Closing Ranks
On a blissfully sunny day in BC’s northwest this past summer, the Office of the Wet’suwet’en hosted several First Nations, non-governmental organizations, and community members in a discussion about Enbridge Inc’s proposed tar sands pipeline and tanker project to BC’s coast.
The gathering concluded with a Mixing of the Waters ceremony, in which water from various points along the proposed project route were mixed together with words, and intent, to unify and strengthen the participating Nations in their opposition to Enbridge’s project.
I brought up Dogwood’s video camera, and was asked to film the event for the Wet’suwet’en. This video, ‘Closing Ranks’, is the result.
To view the extended version with footage from the actual Water Ceremony click here.
This past week members of the Wet’suwet’en and Sa’kuz First Nations joined Dogwood volunteers to rally in front of Enbridge’s headquarters in downtown Calgary. We passed out information on the No Tankers campaign to passersby, and greeted Enbridge employees on their way to work with more than 130 DVD copies of ‘Closing Ranks’. View a YouTube video of that action here.
Myself and David de Wit from the Office of the Wet’suwet’en also met with the Chinese Consulate, Suncor Energy, and media, and David delivered letters to several Alberta oil producers putting them ‘on notice’ that any support for the Northern Gateway project would be considered a direct infringement of Wet’suwet’en Aboriginal Title and Rights.