Unist’ot’en camp staying put as company puts on pressure to step asideTucked within the

Unist’ot’en camp staying put as company puts on pressure to step aside

Tucked within the forest down a dirt logging road in the central interior of British Columbia is the Unist’ot’en Camp.

It’s the Unist’ot’en clan’s re-occupation of Wet’suwe’ten traditional lands.

Freda Huson built the camp to reconnect with her Indigenous culture and to teach land-based wellness.

“People keep calling this a protest camp and it’s not a protest camp,” said Huson. “It’s a homestead, we actually live here and we get visitors from all over the world that want to learn about what we are doing.”

The only access to Huson’s homestead is a bridge that is protected by a large gate.

It blocks the road that leads to the future Coastal GasLink pipeline.

Although Huson welcomes some visitors – not all are welcome.

She said she wants nothing to do with workers from the oil and gas business.

“Our medicines, our berries, the wildlife, the salmon, the water, the air we breathe, a lot of those are not replaceable,” she said. “If they destroy those and wipe out those species then they are wiping out our food and our way of life.”

Huson built the first cabin along the Morice River almost 10 years ago.

It’s location was strategic – the front line of a battle that continues to this day.

“The number one reason that I moved back out was because of my dad,” she said. “He said the only way we are going to win and protect our territory is you have to occupy.”

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Written by Laurie Hamelin