Category: Announcements

Announcements from Rising Tide and Rising Tide affiliates and close allies. An announcement is pretty much never also a reportback!

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs Evict Coastal GasLink from Territory

  By , , , , ,

cross-posted from Wet’suwet’en Access Point on Gidimt’en Territory

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs Evict Coastal GasLink from Territory 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Smithers, BC

Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs representing all five clans of the Wet’suwet’en Nation have issued an eviction notice to the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline company. The eviction of CGL is effective immediately, and applies to “Camp 9A” on Dark House territory, as well as the neighbouring Gidimt’en, Tsayu, and Laksamshu clan territories. Hereditary chiefs have gathered on Gidimt’en and Gilseyhu territories to monitor the eviction.

Coastal Gaslink has violated the Wet’suwet’en law of trespass, and has bulldozed through our territories, destroyed our archaeological sites, and occupied our land with industrial man-camps. Private security firms and RCMP have continually interfered with the constitutionally protected rights of Wet’suwet’en people to access our lands for hunting, trapping, and ceremony.

Canada’s courts have acknowledged in Delgamuukw-Gisdaywa v. The Queen that the Wet’suwet’en people, represented by our hereditary chiefs, have never ceded nor surrendered title to the 22,000km2 of Wet’suwet’en territory. The granting of the interlocutory injunction by BC’s Supreme Court has proven to us that Canadian courts will ignore their own rulings and deny our jurisdiction when convenient, and will not protect our territories or our rights as Indigenous peoples.

Anuc ‘nu’at’en (Wet’suwet’en law) is not a “belief” or a “point of view”. It is a way of sustainably managing our territories and relations with one another and the world around us, and it has worked for millennia to keep our territories intact. Our law is central to our identity. The ongoing criminalization of our laws by Canada’s courts and industrial police is an attempt at genocide, an attempt to extinguish Wet’suwet’en identity itself.

We reaffirm that Anuc ‘nu’at’en remains the highest law on Wet’suwet’en land and must be respected. We have always held the responsibility and authority to protect our unceded territories. Protection of our yintah (traditional territories) is at the heart of Anuc ‘nu’at’en, and we will practice our laws for the future generations.

The Wet’suwet’en have always controlled access to our territories. At Unist’ot’en Village, a Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) protocol has been practiced over the past ten years whenever access to the territory is requested by someone outside of Dark House membership. Dark House has not been able to implement this protocol since the enforcement of the interim injunction in January 2019. This protocol aligns Wet’suwet’en law with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which guarantees Indigenous peoples the right to obtain free, prior, and informed consent for development on our territories.

We expect Coastal GasLink to peacefully comply with our eviction notice, and ask that British Columbia uphold its commitment to implement UNDRIP and instruct RCMP to respect our rights and refrain from interference in Wet’suwet’en law.

Media Coordinator Jen Wickham, Gidumt’en Clan – yintahaccess@gmail.com (778) 210-0067

 

Practicing 20/20 Vision – Learning from the Past to Gain Clarity on the Future

  By , , , , ,

by Ananda Lee Tan

This is a fine week to start working on ways to dismantle the systems of those who wish to be Masters of the Universe.

Over this past year, they have caused much pain, much struggle, much hardship…….

……and the year also gave us much hope, much love, much gratitude and much bold, creative imagination of pathways to face the fear, the fires, the prisons, the floods, the droughts and storms coming our way…

From Chile to Hong Kong, from the frontlines of Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs stopping oil and gas pipelines on their un-ceded lands to mass mobilizations against fascism and religious fundamentalism in South Asia, we are witnessing some of the most powerful uprisings the world has seen since we last fought to evict colonial extractive empires from our lands.

Our humanity seems to have recovered from shock and stupor in the year 2019. Just in time to take a stand against the growing, unified forces of climate destruction, fascism, militarism and financial power.

And as we align our struggles in solidarity to fight this common enemy around the world, we need to build grassroots movements that are principled and powerful enough to shape change in the direction of a universal liberation, justice and peace.

