The Peace and Unity Summit

Rebuilding Alliances and Solutions in Support of Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders

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There is an ongoing fight to ensure our actions reduce rather than fuel the climate crisis; a fight to end police brutality; a fight to underscore Indigenous sovereignty—these fights belong to all of us. Amidst this time of great upheaval, there is hope.

This summer’s Peace and Unity Summit is hosted by the Office of the Wet’suwet’en, in support of the land defenders who continue to uphold Wet’suwet’en law in the face of police violence and Coastal Gas Link’s fracked gas pipeline.

We celebrate the solutions, alliances and hope that can win these fights. We have already seen victories against extractive industries that destroy our ecosystems and communities. We have successfully fought against the Enbridge pipeline, and prevented fracked methane in the Sacred Headwaters.

But with two more pipelines now proposed through Wet’suwet’en territory, we need to scale up our efforts. Our event will welcome Indigenous leaders, scientists, and rising youth to share the work they are doing to protect and defend their lands and waters. We will focus on building trust and reciprocity to enhance relationships between Nations and also between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people—building an alliance to stand against further environmental degradation and supporting rehabilitation of ecosystems and communities. We are stronger when we face these challenges together.

Panels include conversations about

2023 Speakers

Malii

Yahaan

Kai
Nagata

Chief
Na’moks

Gaylene
Morris

Kolin
Sutherland-Wilson

Maryam
Adrangi

Gwininitxw

Yagalahl

Shannon
McPhail

Dr. Chelsea
Armstrong

Tara
Marsden

Mike
Ridsdale

Shaylynn
Sampson

Violet
Gatensby

April
Nishimura

Gwii Lok
Jesse Stoeppler

Sleydo’

Dr. Karla
Tait

Gaypaygw’m Ganauu
Pansy Wright-Simms

Cedar
Parker-George

Dene Ze’ Woos

Gallery

Peace and Unity Summit 2022

Peace and Unity Summit 2022

Supporting / Partner Organizations

Read The Declaration

We, the Wet’suwet’en have inhabited and governed our Yintah – our lands and waters – according to our laws and traditions, since time immemorial.

Our relationship to our Yintah through our governance system is ancient and profound.

Our inherent rights and title and our legal authority over these 22,000 square kilometres of lands and waters have never been ceded, surrendered, sold or relinquished in Treaty or in any other way.

As was proven in the Supreme Court of Canada ruling of December 11, 1997, in the historic Delgamuukw/Gisday’wa court case, our status as a Hereditary Nation has not been extinguished.

Whereas:

The governments of Canada and British Columbia have utterly failed to honor their legislated commitments to uphold the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and to implement BC’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act;
The governments of Canada and British Columbia, without any established legal right, continue to license unapproved industrial activity in our Yintah that threatens the social, cultural and economic wellbeing of Wet’suwet’en people and others with whom we share our territory;
That the governments of Canada and British Columbia continue to enforce their illegal occupation and destruction of our Yintah through violent means that contravene the Indigenous and human rights of Wet’suwet’en people and our neighbors and supporters, and directly damage our community wellbeing;
The actions of the governments of Canada and British Columbia make a mockery of the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of 2018.
Reoccupying Territories with Denzel Sutherland-Wilson, Panzy Wright-Simms and Nuskmata

We, the Wet’suwet’en now come together in Peace and Unity with our fellow Indigenous peoples, leaders, and supporters of all walks of life and professions to demand:

That our Wet’suwet’en Hereditary governance system be formally and universally recognized as comprising the Indigenous governing body for the entirety of the 22,000 square kilometers of Wet’suwet’en Territory;
That the governments of Canada and British Columbia confirm our legal Interest in our Yintah and immediately commit to a Wet’suwet’en led process to transition management of our lands and waters to our Wet’suwet’en governing body;
That the governments of Canada and British Columbia immediately cease all acts of violence directed at the Wet’suwet’en and our supporters carried out by the RCMP and industry security services; drop all legal actions against Wet’suwet’en land defenders and their supporters; and commit to a process of restorative justice in our territory focused on the safety and wellbeing of our people and others who share our territory;
That the governments of Canada and British Columbia cease supporting industries and developments that are detrimental to the lands and authorities of the Wet’suwet’en; That the governments of Canada and British Columbia immediately commit to a Wet’suwet’en led process to identify and support economic activities in our Yintah that ensure food and economic security for our people and our neighbors;
That the governments of Canada and British Columbia commit to an independent review of its actions in our Territory with respect to the satisfaction, or otherwise, of their obligation to uphold the tenets of UNDRIP, DRIPA, and the TRC.