Members of the Wet’suwet’en First Nation were arrested for protesting the construction of a natural gas pipeline on their ancestral land in northern British Columbia, Canada.
Sophia is a 17 years old Mi’kmaq from the Metepenagiag First Nation, and a strong advocate for indigenous rights and human rights.
With Members of Parliament (MP) meeting all day for a sitting of the House of Commons, the aim of the demonstration was to pressure MPs to meet with Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs, and to push them to remove the RCMP and the Coastal GasLink (CGL) off Wet’suwet’en territory.
“It’s destroying what we hold sacred, and we’re not going to take it anymore. We’re going to say ‘no’ this time,” said Sophia Sidarous.
Sophia organized an informative session at her university. “I think just the lack of information … is really turning this narrative into something as Indigenous peoples … inconveniencing Canadians,” said Sidarous. “I think it’s really important for non-Indigenous peoples to take action on these issues that are happening in their own country, that this is something that affects us all.”
Sophia Sidarous is the Director of the Earth Guardians Crew for Ottawa/Gatineau.
For meaningful reconciliation to happen, Indigenous legal traditions must be recognized in their own right, and applied alongside western legal tradition.
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Credits:
1. Province of British Columbia; National Indigenous Peoples Day; June 21, 2019; (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). 2. Billy Wilson; Fall Colours, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada; October 2, 2020; (CC BY-NC 2.0). 3. Fibonacci Blue; Protest against the proposed KeystoneXL tar sands pipeline; September 26, 2011; (CC BY 2.0). 4. Fibonacci Blue; March against the proposed KeystoneXL tar sands pipeline; September 26, 2011; (CC BY 2.0). 5. United Nations Photo; International Year of the World´s Indigenous People, 1993; June 27, 1993; (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). 6. Scott Stewart-Jhonson; First Nation Totems; August 1, 2016; (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). 7. Jason Hargrove; protester's sign saying "we support you land protectors" - Wet'suwet'en Solidarity Event - Toronto Train Stopped at Dufferin Street and Bartlett Avenue in Toronto - Saturday, February 8, 2020; February 9, 2020; ; (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).