Wet’suwet’en bahlat reaffirms Coastal GasLink and RCMP must go

Wet’suwet’en hereditary chief Smogelgem has announced that Thursday’s bahlat reaffirms the position of the hereditary chiefs that Coastal GasLink and the RCMP must leave the Morice Forest Service Road. The road, which cuts through unceded Wet’suwet’en territory, provides access to an area where the company wants to construct part of its planned 670-kilometre gas pipeline.

The RCMP “must never return to inflict trauma on our people ever again,” reads the post shared by Smogelgem on social media. It also states that the bahlat reinforced the hereditary chiefs’ position that the B.C. and Canadian governments must engage in face-to-face meetings with the Wet’suwet’en.

“The resolve of our people is unwavering,” Smogelgem commented on the post.

The bahlat, or feast, is the traditional forum for decision-making by the Wet’suwet’en. It brings together members of the nation’s clans and house groups, and is integral to an Indigenous governance model whose existence and authority predates Canada’s legal system. The Canadian government banned the bahlat — more commonly known as potlatch in English — from 1884 to 1951 in an attempt to destroy Indigenous authority.  (more...)

Wet’suwet’en bahlat reaffirms Coastal GasLink and RCMP must go