Unist'ot'en Summer Construction Camp Aug 25 - September 7!

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Unist'ot'en Summer Construction Camp Aug 25 - September 7! r1 ... Apply to join the 2020 Unist'ot'en Work Camp today!

August 25 - Sept 7


Report Back from Anniversary of the siege on Kahnasatake

Rest In Peace Herby Jim


JOIN THE SUMMER WORK CAMP

The work of the Unist’ot’en Healing Centre has continued despite the ongoing invasion of the Yin’tah by CGL and the RCMP, and the health impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic. The struggle of Black communities for Black Lives during this time has both added to a shared revolutionary movement for Liberation while also calling on us all to dig deep to find resilience. In this time of intense struggle and hardship, we hope you will be able to find the reserves to join us as we continue our work to create a place of healing for our people.

What keeps us going is hope for the future, joy in our community, and determination to do what needs to be done. In that spirit, we are holding a summer work camp to repair and build urgently needed infrastructure around the Healing Centre.

From August 25th until Sept 7th, we encourage you to apply to join our team in a socially distant and responsible two week push to ensure the Unist’ot’en can continue crucial healing work.

We’re especially interested in hearing from folks who already have aptitude in: carpentry and construction, plumbing, electrical, mechanics, and building of all kinds. We could also use an experienced cook who can stick around after work camp for a few weeks to a few months.

If you aren’t skilled in those areas but want to work hard, learn skills, work in a team, and can follow instructions, we also want to hear from you! Returning work camp folks, get registered and get on up here!

We will have a dedicated kitchen team monitoring food and sanitation, strict covid-19 screening will be in place to keep all of our communities safe, and folks will be asked to bring camping gear. Please be prepared to stay outdoors. It’s throwback work camp, 2014 style! Please apply through www.unistoten.camp/come-to-camp and be prepared to be interviewed. No one will be allowed at work camp without going through screening and registration first. Please do not fly to camp unless you can self isolate for 14 days before interacting with folks in the North.

If you can stay longer, we encourage you to apply!
Spots are very limited.

Bring your hammers, your face masks, and your dancing shoes for when the work day is done. Sleep under the stars, swim in the river, eat good food, and go hard for what you know is the right side of history.

#WetsuwetenStrong #ReconciliationIsDead #ShutDownCanada #Unistoten #LandBack #TheTimeIsNow #FPIC #DefendtheYintah

https://unistoten.camp/unistoten-2020-summer-work-camp/ July 11th Wet'suwet'en Solidarity Action

Statement from Gidimt'en Checkpoint:

"In 1990 Canada laid siege to sovereign Mohawk territory. With helicopters and tanks and soldiers they showed Indigenous people everywhere how far they will go to steal the land out from under our feet. The Mohawks stood firm and showed the world how strong we are.

It is 30 years since the start of the “Oka Crisis,” and the fires of Indigenous resistance are still burning.

The Mohawks did not start this crisis. It began when the Mohawks were ignored as the true owners of their lands. It continued when the army rolled in with tear gas and rubber bullets. It has continued ever since, every time the state asserts its genocidal force on sovereign Indigenous territories. When we fight back, when we stand up for our lands and our people, we are painted as criminals.

Nothing has changed. Canada is still waging war on Indigenous people.

When we observed the colonial invasion of Wet’suwet’en territory in February 2020, the RCMP took over local communities and transformed them into staging grounds for their siege on our lands. They deployed dozens of militarized police, with dogs, with automatic weapons, with sniper rifles and snow mobiles and helicopters. They spent millions of dollars to arrest a handful of our matriarchs, our relatives, and supporters. They tore down our tower where we stood to bear witness to their violence.

Today we burned the remains of the tower in a ceremonial fire.
We know there is a time to build and a time to burn it down.

30 years ago, the Wet’suwet’en blocked Highway 16 in solidarity with the Mohawks of Kanehsatake. Months ago, the Mohawks stood with us to shut down Canada after our lands were invaded.

We stand united today.

We were born in the fires of resistance, our parents and grandparents and great-grandparents and ancestors fought this fight.

We defend the land for our ancestors, for our children, for future generations.

We will not lose.

To learn more watch Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance: https://www.nfb.ca/film/kanehsatake_270_years_of_resistance/

Rough transcript from Mohawk Solidarity action on July 11th

"This year marks the 30th anniversary of the 1990 crisis in which the people of Kahanasatake took a stand on march 9th to prevent the expansion of a 9 hole golf course and condominium. On July 11th at 5:15 AM a paramilitary swat team attacked a peaceful barricade at Kahanasatake sparking a 78 day siege known as the Oka Crisis. Today we honor and remember the women, men, elders, and children who all played a significant role in the summer of 1990. The stand taken became an important symbol for the Indigenous Peoples across North America to make similar stands against usurpations of their ancestral lands. Many of the advances made by Indigenous people across Canada can be attributed to be the 1990 crisis as Canada became desperate to avoid another armed conflict.

In many ways the situation in both of our communities remains the same. Our ancestral lands still face theft and dispossession. Our traditional governments legitimized by colonial created political entities by the government of Canada and Quebec. Enduring persistent systemic racism still remains the basis of indigenous peoples’ relationship to various levels of government and their authorities. We must remain vigilant of any threats to our territorial integrity and steadfast to our inherent rights to self determination as a distinct and sovereign peoples.

The summer of 1990 serves as a reminder that we are willing to defend their land and people by any means necessary. The same holds true 30 years later.

Rest In Peace Herbie Jim

On the evening of July 8, Herbie Jim left us for the spirit world. Many of us had gotten to know and love Herbie at the Unist’ot’en Healing Center over the past two years. We will miss him dearly.

Herbie’s story shows that the Yintah can heal. Freda picked him up in 2018 from the streets of downtown Eastside Vancouver and drove him to the Healing Center, where he began his recovery. The Healing Center was finally transforming into a space that could house Wet’suwet’en people, and that fall Herbie joined the first group of Healing Center clients. Just as they were getting settled in, CGL’s injunction application was submitted and a flood of supporters from across Turtle Island descended on the Healing Center, disrupting the routine and introducing new forms of stress and conflict.

Herbie took it in stride. He was committed, from the very beginning, to protecting his home on the yintah, to learning all he could about the threat posed by CGL, to speaking out against the invasion. He hated the spotlight and worked quietly in the background to keep the Healing Center running. Before the second raid on Wet’suwet’en territories in the winter of 2019-2020, Herbie stepped up to be the caretaker of the Healing Center, keeping the fires running, spaces organized and tidy, and people warm and comfortable. He was constantly building and improving the space. He wasn’t afraid of the RCMP. He was strong and passionate and focused.

Herbie was always cracking jokes, always making big plans for the future, always full of surprises. He was a women’s fashion designer, an amateur reporter, a Marilyn Manson fan, a fitness buff. He was blunt and funny and honest and hardworking. He was grateful to be at the Healing Center, and he showed his care by giving back, tenfold.

He was taken too early. We're grateful for the time he spent here, and the mark he left on the Yintah and anyone lucky enough to know him.

We love you, Herbie, and thank you for all that you’ve shared with us. Supporter toolkit

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The Struggle Continues!
-Unist'ot'en Solidarity Brigade r34.