The Wetʼsuwetʼen are a First Nation who live on the Bulkley River and around Burns Lake, Broman Lake, and François Lake in the northwestern Central Interior of British Columbia.

They speak Witsuwitʼen, a dialect of the Babine-Witsuwitʼen language which, like its sister language Carrier, is a member of the Athabaskan family.

Their oral history, called kungax, recounts that their ancestral village, Dizkle or Dzilke, once stood upstream from the Bulkley Canyon. This cluster of cedar houses on both sides of the river is said to have been abandoned because of an omen of impending disaster. The exact location of the village has been lost. The neighbouring Gitxsan people of the Hazelton area have a similar tale, though the village in their version is named Dimlahamid (Temlahan)

The endonym Wetʼsuwetʼen means "People of the Wa Dzun Kwuh River (Bulkley River)"

The Wet’suwet’en First Nation was formerly part of the Omineca Band. However, in 1984 the Omineca Band split into the Broman Lake and Nee-Tahi-Buhn bands. The Skin Tayi band later split off from Nee-Tahi-Buhn. Today, the Skin Tyee Band, Nee Tahi Buhn Band, Wet’suwet’en First Nation, Moricetown Band and Hagwilget Band make up the Wet’suwet’en Nation.

Like most First Nations here, Wet’suwet’en never signed treaties with the Canadian or provincial governments. Nevertheless, the latter took the land and leased forested acreage to logging companies. Today just 20% of British Columbia’s old-growth forests remain.

In 2020, after decades of activist pressure, the province identified about a quarter of the remaining old growth as at high risk for logging and recommended a pause while deciding their fate. Yet today, logging has been deferred in less than half of the high-risk area.

Another conflict with the settler state has been the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which seeks to transport liquefied natural gas from northeast BC to a terminal on the coast near the town of Kitimat.

The 670-kilometre (417-mile) pipeline will cut across traditional Wet’suwet’en lands that cover 22,000sq km across northern BC.

The hereditary chiefs, who under Wet’suwet’en law claim authority over those traditional territories, said they never gave their consent for the project to move forward. They have raised concerns about the pipeline’s potential effects on the land, water, and their community.

In late July, Amnesty International took the extraordinary step in naming Dsta’hyl Canada’s first ever designated prisoner of conscience, and now demanding his immediate and unconditional release.

“The Canadian state has unjustly criminalized and confined Chief Dsta’hyl for defending the land and rights of the Wet’suwet’en people,” Amnesty International’s Ana Piquer stated in a press release. “As a result, Canada joins the shameful list of countries where prisoners of conscience remain under house arrest or behind bars.”

In October 2021, Dsta’hyl was arrested and charged with criminal contempt after confiscating and decommissioning heavy equipment utilized by Coastal GasLink to construct its LNG pipeline on unceded Wet’suwet’en territory. Dsta’hyl said he was enforcing Wet’suwet’en laws as the company did not have the free, prior and informed consent of hereditary chiefs to build the pipeline.

Megathreads and spaces to hang out:

reminders:

  • 💚 You nerds can join specific comms to see posts about all sorts of topics
  • 💙 Hexbear’s algorithm prioritizes comments over upbears
  • 💜 Sorting by new you nerd
  • 🌈 If you ever want to make your own megathread, you can reserve a spot here nerd
  • 🐶 Join the unofficial Hexbear-adjacent Mastodon instance toots.matapacos.dog

Links To Resources (Aid and Theory):

Aid:

Theory:

  • WhyEssEff [she/her]
    ·
    12 hours ago

    Snippet from a fuckass short story/writing exercise idea I had that I’m writing. sucks ass but in a way that specifically appeals to me. Kinda Omelas-core but shittier, just trying to stress-test my writing ability a bit by navigating this nightmare proper-noun prosaic maze

    If it helps, imagine it as a place. Let’s capitalize it: Somewhere. Maybe I used to be there. If I was, I don’t remember. If I will, I won’t remember.

    What does this place have?

    It’s where It still Happens. It takes a lot of Work, but I’m told when It Happens, Greatness Happens. Many have to be Working to make It Happen—because if Many aren’t Working, It is not Happening. Many People Work for Some People, because Some People have Ideas, and Some People have Money. They say that Ideas and Money make It Happen. Many Others say that Work is how It Happens, and that the Greatness that Some People want from It Happening isn’t worth It. There are Many Others who leave Somewhere.

    It’s got People who care. I’ve seen a few. Some occasionally show up. Some try to bring us back with them. There are Others. Others stay here. And Some Others—They usually don’t get over it. They tend to go back. Many Others don’t. And there’s Some of Everyone Else: each One, drawn to Somewhere. I’d rather not, but to each their own. People don’t tend to leave. Others do, but I’d imagine they’re tired of People. Everyone’s tired of People.

    No, no more capitalization. I don’t imagine it’s pleasant to read. Here, I’ll make it simple: there’s somewhere with people where it still happens, and everyone else isn’t there—somewhere, many people work to get money from some people who have money and ideas, and some people really want it to happen so that greatness happens, which is why many people have to work to get money—everywhere else, there are some that try to bring us there, and maybe they bring one another from the crowd, but many others stay.