https://thenarwhal.ca/gitanyow-hereditary-chiefs-burn-prgt-agreement/
Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs are blocking a road that leads to a work camp for the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline, set to begin construction this weekend. Indigenous youth are at the forefront of opposition to the new fossil fuel infrastructure
Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs are leading a new wave of pipeline opposition on their lands in northwestern Canada — four years after nation-wide protests shut down railways and roads in a failed bid to halt construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline in British Columbia.
On Thursday, on a remote forest service road in northwest B.C., Gitanyow Simgiget (Hereditary Chiefs) burned a benefits agreement they signed with TC Energy 10 years ago in support of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline, saying it will “make our ancestors happy.” The burning ceremony came after the chiefs, supported by dozens of youth from surrounding communities, closed their territories to all traffic related to the new pipeline and set up a blockade.
Construction of the 800-kilometre pipeline — which will ship mainly fracked gas from B.C.’s northeast to liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities on B.C.’s coast — is set to begin this weekend. If completed, the new pipeline would cross more than 1,000 waterways, including major salmon-bearing rivers and tributaries.
After closing the Nass Forest Service Road to all pipeline vehicles on Thursday, two chiefs of the Ganeda (Raven/Frog) Clan, Gamlakyeltxw Wil Marsden and Watakhayetsxw Deborah Good, set up a checkpoint where the road meets Highway 37, about 170 kilometres north of Terrace, B.C. The road is the shortest route to transport heavy equipment and supplies for a sprawling work camp being built to support pipeline construction.
