lens-artists challenge: capital

(Yinka Dini – People of this Earth) Unis’tot’en – People of the Headwaters

The Unis’tot’en (C’ihlts’ehkhyu / Big Frog Clan) are the original Wet’suwet’en Yintah Wewat Zenli distinct to the lands of the Wet’suwet’en. Over time in Wet’suwet’en History, the other clans developed and were included throughout Wet’suwet’en Territories. The Unis’tot’en are known as the toughest of the Wet’suwet’en as their territories were not only abundant, but the terrain was known to be very treacherous. The Unis’tot’en recent history includes taking action to protect their lands from Lions Gate Metals at their Tacetsohlhen Bin Yintah, and building a cabin and resistance camp at Talbits Kwah at Gosnell Creek and Wedzin Kwah (Morice River which is a tributary to the Skeena and Bulkley River) from seven proposed pipelines from Tar Sands Gigaproject and LNG from the Horn River Basin Fracturing Projects in the Peace River Region

The Unist’ot’en Camp is an indigenous re-occupation of Wet’suwet’en land in northern “BC, Canada.” The Camp is on high alert in response to the Coastal Gaslink’s application for an injunction, as well as served notice for a civil lawsuit to claim financial damages for “occupying, obstructing, blocking, physically impeding or denying access” against the Camp on their own unceded territory and denying the collective hereditary leadership of the Wet’suwet’en.

The Unist’ot’en Camp has been a beacon of resistance for nearly 10 years. It is a healing space for Indigenous people and settlers alike, and an active example of decolonization. The violence, environmental destruction, and disregard for human rights following TC Energy (formerly TransCanada) / Coastal GasLink’s interim injunction has been devastating to bear, but this fight is far from over.

Who is bankrolling the Coastal Gaslink Pipeline

Coastal GasLink is a project of TransCanada Pipelines Ltd., the same subsidiary of TransCanada behind the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The 420-mile Coastal GasLink pipeline would carry fracked gas from northeast British Columbia to LNG Canada, a massive proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal that exemplifies the sector’s climate and human rights impacts.

JPMorgan Chase

Bank of Montreal

Deutsche Bank

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Divestment is the opposite of investment. It is removing your funds, benefits, capital and stock from companies and approaching institutions asking them to remove their money out of companies for either ethics and/or financial reasons.

In this era of “reconciliation”, Indigenous land is still being taken at gunpoint. INVASION is a new film about the Unist’ot’en Camp, Gidimt’en checkpoint and the larger Wet’suwet’en Nation standing up to the Canadian government and corporations who continue colonial violence against Indigenous people. 

Fossil fuels have been utilized as our primary energy source since the industrial revolution in the mid 18th century. Fossil fuels have provided jobs as well as heat and electricity before and during our lifetimes. The problem is that the extraction process and burning of fossils fuels have caused extreme pollution of low income (indigenous, Black and People of color) communities, threatened sensitive ecosystems and is causing green house gases to climb at all-time highs. The world is now heating at an unprecedented rate: storms, hurricanes and other natural disasters are becoming more frequent and powerful than we have ever seen. In the midst of the 6th mass extinction and overall threat of climate change, we need to oppose all future fossil fuel expansion projects, and make a just and fast transition to renewable energy.

This week’s post was made in response to the lens-artist’s challenge by Viveka – capital. It was created to advance global awareness of the Costal Gaslink Project.