In 2019, the B.C. government pushed for construction on the Coastal GasLink Pipeline through Wet’suwet’en Nation’s lands, despite a lack of consent from the Nation’s Hereditary Chiefs. This push included the deployment of RCMP officers to shut down the peaceful protest of members of Wet’suwet’en at their Unist’ot’en camp. Wet’suwet’en lands are unceded, and reconciliation calls for a nation-to-nation relationship between Canada and Indigenous peoples. Nations must respect each other, and that means that we should not enter or use each other’s lands where we have not been invited.

To support Wet’suwet’en to challenge the wrongful invasion of their lands, I produced a series of wood block paintings that will be sold at a fundraiser event in Edmonton called Defend the Yintah in May 2020. All proceeds from these sales will go to the Unist’ot’en legal fund.

Each painting represents a clan of Wet’suwet’en Nation. As a collection, the paintings are intended to communicate the strength of Wet’suwet’en as a whole, each clan and its associated Hereditary Chief. The Hereditary Chiefs have been leaders on the front line of the protests and they are important community leaders. At Defend the Yintah, Edmonton will stand in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en!