Reconciliation

BY ERICA THOMAS, GRADE 7, JANET LEE

Imagine that you lived in an ancient house, given to you by your ancestors. You have been asked to care for this house, and you understand that the house belongs not only to you, but to your future children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on. Now, imagine that strangers have moved into this house, and these strangers want to take over part of it. You have not invited these intruders. Nonetheless, they claim to have the right to your home, even though these strangers have no proof of ownership. They have declared ownership of your beloved home, and they are willing to take it by force. Sounds unfair, right? This is exactly what has happened to countless Indigenous tribes across Canada, and it is currently happening to the Wet’suwet’en tribe. The ancient house is the land, and they are the caretakers of this land.

The Canadian government, oil sand companies, and their supporters are the invaders of this land. The land this tribe lives off is legally owned by the tribe. The Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs are the caretakers and they have the paperwork and historical evidence to support their claims. Despite the facts proven, many Canadians continue to believe that the land should be used for the passageway of a large pipeline. Pipelines, like the one in plans to be built, will transport petroleum from the Alberta tar sands to the coast.

This pipeline might negatively impact the land and water on Wet’suwet’en land. I find it very disturbing that the supporters of the pipeline do not see the rights of the Indigenous Peoples as equal to the rights of any other Canadian citizen.

The reasons behind disregarding the rights of Indigenous Peoples is beyond creating jobs and transporting oil. It is deeply rooted in the historic assumption that Indigenous People are less than. This assumption is wrong and is something that Canada has yet to face, head on.

Canada’s betrayal of First Nations people is not only rooted in our past. It is happening here and now. It’s that discrimination that we seem to like to hide and pretend like it no longer exists. I believe that the only real path to reconciliation lies in how we respect Indigenous legitimate claims to the land.