indigenous people “have the right to own, use, develop and control the land, territory and resources they own due to traditional ownership” and “must not be forcibly removed from their land”. territory. "Earlier this year, legislators passed a bill aimed at bringing UNDRIP into Canadian law.

However, the government is enabling Coastal GasLink to push its pipeline through Wet'suwet'en territory.

Sleydo' stated that the organization was "digging for winter" and had inadvertently allowed the pipeline to pass through Wedzin Kwa. The mother of three said that although it was difficult to stay away from her family during the occupation, she refused to pass on the influence of the pipeline to her children.

"They will not drill under our sacred source because we will defend this space until the end," she said. "We are not going anywhere."

We still haven't got this story from the aboriginal people. What is the whole story about J. Ridsdale taking the title of Na'Moks from a woman? In fact, the three "hereditary" chiefs from the "Matrilineal Alliance" (?)

It is not enough to say that "the elected assembly only deals with garbage collection and town services, and the hereditary chiefs are the real stewards of all the land"... When the elected representatives told reporters that it was not just them, they disagreed with the three (usuper?) chiefs, this Many people in the entire community.

We need to expose the whole internal situation-what do all Wet'suwet'en say about this problem? There are only about 2500 of them. I think each of the 9 "hereditary chiefs" represents an average of 275 people when you do a simple division with Wikipedia numbers. Three reporters can walk to the town, call all Wet'suwet'en through the phone list, and get a very clear idea.

I all agree with the concept of (not true) "hereditary" leaders elected through public consensus, respect, and discussion. They will take over for many years before elders appoint positions; this is a better governance system than democracy. (Actually, listening to the opinions of the entire community is more democratic than just counting their numbers; but it only applies to small communities.)

However, the system depends on the leaders selected who truly enjoy the support of the community, and what we have not heard is how these people get these jobs. They are not hereditary, really not, and there doesn't seem to be a clear way to prove that they are worthy of these robes other than just taking them from the three women.

Because, frankly, it’s terrible, it’s a not-so-popular group, it’s bullies (Ridsdale just confessed in court that he had walked to a neighbor’s house and shot their dog, if I had heard of it. , This is an act of bullying power) and make one last attempt at relevance before Coastal Gaslink crosses their territory and leaves the other side.

Thanks for the detailed background introduction. It would be helpful if observers provided a description of the difference between hereditary and elected leadership streams, where they agreed and disagreed, and how each person interacted with the CGL and Canadian and provincial governments.

Can anyone comment on the availability of any pending legal remedies that are still available (or are now being sought) in the Delgamuukw v British Columbia [1997] case and UNDRIP? Is there a legal form or non-governmental organization that can contribute?

There are no court cases on this, and the protesters seem to lack legal representation.