The Fairy Creek blockade is far from over and there is still a number of people from the Discovery Islands among the thousands going there. 

The trek to Fairy Creek

Oriane Lee Johnston and two other Cortes Island residents have just returned. When I mentioned she was the eighth Cortesian that I knew made the trek to Fairy Creek, Oriane responded, “It is quite a lot more actually.” She was informed the stream of visitors has been a pretty consistent.

Geraldine Kenny said a lot of Quadra Island residents have also gone and named three that left on Friday. 

On Saturday, Dr Saul Arbess, spokesperson for the Rainforest Flying Squad, explained, “This very day there would be at least 2,000 people around headquarters and then dispatched, if they wish to go, to some of the blockade sites. Every week-end, it is extraordinary. The police set up roadblocks to deflect people. I do not know how successful they were today, but there have always been 1,500 – 2,000 people that actually make it.”

Arbess described the RCMP roadblocks as illegal, and pointed out that this past week they have prevented tourists from visiting the Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park and Avatar Grove. 

The RCMP report for Saturday June 19th mentions seven people arrested after they were removed from various locking and tripod devices. Two were minors. Someone else was arrested for assaulting a police officer, which brings the total number of arrests, since the crackdown began, to 254.

Why the Protesters are still there

“We were asked to leave on April 1st by Chief Jones of the  Pacheedaht First Nation. They have collaborated, with the two other interested First Nations (the Huu-ay-aht and Ditidaht) and asked all third party interests to leave while they are preparing their forest stewardship plan. We don’t know where that plan stands, what level of development it is at, but we decided it might be reasonable to look at it before we made a decision to leave,” said Arbess. 

“There are other interests with the Pacheedaht and the Ditidaht. We are working in that larger traditional territory of the Pacheedaht at the invitation of Elder Bill Jones, of the Pacheedaht. He has continued to be steadfast and has certainly asked us not to leave. The actual request for us to leave was never discussed with the Pacheedaht people. Their community was not consulted on how they should respond to us.” 

Hereditary Chief Victor Peter

Q/ Isn’t this a decision the Hereditary Chief should be making? 

During the Wet’suwet’en crisis, it became clear that the elected band council’s jurisdiction does not extend beyond the Reserve. The authority over traditional lands belongs to the Hereditary Chiefs.  

“Actually, that was recognized by the government. They were negotiating with the Hereditary Chiefs in the Wet’suwet’en, so that is recognition,” responded Arbess.

Hereditary Chief Frank Queesto Jones and Elected Chief Jeff Jones, both signed the statement asking third parties to leave. 

Arbess laughed, “Oh yes, that’s complicated too!” 

It turns out that many people, Elder Bill Jones among them, recognize an 18-year-old youth named Victor Peter – not Frank Queesto Jones – as the Hereditary Chief.

Hereditary Chief Victor Peter is very supportive of the protests. 

Meeting with Chief Jeff Jones

“We are presently organizing a meeting with Chief Jeff Jones to talk about the way forward. That’s the kind of meeting we want to have. It has been a long time coming, but we feel we can probably make progress this way. We have certain interests and they have certain interests,” said Arbess.

“On the face of it, the band council only has direct control over the reserve land, and not the wider territory. We recognize their claim to the wider territory, but it is still crown land. Actually most of the Pacheedaht traditional territory is Tree Farm License 46, and certainly all the valuable timber is. So it is complicated in absense, but we are moving towards a meeting with Jeff Jones and ultimately the three chiefs because we want to have a good outcome.”

What the Fairy Creek Blockade has accomplished

The Fairy Creek blockade began on August 10th, 2020. As far as Arbess knows, it is unprecedented for any direct action to have endured that long.

“We are still in a position of strength, even though the RCMP are using every tactic, including many illegal tactics,” said Arbess.

“They have used exclusion zones, which are not part of the injunction. The injunction grants us unfettered access to all sites: to witness, but not to break the law, of course. To be witnesses and exercise our right to protest. We have been excluded, as the media have been systematically excluded, from entering the actual active zones. The Canadian Association of Journalists have begun a suit against the RCMP for these illegal exclusion zones. The RCMP were criticized themselves, when they did that in the Wet’suwet’en case, criticized internally by their complaints commission, but here we are doing it again.”

The police action at Fairy Creek is costing taxpayers millions of dollars.

“I have to say that this small group of forest defenders has reignited the entire debate about the future of the old growth in British Columbia. We’ve had responses now from all over the world. The New York Times, the Guardian and other papers – and the Guardian has covered it more than once! They’ve had reporters on site. So this is really big. Direct action has led to this situation where we have thousands and thousands of people protesting and rallying in cities in many parts of the world – including Geneva, New York, Toronto …”

“And we’re not standing down, ” said Arbess.

Talk with First Nations and log

“The government is intransigent. It used to be ‘talk and log,’ now it is talk with First Nations and log. They are using First Nations as a front to retard action on the old growth,” said Arbess.

He pointed to the government’s six month delay in releasing the Old Growth Strategic Review.

“Beyond that, they have not responded to the emphatic recommendation within the Old Growth Strategic Review, to protect within six months the most critically endangered old growth areas,” said Arbess.

Though the government has now set up deferral areas within Fairy Creek and the Central Walbran, Arbess pointed out that there is old growth outside of them. That’s why there are still protesters still blockades there.

“We are determined to protect these areas until they are at least deferred, and remember deferral is not protection. Anything can happen after the two years,” he said.

“We respect the position taken by the three Chiefs in the area of concern, to exercise sovereignty over their territory, We agree with that, but we need to be able to leave with some assurance that we have sought to protect or defer is in fact occurring.”

Oriane Lee Johnston’s visit

Oriane Lee Johnston found that one of her roles at the Fairy Creek Headquarters was to be a listening ear for people who needed to talk.

In the podcast above, she describes the daily meetings where news was discussed and tasks assigned for the following day: builders are needed here; blockades should go there etc.

One of her friends from Cortes took a six hour shift, with a chain link around her arm, at the main entrance. If the police arrived, she was to put her arm into a 4 inch PV pipe, at shoulder height, and clip the carabiner clip into a large hook eye.

“It is a pretty brave thing to do and one of the main reasons I am in touch with you is to let people know that the deferral doesn’t mean that things are safe. Many more people are needed as a presence there,” said Oriane.

Links of Interest:

• (Gov of BC) A Strategic Review of How British Columbia Manages for Old Forests Within its Ancient Ecosystems
• (Cortes Currents) Discovery Islanders making the trek to Fairy Creek
• (Newswire) Canadian Association of Journalists calls on courts to limit RCMP powers when granting injunctions
• Fairy Creek Blockade Facebook page
• (YouTube) Mamas Movement page
• (Cortes Currents) articles about, or mentioning, the Fairy Creek blockade
• (Cortes Currents) articles about, or mentioning old growth forests

Top photo credit: photo courtesy Fairy Creek Blockade Facebook page

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