Here are some reflections I’d offer – to help guide emergent strategy for this purpose:

Flip the Script: Indigenize Leadership
Start by acknowledging the leadership of those whose wisdom, culture and actions illustrate longest local, living knowledge of the earth, as communities of practice in defense and care of our common mother and all her children. Wherever you happen to be across Mother Earth’s beautiful global tapestry, stand with local Indigenous communities taking direct action to protect her lands and waters.

Turn Solidarity into Action
Just as the Rainbow Coalition of Revolutionary Solidarity served to align the Black Panther Party, the Young Lords, the Young Patriots, AIM, Brown Berets, Red Guard and many others in collaboration and direct action in the 60s and 70s, we need to start building our collective muscle in practice and service to the elderly, the poor, the ill and traumatized, those whose families and kids are under direct attack, those whose lands and waters are being destroyed.

Embody Action with Collective Self-determination
When we take mass, direct action in our streets, our communities, our worksites – we learn to practice democratic principles; and embodied knowledge of how justice, mutuality, solidarity, and service guide our practice in all forms of collective self-governance. For in mutual struggle, our hearts learn to seek universal emancipation, and our muscle memory finds ways to weave our mutuality – trans-locally across a global landscape, with threads of relational trust.

Self-determine Strategies to Sustain our Strongest Struggles
As movements are built at the pace of trust, we need to train our organizing muscle to be resilient in cultivating, growing, healing and caring for our beloved movement families. For short-term tactics to embody long-term strategies, we need to be rigorous in principled practice. This will mean navigating much internal conflict and contradiction, but where we find pathways to free us from false binaries and allow us to cultivate layers of complexity in our capacity for compassion and shared understanding, we can effectively decolonize our pedagogy.

Decolonizing popular education returns us to the first commitment – seeking local, Indigenous leadership, which means supporting the struggles of the poorest, most historically harmed among us. This requires learning local culture, song, art and ancient stories that deepen our ability to appreciate the creative beauty and purpose of the ecological tapestry around us.

Simply lean into this creative process of cultivating skills for future generations to continue building power with hope and love.

 

Can’t stop, won’t stop. Not now, not ever.

  By , , , , ,
You’re probably getting an absurd amount of fundraising emails right now. Yup, so are we. And, you’re probably reading promise after promise for change in 2020.
Well, this isn’t that type of email. Rising Tide North America isn’t here to sell you a rainbow unicorn winning strategy to make 2020 THE year for the climate and to beat Trump.
Cause the truth is Rising Tide’s mission has always been clear: uplift and support frontline and grassroots movements, and get more people into the streets. That’s it. That’s THE winning strategy: Helping build powerful systems of solidarity and mutual support based in long-term care and community — not false promises or prescribed momentum.
In 2020, Rising Tide will double down on taking risks and build movement infrastructure for the long haul. Will you support us with a gift of $15, $50 or even $500 to keep our work going?
This year, volunteer-led grassroots movements confronting the root causes of our toxic system have been consistent.
Rising Tide North America raised hell in the streets the Washington DC and San Francisco for the global climate strikes, organized a national organizing tour with Ende Gelände, took on PG&E in California, helped organize the Earth First rendezvous, and gave grassroots and frontline groups thousands of dollars from our Action Fund.

This is not a time for moderation in vision or spirit. It’s time to keep building and flexing our power, and Rising Tide is all in. We have a life long commitment to organizing and the movement — and the years ahead will prove pivotal.

We’re not going to sugar it, this year has been rough. Anyone who tells you different isn’t paying attention.
From a coup in Bolivia, the rise of Boris Johnson in the UK, and just plain old Trump being Trump shows the dark side of nationalism that can arise without solid visionary organizing. The Democratic Party is putting all its eggs in the impeachment basket and many non-profits are dumping resources in the November 2020 election.
But we don’t have to look far for inspiration. There have been so many acts of resistance in the streets across the world this year.
The global Climate Strikes led by young people have ushered in a new front in the climate fight, while community-based groups are escalating actions for bold transformation.
Protests in Chile and Hong Kong have reminded us that our movements must be prepared to respond to draconian government policies and corporate greed, and what it takes to sustain momentum in the face of repression.
It’s not the time to play by the rules. It’s time to get in the streets.

