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Today three Indigenous land defenders—Stacy Gallagher, Jim Leyden, and Tawahum Bige—were sentenced to 28 days in jail by BC Supreme Court Justice Shelley Fitzpatrick. They were arrested in August 2018 while upholding their sacred responsibilities of prayer, smudging, singing and dancing for Mother Earth at Trans Mountain's Westridge Marine Terminal, the site of its controversial pipeline expansion project (TMX) on unceded Coast Salish territories.
The three land defenders were taken into custody today and transported to North Fraser Pretrial Centre. The three were convicted of criminal contempt in October 2019 for breaching an injunction brought by now-Crown Corporation Trans Mountain ULC in order to stifle nonviolent resistance to the expansion of its pipeline.
We have started a fundraiser to support these courageous guardians.
Please share this with friends and donate if you can. And no worries if you can't.
You can also write them a letter of support at:
North Fraser Pretrial Centre
1451 Kingsway Avenue
Port Coquitlam, BC
V3C 1S2
"Imprisoning these peaceful land defenders is the same systemic violence against Indigenous people that we are fighting to overcome," said Brandon Gosnell of the Mountain Protectors, a group formed to support land and water defenders on Burnaby Mountain. "Praying for the land should not be criminalized," added Gosnell. "What's criminal is extracting more oil and pumping out more pollution to accelerate the climate crisis we are in."
Their cases, which have dragged on for more than two years, show how the RCMP and Crown prosecutors have targeted Indigenous peoples and cultures—even as heightened awareness of institutionalized police racism and anti-Indigenous violence has mounted in Canada.
Since their conviction, Gallagher and Leyden were again accused of violating the TMX injunction in November and December 2019. They were not arrested at the time, but weeks later were charged by the Crown with criminal contempt. The targeted nature of their cases was further underscored by a 500-metre stay-away order imposed against the two Indigenous defendants at the request of the Crown. Gallagher underwent a 5-day trial in August and is currently awaiting a verdict.
Since March 2018, more than 200 people have been arrested for breaching the TMX injunction.
ABOUT STACY GALLAGHER, JIM LEYDEN, TAWAHUM BIGE
Jim Leyden was born in the Six Nations territory in Brantford, Ontario, and was apprehended during the Sixties Scoop and moved outside of his home territory for adoption. After moving to Vancouver he got involved in sweat lodge and Sundance ceremonies, ultimately becoming an Elder, Senior Sundancer and the head firekeeper for Sundance chief Robert Nahanee. Upon the setting up of the Watch House and camp, he was asked to bring teachings and culture into the camp. Upon closing down of the camp he was asked to protect the Watch House by acting as a Traditional Watchman, keeping an eye on the work being done and reporting misconduct to the people and government agencies, ultimately being asked to act as the Watch House Elder. During the past 2 years he has engaged in holding traditional ceremonies and doing surveillance on the activities at Trans Mountain properties.
Tawahum Bige is a Łutselk'e Dene, Plains Cree, Two-Spirit, nonbinary poet, residing on unceded Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh and Squamish territory. Since 2017, Tawahum has performed at over 40 different venues from BC to Ontario. Tawahum completed the first-ever Indigenous Spoken Word residency at the Banff Centre in 2018 while completing their BA in Creative Writing from KPU in 2019. Tawahum's poetry and music makes vulnerable the process of growing and resisting on occupied Turtle Island. For Tawahum, beyond the festival, stage and page is the front-line, where their main inspiration comes from. They have hit the megaphone and mic at front lines to inspire their fellow warriors, whether at a rally, fundraiser, sacred fire or the siege outside the gates of Kinder Morgan in Burnaby.
GitchiMakwa, MakwaIndodem, Stacy Gallagher follows the Anishinaabe ways of his mother's ancestors. He behaves according to his grandmothers' teachings and the natural laws. His responsibility is to care for the people and follow the original instructions through the blood memory of his ancestors. He serves the people as a fire keeper, opwaagan/pipe carrier, and by upholding his spiritual and ceremonial responsibilities. He has been up at the Watch House with the permission of Coast Salish elders since March 2018, humbly supporting land and water protectors and steadily respecting the Coast Salish law of Nawt'samat - One Heart, One Mind, One Soul, we are all related. Following his sacred responsibilities, he works to heal his relatives from addictions, trauma and the violence of colonization. When asked by his grandchildren seven generations from now, he'll be able to answer "I've done everything that I could for you, my loved ones."
BACKGROUND
The $12.6 billion TMX project was purchased from Texas oil giant Kinder Morgan by the Canadian government in May 2018; costs of the pipeline have ballooned since the purchase. The project was opposed in court by the Squamish Nation, Tsleil-Waututh Nation and Coldwater Indian Band, but all were recently denied leave to appeal by the Supreme Court of Canada. The TMX project also conflicts with Canada's commitment under the Paris Climate Agreement to keep global temperatures from rising above 1.5 degrees Celsius. The project would impact numerous drinking water sources along the route, lead to a seven-fold increase in tanker traffic in the Burrard Inlet (threatening the endangered Southern Resident orcas), violate the self-determination of Tsleil-Waututh, Secwépemc, Qayqayt and many more First Nations, and put homes and facilities on Burnaby Mountain at risk -- among them, Simon Fraser University (SFU) and Burnaby Mountain Secondary School. The Province of British Columbia, the state of Washington, and 20 municipalities along the route including Burnaby oppose the pipeline project.
The existing Trans Mountain pipeline is already a major environmental and public health hazard with a long history of disastrous spills. As recently as June 2020, fifty thousand gallons of crude oil spilled from a pump station located above an aquifer that supplies the Sumas First Nation with drinking water. The thirteen 67-year old tanks at the terminus of the pipeline are too close together to put out in the event of a fire, according to the Burnaby Fire Department. Around 240,000 people live within the 4.2 km radius of the site that is considered an evacuation zone, including 32,000 members of the SFU community. A growing number of insurers have pulled out of the pipeline project amidst rising public pressure and financial risk due to climate uncertainty.
Questions? Email us at contactmountainprotectors@gmail.com.
We are grateful to live, work and dream on unceded Coast Salish lands, where we strive to act as good relatives to the original people of this land.
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