First Nations group opposes creation of Gateway pipeline
Members of the Nak'azdli band from northern B.C. were in Saskatoon Thursday protesting the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
A crowd of about 200 local supporters sang, danced and held up signs as members of a British Columbia First Nations coalition arrived at Saskatoon's Via Rail station on Thursday.
Members of the Yinka-Dene Alliance oppose the Northern Gateway oil pipeline proposal, which would run from Alberta's oilsands to the Pacific coast. The group is travelling cross-country by rail. Later this month in Toronto, it plans to attend the annual meeting of Enbridge, the company proposing the pipeline.
"We want to thank you all for being here with us," said Chief Na'Miks, one of the five clan chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation of north-central B.C.
He and others said the pipeline would cross their traditional territory, risking the health of the land and water along the line.
The 40 coalition trekkers got off the train and were welcomed by Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations vice-chief Simon Bird, Saskatoon Tribal Council vice-chief Geraldine Arcand and people representing various environmental and agricultural groups, First Nations and others.
Bird thanked the Saskatoon crowd for showing support for First Nations people and welcomed "our brothers and sisters to the West."
Bird called on the federal and provincial governments to listen closer to the concerns of First Nations.
"We are part of the solution," Bird said.
Others in the crowd said they think momentum against the pipeline is slowly building across Canada.
"I believe (the pipeline) is a hazard to our environment and our economy," said Jason Danner. Danner lives in Saskatoon but is from Smithers, B.C., a town that sits on the proposed pipeline route.
Janelle Pewapsconias, a member of the Littlepine First Nation near the Battlefords, said she came out to support the Yinka Dene and to show her opposition to the oilsands and the proposed pipeline.
"In the future, I want my child to be able to drink clean water," she said.
"These are basic human rights."