No Charges for the 21 Arrested in Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s Office

  By , , , , ,

 

pic via Southern Oregon Rising Tide

cross-posted from Southern Oregon Rising Tide

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, December 20th, 2019
Contact: Southern Oregon Rising Tide, sorisingtide@gmail.com, (541) 392-0643

No Charges for the 21 Arrested in Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s Office Demanding That She Oppose Jordan Cove LNG and the Pacific Connector Fracked Gas Pipeline
Arrestees Speak Out And Call on Gov. Brown to Take a Stand for our Communities and a Livable Future
[SALEM, OR] – No charges were filed for the 21 individuals arrested at peaceful sit-in in Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s office demanding she publicly oppose the Jordan Cove LNG export terminal and fracked gas pipeline. On the day that would have been their court arraignment, the 21 people from across rural and urban Oregon spoke out about the reasons why they engaged in civil disobedience to urge the Governor to oppose the project.

On November 21st, following a rally of nearly 1,000 people on the front steps of the state capitol opposed to Jordan Cove LNG, 10 impacted southern Oregonians entered Governor Kate Brown’s office and began a sit in, declaring that they would not leave until she declared opposition to the project. They were joined by dozens more, and nearly 100 people remained in Governor Brown’s office for 9 hours during which they sang songs, shared stories, and called upon the Governor repeatedly to take action. Police arrested 21 people who refused to leave when given a notice of trespass.

“As a landowner on the proposed pipeline route I will continue to fight the pipeline as I have for the past 15 years,” said Sandy Lyon of Days Creek, OR in Douglas County. “Not only do I feel the use of eminent domain is so wrong for a private company’s gain from the destruction of private property and people’s dreams, but crossing through our rivers and streams will be so detrimental to endangered salmon, lamprey and all native fish and their habitats.”

“I have marched, rallied, signed petitions, written letters, met with her staff, and now even spent the night in jail to try to persuade Governor Brown to do the right thing and stop Jordan Cove LNG and the Pacific Connector Pipeline. I do this because it is the only way I can look my 10 year-old in the eye and tell him that I am doing everything I can to protect his future from climate disruption,” said Kelly Campbell of Portland. “I urge Governor Brown to join me in opposing this destructive project and protecting our children’s future.”

“The corporations and politicians think they can use shallow promises of economic prosperity to pit rural Oregonians against each other while selling out the future of our planet,” said Derek Pyle of Medford. “It’s time to invest in green jobs, not fossil fuels.”

“Jordan Cove LNG is an environmental disaster both locally and globally,” said Beth Malitz of Corvallis. “Governor Brown should use her power to speak for all of us to stop it.”

The proposed Jordan Cove LNG project and Pacific Connector fracked gas pipeline would cut through 229 miles of forests, waterways, cultural resources and traditional territories of local Tribes, and private land in four counties of southern Oregon. Tens of thousands of individuals opposed to the project have made their voices heard in federal and state public hearings and comment periods during 2019.

Governor Kate Brown has refused to take a position on the pipeline despite the huge opposition from her constituents and the recent opposition to fracked gas projects from Governors Inslee and Cuomo of Washington and New York. With federal and state permit decisions regarding Jordan Cove LNG expected in early 2020, communities are calling on Governor Brown to immediately take action to oppose the project and put an end to it for good.

###

Southern Oregon Rising Tide is dedicated to promoting community-based solutions to the climate crisis and taking direct action to confront the root causes of climate change. We are based in the mountains and rivers of rural Southern Oregon, with most of our members living on stolen Takelma land.