Sleydo, spokesperson for the Gidimt’en checkpoint, a site of frontline resistance against the illegal and ecocidal Coastal Gaslink project in so-called British Columbia, Canada, has made a call out to anarchists, climate activists and others for global decolonial solidarity actions on, and leading up to, the 5th November 2022.
Listen to her plea here:
Activists and radicals can sign up to commit to action via the following link: https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/drilling-under-wedzwin-kwa-allid-mobilization?fbclid=IwAR0JR9UBhtBeaMpV-bxugVyhnSB2vVx2ffKQumi54cdZi1e7TwpZKaF9NP0
A Radical Guide collaborator Epic Tomorrows recently interviewed Sleydo’s sister, Jennifer Wickham, about the ongoing fight of the Wet’suwet’en first nation against the CGL project. Jennifer and Sleydo are members of the Cassyex (Grizzly Bear) House of the Gidimt’en clan, one of the five clans of the Wet’suwet’en. Part one of the interview is linked below. (Refer to the video notes for subsequent parts):
Jennifer Wickham has been the media coordinator for the Gidimt’en clan checkpoint since 2018. The Gidimt’en checkpoint is the focal point of the resistance of the Wet’suwet’en nation to the Coastal Gas Link project which is a pipeline under construction, linking fracking sites in Dawson’s Creek in north eastern BC to a LNG facility and export terminal at Kitimat on the BC coast. This is an illegal project which disrespects Wet’suwet’en sovereignty, even their legal standing as affirmed in Canadian courts, as well as local ecology and ecosystems.
In December 2018, the B.C. Supreme Court issued a court injunction that authorized the RCMP (the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) to forcibly clear a path through the Gidimt’en Checkpoint and the Unist’ot’en Healing Centre, another site of resistance further west. This is despite the fact that the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in a landmark 1997 court case that the Wet’suwet’en, as represented by their hereditary leaders, had not given up rights and title to their 22,000 square kilometers of land.
At the core of the resistance is the endangered Wedzin Kwa, a river, which was a big part of the inspiration for Jennifer to play a key role. Jennifer is currently co-producing/co-directing the documentary film “Yintah” (which means ‘land’) about the Wet’suwet’en fight for sovereignty. For more information go to the main Gidimt’en checkpoint website here:
https://www.yintahaccess.com/
