In December 2010, 61 Indigenous Nations in BC came together in a historic alliance to protect the Fraser River watershed and to declare their opposition to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline.
Signed in Williams Lake in late November, and published in a full page ad in the Globe and Mail on December 2, the “Save the Fraser Gathering of Nations” declaration is based on Indigenous law and authority, and it states: “We will not allow the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines, or similar Tar Sands projects, to cross our lands, territories and watersheds, or the ocean migration routesof Fraser River salmon.”
The declaration is the second major First Nations declaration banning tar sands pipelines from BC this year, after a March declaration from the Coastal First Nations and the Carrier- Sekani Tribal Council. In October, the First Nations Summit Chiefs’ Council passed a resolution stating that the federal government must not proceed any further with its review of the Enbridge Pipelines project and associated oil supertankers. The nations see the federal process as a violation of their laws and rights under international law, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Chief Larry Nooski of Nadleh Whut’en First Nation, part of the Yinka Dene Alliance opposed to the Enbridge project, stated, “Our laws do not permit crude oil pipelines into our territories. This project isn’t going anywhere.”
Nations along the Fraser watershed say critical salmon runs would be threatened by a proposed 700,000 barrels per day of crude oil and toxic hydrocarbons crossing the top of the Fraser watershed. The pipeline would cut through unceded lands and rivers and place communities, fish, and wildlife at risk from oil spills.
The Yinka Dene Alliance subsequently rejected an offer of an equity stake in the pipeline, and instead served a legal Declaration on Enbridge's headquarters in Calgary, stating that the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines are not allowed through their territories, according to ancestral laws.
Because the Declaration has First Nations legal status, it was delivered by a process server directly to Enbridge's CEO Pat Daniel and Enbridge's board of directors.
“Enbridge talks about having the so-called ‘support of First Nations,’ but I don't know of a single First Nation that supports them,” said Chief Jackie Thomas of Saik'uz First Nation. “In the last month, the number of First Nations publicly opposed to this pipeline has tripled. The money they are offering can be put to better use by restoring the land they have already harmed in Alberta, Michigan, and elsewhere."
Chief Art Adolph of Xaxli'p, a community of the St'át'imc Nation whose territories cover the middle and southern parts of the Fraser watershed, added: “Enbridge has pointed to 30 'protocol agreements' signed with Indigenous Nations and claims support for their pipelines. In fact, Enbridge's public documents show that these agreements do not indicate support but simply ‘establish the ground rules and points of contact for discussion on all aspects of the Northern Gateway project that might affect or involve First Nations and Métis communities.’
There is no First Nation that has publicly supported this project.
—Nadleh Whut'en, Saik'uz and Xaxli'p-St'at'imc First Nations, December 2 and 16, 2010, First Nations Summit, October 1, 2010
***
A copy of the declaration is available at www.savethefraser.ca
[From WS January/February 2011]