Unistʼotʼen Camp

The camp was set up in 2010 by hereditary chiefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen First Nation, who opposed several elected Wetʼsuwetʼen band councils which signed agreements to build the pipeline. At the exact points where pipelines were intended to cross the Unistʼotʼen Territory of Talbits Kwah, a traditional pithouse and permaculture garden were built. The camp also includes several small greenhouses and a secure all-season bunkhouse. The camp was constructed as a means to block the development of numerous pipelines and other projects deemed harmful to the land. These include pipelines from Enbridge, the Pacific Trails Pipeline (Chevron), as well as seven proposed pipelines from the Alberta Oil Sands and LNG from the Horn River Basin Projects in the Peace River Region. In 2015, the Unistʼotʼen released a declaration which included this statement:"The Unistʼotʼen settlement camp is not a protest or a demonstration. Our clan is occupying and using our traditional territory as it has for centuries. Our free, prior, and informed consent protocol is in place at the entrance of our territory as an expression of our jurisdiction and our inherent right to both give and refuse consent and entry into our territory." The camp is the site of activities related to healing and learning. Construction of a healing centre began in 2015. The healing centre welcomes people to reconnect with the land, learn cultural practices, and recover from health issues such as substance abuse, using traditional Indigenous methods. According to the traditional beliefs of the Wetʼsuwetʼen people, healing can come from being connected to the land and that the impacts of colonialism, including living away from traditional territories, are harmful. ==Indigenous sovereignty and title==

Underlying issues of the protest include Indigenous sovereignty and Aboriginal title. The Wetʼsuwetʼen system of governance pre-dates the formation of the country of Canada, and members of the Wetʼsuwetʼen people have never signed a treaty with the Canadian government. and pre-cedes colonial law and impositions. In 1984, the Wetʼsuwetʼen and Gitxsan First Nations sued the BC Government over the granting of clear-cut logging in their territories. In 1991, the BC Supreme Court ruled that Aboriginal title was extinguished in 1858, prior to Confederation and the Nations had no right to stop the logging. This was appealed by the Wetʼsuwetʼen and Gitxsan First Nations to the Supreme Court of Canada, which ruled that Aboriginal title had not been extinguished. It ordered a new trial, but recommended negotiation. Treaty negotiations broke down after the BC government refused to agree to the nations having sovereignty over more than 4-6 per cent of its traditional territory. The Canadian government's continued support for extraction industries over the recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and adhesion to the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), of which Canada is a signatory, is a major friction point in some segments of contemporary Canadian society. ==Unist'otʼen checkpoint conflict==

Several kilometres east of the camp, the Wetʼsuwetʼen set up a checkpoint on the Morice River Forest Services Road, controlling access to the area. The area was blocked to the pipeline project. In 2018, TC Energy was granted an injunction to remove the checkpoint and have complete access to the pipeline project construction. In January 2019, the RCMP entered the territory to enforce the court injunction and allow workers from the Coastal GasLink pipeline project temporary access to the area. The pipeline workers completed their pre-construction work. Afterwards, the blockades were rebuilt. Supporters of the blockade consider the action taken at the Unisʼtotʼen checkpoint and the lack of consultation with hereditary chiefs to be violations of the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Many Indigenous peoples have written and discussed the ways this action will impact the Canadian government's efforts to implement the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, with many notable Indigenous peoples such as broadcaster Jesse Wente, speaking at rallies and protests. In December 2019, the injunction was re-instated. Another round of discussions ended without the pipeline proponents convincing the hereditary chiefs and their supporters to withdraw. The RCMP returned to the area in 2020 and arrests began again as the RCMP cleared the Morice Forest Service Road, including the arrests of Wetʼsuwetʼen matriarchs. Supporters of the blockade remained in residences along the road, including the camp. The arrests sparked widespread protests in BC and across Canada in support of the Wetʼsuwetʼen. Solidarity statements supporting the preservation of the Unistʼotʼen Camp were issued by organizations and institutions such as: OCAD University, the British Columbia Teachers' Federation, Ryerson University School of Social Work. ==References==