‘Change is coming,’ says Manitoba Indigenous activist arrested in B.C.

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/02/2020 (1775 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As activists shut down railways and intersections across Canada, a Winnipegger arrested at the epicentre of the Wet’suwet’en protest says Manitobans need to respect Indigenous rights, or brace for even more disruption.

“It’s not gonna stop anytime soon; the momentum’s way too strong,” Victoria Redsun told the Free Press from northern British Columbia.

“The reality that Canadians need to know is that change is coming.”

The 20-year-old was among seven arrested a week ago for breaching a court injunction to allow construction of a natural-gas pipeline.

The area’s elected bands have endorsed the Coastal GasLink project, but they only represent reserve lands under a political system imposed by the federal Indian Act. Five clans with hereditary leadership say they represent the wider area, and have rejected the project.

That’s led activists to call for a wider discussion on Indigenous land title. Supporters across the country have disrupted railways, leading Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Sunday to cancel a diplomatic trip to the Caribbean and deal with the blockades.

Redsun grew up at Northlands Denesuline First Nation, located in Manitoba’s far north. She moved to Winnipeg six years ago for high school but only felt at home among North End activists.

“In Winnipeg there’s so much racism that I faced when I Iived there, and it brought me down everyday. The only thing that brought me up was the community,” said Redsun, a spoken-word performer who aspires to one day be a traditional doctor.

She got involved in the Wet’suwet’en cause a year ago, when courts issued the project’s first injunction. The community invited people from across Canada to help blockade the pipeline route.

This past July, she took part in a week-long youth art camp around the Unist’ot’en healing centre, which B.C. locals established five years ago, in part to block pipeline projects.

“I saw how welcoming the Wet’suwet’en people are and how healing the land is and how you can drink directly from the water,” she said.

The locals speak a dialect of Dene, as does her home community.

Their concerns about the pipeline resonated with Redsun. In her home community, elders believe hydroelectric dams helped erode ancient pictographs. Her community depends on caribou for food and clothing, and Wet’suwet’en activists worry pipeline construction will disrupt local herds.

Redsun went back to Wet’suwet’en territory in November. A typical day involved ceremony, art, community events and taking people coping with issues like drug addiction out on the land.

On New Year’s Eve, a court renewed its injunction, and Wet’suwet’en activists reinforced their blockades.

Redsun’s arrest took place on Feb. 10 at a bridge over the Morice River, where demonstrators had put a wood blockade painted with the word “reconciliation.” Supporters filmed the arrest and posted it online, including the moment when officials tore down that sign.

“I was heartbroken to see the assault rifles pointed at my friends,” she said.

“Even after those traumatizing experiences, we’re so empowered to see everybody standing up, and it’s all young people.”

In Winnipeg, activists ended an 11-day occupation of the lobby of MP Dan Vandal’s constituency office Saturday, and there have been temporary blockades of CN Rail lines west and south of the city, as well as at Portage and Main.

Redsun says those protests show that Manitobans have a stake in the issues at Wet’suwet’en, as does Premier Brian Pallister’s promise last week to seek injunctions to clear the rail disruptions.

“It’s not just a northern B.C. thing,” she said. “The premiers need to educate themselves on the true title-holders; they need to educate themselves on the treaties.

To her, federal and provincial governments have ignored court rulings on Indigenous title for too long, while a looming climate crisis and environmental merit more attention than the jobs the pipeline would bring.

“The youth recognize that it doesn’t matter what you look like; it doesn’t matter where you come from. We all have to stand together,” said Redsun.

She hopes her own protest at Wet’suwet’en will help spark a rethink of Canada’s economy and how it respects Indigenous rights.

“I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon,” she said.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca