Fairy Creek:Eleven months at the blockade!

Cross-posted from the Fairy Creek Blockade

Saturday, July 11th Report
?11 MONTHS AT THE BLOCKADE!!?
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Day 52 of Police Enforcement
Day 335 of Direct Action Protecting Vancouver Island’s Ancient Temperate Rainforests on Ancestral Pacheedaht and Ditidaht Territories
4 total arrests today
393 arrests to date and counting.
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Today marks the 11th month since our blockade started!
To help ring in the event, a forest defender celebrated her 27th birthday by getting arrested. “It was amazing; I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s exactly what I’m here on the planet to do, what the accumulation of the last year called me to do. This is how I want to welcome in my next lap around the sun.”

RCMP actually sang her Happy Birthday while she was extracted from her blockade device, a tube cemented into the ground (we call these ‘sleeping dragons’) at the bottom of a trench.

This particular forest defender has a family history with the RCMP. Her grandfather was an officer and being here on the frontlines has left her feeling conflicted. She knows that people get into this line of work seeking to do good, and today an officer even told a blockader that we are “not criminals.” Many of the RCMP disagree with this enforcement, and we have even heard of some officers speaking out and facing disciplinary action. As always, we urge those officers who feel conflicted to educate themselves on not only the history of the RCMP as a means to oppress Indigenous people, but on the nature of what we are doing here. Laws don’t change easily, and we need John Horgan and the NDP to understand that they are on the wrong side of history. Only they can tell the RCMP to stand down.

The arrest was exhilarating for her, but there was also a dark moment. During the extraction process a male officer needed to position himself such that he loomed over her, triggering memories of traumatic experiences. Knowing that the officer needed to stay in this position for her safety did nothing to lessen the panic and fear she felt. Confused, tears streaming down her face, she acknowledged that the officer was respectful of her body and personal space, but she still shook recounting the event. She’s chosen to take this experience as an opportunity to grow. This kind of determination is what has allowed us to occupy these blockades for 11 months now.

Later, RCMP used an excavator to extract a blockader from a sleeping dragon. While the forest defender was unable to see what was happening, he could feel it. The excavator digging into the earth beside him and puncturing the PVC pipe his arm was locked into made him ask the question “What could happen if this machine messes up?” With his arm barely able to fit in the tube, escape would not have been easy.

Nearby, a woman in her 50’s who works as a physical therapist was in a similar position. “If you mess up my arm I can’t feed my family,” she told the police. “Please, don’t hurt me or use that excavator on us.” Confusingly, they met her request. The RCMP seem to be picking the safety precautions they follow at random.
With our setup today—a sleeping dragon with a trench on either side and two more sleeping dragons leading into it from the trenches such that three people can lock in (one from the top and one on either side laying in the trenches—a small misstep meant large rocks falling on the forest defenders lying in the trenches. “We’re going to bring the excavator up,” RCMP threatened. Using the backhoe would cause the road to crumble into the ditch; burying blockaders in the process. Forest defenders knew this was a scare tactic to try to get them to unclip willingly. We’ll repeat a question we have repeatedly asked the RCMP in person: why can’t police use hand tools to extract people from hardblocks that were constructed using hand tools? They just did so recently, in fact.
You may remember Grounded Eagle—the BIPOC young adult who was given a concussion by RCMP when they dropped his tripod. Fully recovered, and eager to get back into the action, he found himself up at Waterfall Camp this past week. In his extraction this time around he shared his concerns about the RCMP using an angle grinder. As someone in the Firesworkers Union he knows the smallest spark can cause a subterranean fire. While they worked on him he felt sparks flying onto his hands as they dumped water onto the cutting area.
As always, police set up an exclusion line that was too distant for observation and ignored all complaints. At a distance of 40 metres, photography of the action was impossible. We’ve attached photos of the set-up and a few interactions with police.
Some blockaders felt a weight had been lifted today. Another blockader’s face lit up when he spoke about an owl that swooped in to perch on the police tape; flapping its wings and glaring at the RCMP. Both the blockaders and officers could barely believe what they were seeing; it was as if the forest itself was protesting this enforcement. In a rare moment of vulnerability the RCMP admitted they aren’t ecologists, they’re not in forestry, and that they don’t have all the information. We wonder if any of the officers present this day will speak up like their colleagues have. The time is short and this is truly the last stand. Old growth logging is happening RIGHT NOW and we’re down to a fractional percentage point left.

If we are to stop this, we need your help.

If you’ve been following our updates and waiting to get involved, now is your time. Numbers are low and we need your help now more than ever. This Saturday is a BIG day of action with some special plans. We’d love to see you this week and on Saturday.

Come to camp.
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WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
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COME TO CAMP!
Join us at Fairy Creek (Ada’itsx) HQ!! Please arrive prepared to self-sufficiently camp overnight. Arrestees and non-arrestees are needed DAILY.
We are in wildfire season and as such BEFORE COMING TO CAMP, YOU MUST READ OUR FIRE SAFETY PROTOCOLS:
http://bit.ly/3dNxMFl
Read our pre-arrival info sheet: http://bit.ly/FCBarrivalinfo
Worried about getting arrested? Here’s some educational information: http://bit.ly/FCBarrestee
DRIVING?
Get here: https://bit.ly/FCBnavigation

NEED A RIDE?
http://bit.ly/FCrideshare

HELP OUT!
Backcountry hikers/campers, climbers, tradesmen, kitchen, visitor services, logistics, you name it, we need it! Come prepared to wield your unique skillset & creativity for the betterment of the movement. It is up to YOU to figure out where and how you can be most useful. Get up in it! Visit different camps! Meet people! Ask around!! Find gaps!!!

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CAN’T MAKE IT HERE?
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REMOTE POSITIONS OPEN NOW!
Communications, social media management, research, fundraising, content creation, graphic design, video editing, writing, outreach, admin, legal, strategy, local organization, the list goes on. Got skills? Got heart? We’d love your help!
Fill out our intake form now: https://bit.ly/FCBintake

DONATE!
-Support for supplies and legal fees:
https://bit.ly/FCBfundrazr
-Current list of supplies & physical donations required:
https://bit.ly/FCBsupplies

JOIN A LOCAL EVENT!
Check with your local Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future, or any other activist group focused on protecting our future and Indigenous sovereignty. If there aren’t any in your area, rally a few friends and start your own!
Check this page: http://bit.ly/LS4Fevents

CALL YOUR MLA EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Find your MLA’s number here: https://bit.ly/MLAEveryDay

GOT HEALING/THERAPY SKILLS?
We are developing a network of health practitioners to help forest defenders both on and off site. If you are willing to offer healing help, sign up here: http://bit.ly/FCBtherapy

SIGN PETITIONS & MEET YOUR MLA!
-Link to all ancient forest petitions:
http://bit.ly/FCBallpetitions
-Stand.earth MLA Action Toolkit
https://bit.ly/MLAactiontoolkit

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THANKS FRIENDS!
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Klecko klecko! In solidarity, thank you 🙂

#SaveFairyCreek
#LastStandForForests
#RespectYourElders
#EnoughIsEnough
#WorthMoreStanding
#ArtistsForAncients
#LandBack

Two Indigenous Water Protectors Ascend Trees and Stop Line 3 Construction

cross-posted from the Giniw Collective

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 7, 2021
Contact: giniw@protonmail.com

Two Indigenous Water Protectors Ascend Trees and Stop Line 3 Construction

(Lake Washburn, MN) Today, 2 Indigenous water protectors blockaded an Enbridge Line 3 worksite in tree sits directly anchored to the pipeline, while 2 others crawled into a pipeline segment. The sits follow 14 lockdowns at another Line 3 worksite last week, including one Indigenous matriarch.
Enbridge has begun drilling rivers across northern Minnesota, including the Willow River, where it appears construction hit an aquifer while drilling yesterday. Drilling mud was documented spreading into the river as a “spill kit” sat ashore.
Police repression has dramatically escalated in recent weeks, as Hubbard County sheriffs blockaded Namewag camp and continue to randomly issue citations since the initial riot line. One vehicle was cited while attempting a water delivery to the private property encampment.
Over 500 people have been arrested to date fighting Line 3 destruction of Anishinaabe treaty territory and expansion of the fossil fuel industry as climate crisis rages across the planet.
JD, White Earth Anishinaabe, said, “At this point it should be obvious why anyone would take action against the fossil fuel industry. The ocean is on fire, heat waves are killing people by the hundreds. We are in the middle of an extreme drought, our wild rice beds, lakes and rivers are drying up. And while they dig up our Mother for Line 3, the bodied of our relatives are being dug up from the grounds of boarding schools. They are people who were taken from us as children, who never got to have children of their own, to live their lives. I am thinking of generations of relatives that are not here with us. My elders, aunties, uncles, cousins, and peers I will never know on this Earth. But my Grandma survived and that’s why I am still here, proud to be Anishinaabe. These colonial governments have done everything they can to kill our land, kill our culture, kill our people, but they will never kill our spirit. We will never go willingly to our own destruction. So today I sit in the path of this pipeline, tomorrow it could be you.”
From inside the pipe, Water Protector Magpie said, “As a descendant of settlers, it’s my job to stand up to white supremacy, and doing what I can to disrupt projects like Enbridge’s Line 3, which perpetuates climate chaos and brings destruction and violence to Anishinaabe territory is part of that. We must do everything we can. We are running out of time.”
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Giniw Collective is an Indigenous-women, 2-Spirit led frontline resistance to protect our Mother, defend the sacred and live in balance. We stand unafraid. Prayers into action. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram @GiniwCollective

Water Protectors Shut Down Line 3 Drilling Under the Willow River

Water Protectors Shut Down Drilling Under the Willow River

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: media@resistline3.org

(Palisade, MN) — 07/06/2021 — Early Tuesday morning, dozens of water protectors standing in solidarity with Indigenous-led resistance shut down work at a Line 3 construction site by locking themselves to equipment and building several blockades on access roads. Two people surrounded by flowers locked themselves inside of a vehicle, while two others locked to drilling equipment inside the site. Dozens more joined Indigenous matriarchs Winona LaDuke, Executive Director of Honor the Earth, and Tania Aubid to stand in the river in prayer. Over 500 water protectors have been arrested since construction began as resistance to the pipeline continues to escalate.

Tania Aubid, speaking from the river, said, “Minnesota, you will be held accountable along with the Federal and Canadian governments for the genocide of Mother Earth”.

This action took place at the Willow River, a part of the Mississippi watershed, where the Canadian corporation Enbridge is attempting to drill under the waterbody using a technique known as horizontal directional drilling (HDD). The method carries the risk of discharging drilling mud and chemicals into the river, known as a “frac out”. Enbridge calls this construction a “replacement project”, omitting the fact that the new Line 3 pipeline is larger and would nearly double its capacity to carry oil. Opponents of the project say the risk to water is unacceptable, as the new route crosses through hundreds of acres of wetlands and over 200 bodies of water.

Taysha Martineau, speaking about the action, said, “We can not allow them to take these rivers, Enbridge was given a cease-and-desist notice in order to protect the ceremonial lodge. The state of Minnesota has refused to abide by that order and so action was taken. Abide by the order or we will continue to use people power to shut it down”.

One of the water protectors locked down inside the site said, “Line 3 is a catastrophic threat to the land, the water, the people, wild rice, and the climate. This pipeline violates the treaty rights of the Anishinaabe and is not being built with Indigenous consent. Enbridge has a long history of spills, many of which occur in the first 10 years of a pipeline operating. They do not care about the land, the people, or their workers. They only care about the money, so we are putting pressure on their pocketbooks by slowing the progress of Line 3 until we stop it altogether. Polluted water, land, and rapid climate change are threats to us all, and Line 3 will cause unpredictable levels of damage if it becomes active. Actions like this one are a fight for all of our survival, and should be seen as nothing less.”

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Additional photos and interviews with movement leadership available upon request.

