Suggested Message. Send as is or personalize to your own words.
Dear [XXX],
Today, as the Unis’tot’en Camp faces Coastal GasLink in the Supreme Court at Prince George, 65 organizations and 3,213 individuals are demanding that Coastal GasLink, RCMP, and Federal and Provincial governments take no actions in violation of Wet’suwet’en collective title and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
On November 27, Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. served notice for a civil lawsuit, claiming financial damages for “occupying, obstructing, blocking, physically impeding or delaying access” and applied for an injunction against the Unist’ot’en Camp.
1. WE COMMEND the courage and vision of Unist’ot’en Camp.
2. WE ARE WATCHING across the province, country and internationally.
3. WE DENOUNCE any attempt by Coastal GasLink Pipeline, federal government, provincial government or RCMP to interfere in the rights of the Unist’ot’en to occupy, manage or maintain their Lands.
4. WE DEMAND that any and all actions taken by the federal and provincial government, industry, and policing agencies must be consistent with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Anuk Nu'at'en (Wet'suwet'en laws) and collective Title.
5. WE PLEDGE support to the frontline land defenders of Unist’ot’en Camp and affirm the collective hereditary governance of the Wet'suwet'en who are enforcing Wet'suwet'en laws on their unceded lands.
According to Smogelgem, Hereditary Chief of the Laksamshu Clan, “The legal notice personally names me and Freda Huson. This as an attempt to individualize, demobilize and criminalize us in order to bulldoze through our home. Our house groups and hereditary chiefs collectively hold title according to our Anuk Nu’at’en (Wet’suwet’en law). What we are doing to live on and protect our lands, as our ancestors did, is an expression of collective will.”
“The use of legal injunctions and litigation against the Unist’ot’en is part of a long colonial history of criminalization against Indigenous peoples. As noted in a recent UN report, criminalization of Indigenous land defenders is an attempt to silence Indigenous peoples voicing their legitimate opposition to projects that threaten their livelihoods and cultures,” adds Pam Palmater, Chair in Indigenous Governance at Ryerson University.
According to Freda Huson, Unist’ot’en Hereditary Spokesperson, “All Wet’suwet’en Clans have rejected the pipeline because our medicines, our food, and our water are all here and not replaceable. These legal challenges ignore the jurisdiction and authority of hereditary chiefs and our feast system of governance, which was recognized in the 1997 Deglamuukw-Gisday’wa Supreme Court case.”
Sincerely,
[Your name]
