Wet'suwet'en chiefs arrive in Six Nations for 'landmark discussions,' starting 18-day tour

Wet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs weren't surrounded bythe towering pine trees and snow-capped mountains foundin northern B.C., but they still found a feeling of familiarity while standing outside a traditional longhouse on Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario on Tuesday.

The traditional chiefs met withHaudenosauneeHereditary Chiefs to discusscommon ground and spread awareness abouttheir battle for land sovereignty back in B.C.

"We view these landmark discussions as not just discussions but real action-oriented, real logical starting points toward something that's going to be working for all of us," said Hereditary Chief Woos of the Grizzly House with the Gidimt'enClan in B.C. (who is also known as Frank Alec).

"We need to spread a message of peace and unity."

The visit to Six Nations of the Grand River is Day One of an 18-day trip that will stop in Indigenous communities near Sarnia(AamjiwnaangFirst Nation), Montreal (Kahnaw:ke andKanehsat:ke) and Winnipeg, among others.

It wasthe first time in an estimated 35years or so theWet'suwet'enHereditary Chiefs have come to Six Nations.

The trip's purpose is to build solidarity betweenIndigenous communities and raise awareness about shared concerns over land and the consent process.

The pipeline conflict

Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs are opposed to a natural gas pipeline under construction in northern British Columbia.

The proposed $6.6-billion, 670-kilometre pipeline will deliver natural gas from the Dawson Creek area in northern B.C., heading west near Vanderhoof to a liquefaction facility in Kitimat. It's part of a $40-billion LNG Canada project.

The province and all 20 elected First Nations councils along the route, including Wet'suwet'en elected council, approved the construction but Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs said the project needed their consent too.

They said elected councils are responsible for only the territory within their individual reserves, which were created through the Indian Act.

But the hereditary chiefs say they are following Wet'suwet'en law that predates colonization and the Indian Act, meaning they assert authority over the broader 22,000 square kilometres of traditional territory that the pipeline would cross.

Protests and rail blockades across Canada, includingone in Hamilton, took place in early 2020 in support of thehereditary chiefs.

In late June of this year,members of the Wet'suwet'en Nation suedthe RCMP and Coastal GasLink for alleged harassment by police and private security.

In July,the Crown announced criminal contempt charges against 19 people including prominentHaudenosaunee activistSkyler Williams, who has made several trips from Six Nations to the western territoryas an allied land defender.

'We're reconnecting' sayIndigenous groups

Cayuga Snipe ChiefDeyohowe:to (also known as Roger Silversmith) with the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council saiddespite Chief Woos and others being half a country away, both nations are fighting different kinds of development that affectland sovereignty.

Six Nations saw1492 Land Back Lane the occupation of a housingdevelopment in nearby Caledonia, Ont., thatresulted inthecancellation oftheprojectin July.

"When the chiefs told me here back in their own territory they can still drink the water out of their streams...here we can't do that," Chief Deyohowe:to said.

"The people who can make this change, they're not doing it."

They all called on the federal government to listen to their concerns and act accordingly.

Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council secretary Hohahes Leroy Hill said he hopes the tour will lead to change.

"We're reconnecting and we're trying to find ways to support one another and speak with a united voice," he said.

The next stop on theWet'suwet'en Hereditary Chiefs's tour isAamjiwnaangFirst Nation, near Sarnia, Ont.