A law of Secwépemc called X7ensq’t says that if you do not respect the earth and take care of it properly, the earth and heaven will become opposite to you.
“It’s a serious law,” said Mike McKenzie, a guardian of Secwépemc’s wisdom. He added that he wondered “how far” other people wanted to go by raping him.
McKenzie is referring to Trans Mountain Corp. , which last week resumed construction near Pipsell, or Jacko Lake, near Kamloops, after a federal regulator approved a diversion upgrade to the Trans Mountain pipeline.
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McKenzie, who has been an outspoken critic of the pipeline expansion, said he believes the pipeline’s destruction is a continuation of cultural genocide.
“Without this position, we lose a large part of ourselves,” said McKenzie, who noted that the story of the creation of the Secwépemc takes place in Pipsell and that their customs were born in this land.
“It is our Vaticano. Es Our Señora. Es a position that provides our people with an identity and allows them to stand firm from time immemorial.
The Energy Regulator of Canada approved Trans Mountain Corp. ‘s application. to divert the pipeline by the end of September, a move that could save the allocation of the government-owned pipeline from another nine months of delay.
The regulator’s ruling came a week after hearing arguments from Trans Mountain and Stk’emlupsemc te Secwépemc Nation, which opposed the realignment.
The Nation said the room near Jacko Lake had “deep spiritual and cultural significance” and while it canceled the task as a whole, it did not accept the diversion request.
La Nacion said it agreed to build only in the first place, with the goal that the company would minimize disturbances on the surface.
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A written response from the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwépemc Nation to the regulator said a change in the structural system would cause “significant and irreparable damage” to its culture.
It added that it had provided free, prior and informed consent for the diversion of the route, as required by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
She told the federal regulator in 2018, when the Trans Mountain expansion allocation was still in the approval process, that Pipsell was a “key cultural site and a sacred site. “
Trans Mountain Corp. said the realignment was mandatory because it experiences technical difficulties in the domain similar to the structure of a tunnel.
The regulator concluded that the direction of the pipeline could deviate from what was originally planned for a 1. 3-kilometer stretch and that the company could update its structural approach for that stretch.
The company announced Wednesday that it had resumed work at the Pipsell site.
It said in a statement that it considered the domain to be of “sacred importance” and was “committed to being respectful of the religious and cultural significance of this land. “
“Every precaution will be taken to ensure that existing archaeological and classical land use sites are absolutely avoided and are not affected by this construction,” he continued.
“We highly value our partnership with (Stk’emlupsemc te Secwépemc) and will continue to invite representatives to walk through the percentage contingency and mitigation plans. “
The company said it is committed to “meaningful engagement and effective relationships” with indigenous communities along the pipeline corridor, noting that there are 69 agreements with communities along the right of way, Stk’emlupsemc te Secwépemc.
Still, McKenzie, speaking through tears, said he was devastated to hear the news of the resumption of work.
McKenzie said the task runs counter to reconciliation and Canada’s reputation as a “model site” for what greater relations might look like.
“We have shown the world that we can reconcile and that we can work together on the basis of something good,” McKenzie said.
But he said the recent resolution and the fact that the network has given consent go against that.
“The fact that they’re going to desecrate a sacred place, after all the paintings we’ve done, tells me they don’t take reconciliation seriously. “
On Friday, federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Gary Anandasangaree said he “doesn’t need to pass the buck” but said the resolution is not within his jurisdiction. He is under pressure that government departments and agencies must comply with the United Nations Declaration. on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
“I can say that, as a federal government, we are very committed to ongoing consultations. “
This is the first time that Jacko Lake, or Pipsell, has been proposed as a site of progression.
In 2017, the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwépemc Nation stated that it had given its free, prior and informed consent to the progress of the Ajax Mining Project in the area.
“The oral histories related to Pipsell are fundamentally related to our Secwépemc legislation that addresses reciprocal and mutually culpable relationships between humans and the environment,” reads a March 2017 document submitted to the Nation as part of the Ajax allocation approval process.
“We affirm the right to exercise our traditional and new cultural practices, and to continue our customs and religious activities in the various places marked by our ancestors. “
In the end, the federal government did not approve the project.
McKenzie said it continues to have significant importance to his network and to him personally, as that’s where he led his vision quest.
A vision quest, in the simplest terms, refers to a religious adventure offered in some indigenous cultures where other people seek and gain knowledge, guidance, and teachings from spirits.
Because the hearing on the Trans Mountain diversion resolution was held in Calgary, McKenzie said, it was tricky for network members to explain how vital the site is, as they would have to travel more than 700 kilometres to attend.
The Trans Mountain Pipeline is the pipeline system in Canada that transports oil from Alberta to the West Coast. The expansion is expected to increase pipeline capacity from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 barrels per day.
The pipeline was purchased through the federal government for $4. 5 billion in 2018, after the previous owner, Kinder Morgan Canada Inc. , threatened to abandon the planned expansion effort in the face of opposition from environmentalists and regulatory hurdles.
It has already been plagued by construction-like difficulties and delays.
And since then the projected value has skyrocketed: first to $12. 6 billion, then to $21. 4 billion and recently to a peak of $30. 9 billion, the capital requirement estimated in March.
“If it’s not the earth and the sky that turns to this company, I don’t know what will be,” McKenzie said.
– With Amanda Stephenson.
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