Fairy Creek: Forest defenders take back Waterfall Camp

WE RETAKE WATERFALL IN HUGE VICTORY; RCMP ENFORCE FOR FIRST TIME ON A SUNDAY
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Day 46 of Police Enforcement
Day 329 of Direct Action Protecting Vancouver Island’s Ancient Temperate Rainforests on Ancestral Pacheedaht and Ditidaht Territories
4 total arrests today
356 arrests to date and counting.
—————————————————————-
Today we had a huge victory. Despite confusion earlier in the week about reducing numbers at camp (to be clear, we are NOT, and we need you now more than ever), we have managed to take back Waterfall Camp!
At about 5:30 this morning, forest defenders near Waterfall Camp executed an action that had been planned for weeks.
A small group of blockaders bushwhacked down the hill and recovered a completed tripod they had earlier stashed from the bushes. Running with three 20 foot lengths of wood on their backs, they picked a spot on the road right after the turn off to Waterfall Camp. They knew they had a narrow window of opportunity and worked quickly to get the tripod set up before police arrived. It broke twice before they succeeded.
One defender recounted, “Third time’s a charm. We hoisted her up there right as the cops arrived. Like, literally a 10 or 20 second thing. It was in [r]ight in the nick of time.”
An RCMP officer driving a canopied ATV attempted to drive under the tripod before forest defenders advised him of how much danger he was putting the tripod sitter in. An RCMP pickup showed up just as the sitter got onto the top.
Once the tripod was erected and occupied, more than 30 defenders came out of the bushes and surprised the RCMP positioned right at Waterfall Camp. Walking past the police barricade, they set up a log contraption with a hole through the centre for a defender to lock into called a “Carebear” immediately behind the last RMCP vehicle, trapping the vehicles and a few officers behind an arbitrary line of our own.
Once the officers realized they were trapped, they began negotiating with us. We allowed one of their vehicles to drive some of the distance back down the road and a few of their officers to bring food and water up to their trapped colleagues in exchange for the release of our first arrest for the day, a support person who was arrested without warning for simply providing water to a tripod sitter.
As of this writing, there is still a police vehicle trapped behind our barricades up at Waterfall.
The BC NDP is spending untold sums of money on enforcing this injunction. Helicopters are circling every day for much of the day. Upwards of 40 officers are sent to every enforcement. Specialized extraction tools. For what? To allow another company to destroy the land and make heat waves, climate change, and the current mass extinction more severe? For an industry that not only doesn’t make BC money, but COSTS us? The BC NDP gives $365,000,000 on average to the forestry industry every year.
Meanwhile, the Town of Lytton has burned to the ground. The NDP has not given a cent in relief money. Many First Nations around Canada don’t have clean drinking water RIGHT NOW. Almost 500 people have died from the heat wave. Why is this enforcement what the NDP chooses to spend our tax money on? Where is our climate resilience? Where is our climate justice?
We can stop this, but we need your help.
Numbers have gotten low due to a misunderstanding about reducing our presence. The need to have a strong presence at camps could not be more urgent. If you don’t join us in person this week, we may lose HQ. Police have been scoping the place out and commenting on how low numbers are. We love you, and thanks for everything you’ve done.
Come to camp.
—————————————————————-
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
—————————————————————-
COME TO CAMP!
Join us at Fairy Creek (Ada’itsx) HQ!! Please arrive prepared to self-sufficiently camp overnight. Arrestees and non-arrestees are needed DAILY.
Read our pre-arrival info sheet: http://bit.ly/FCBarrivalinfo
Worried about getting arrested? Here’s some educational information: http://bit.ly/FCBarrestee
DRIVING?
HELP OUT!
Backcountry hikers/campers, climbers, tradesmen, kitchen, visitor services, logistics, you name it, we need it! Come prepared to wield your unique skillset & creativity for the betterment of the movement. It is up to YOU to figure out where and how you can be most useful. Get up in it! Visit different camps! Meet people! Ask around!! Find gaps!!!
—————————————————————-
CAN’T MAKE IT HERE?
—————————————————————-
REMOTE POSITIONS OPEN NOW!
Communications, social media management, research, fundraising, content creation, graphic design, video editing, writing, outreach, admin, legal, strategy, local organization, the list goes on. Got skills? Got heart? We’d love your help!
Fill out our intake form now: https://bit.ly/FCBintake
DONATE!
-Support for supplies and legal fees:
-Current list of supplies & physical donations required:
JOIN A LOCAL EVENT!
Check with your local Extinction Rebellion, Fridays for Future, or any other activist group focused on protecting our future and Indigenous sovereignty. If there aren’t any in your area, rally a few friends and start your own!
Check this page: http://bit.ly/LS4Fevents
CALL YOUR MLA EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.
Find your MLA’s number here: https://bit.ly/MLAEveryDay
GOT HEALING/THERAPY SKILLS?
We are developing a network of health practitioners to help forest defenders both on and off site. If you are willing to offer healing help, sign up here: http://bit.ly/FCBtherapy
SIGN PETITIONS & MEET YOUR MLA!
-Link to all ancient forest petitions:
-Stand.earth MLA Action Toolkit