Giving Thanks 2021

Download Poster Here: GIVING-THANKS 2021

In 2011 we felt so tired of the Thanksgiving narrative & normalization of this day that celebrates invasion and genocide that we started an intentional practice of celebrating Indigenous resistance & resilience.

So now every year, wherever we are ,we take time to remember that despite all of the horrors of colonialism & imperialism that indigenous peoples are still here. Still living, still breathing & still loving. We offer these images as a way to fight against erasure, invisibility & the violence of forgetting.

This year’s graphic is dedicated to the Wet’suwet’en who have acted to remove Coastal GasLink from their lands. On November 14th they issued an evacuation order to all CGL pipeline workers letting them know that if they didn’t leave all access to the outside world would be shut down. They have stated that they never ceded their territories and the Wet’suwet’en still have autonomy over their lands. The Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs represent a governance system that predates colonization and the (Canadian) Indian Act which was created in an attempt to outlaw Indigenous peoples from their lands. They have been met with force by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who have raided the Gidimt’en Checkpoint at the 44 km marker on the Morice Forest Service Road. Wet’suwet’en land defenders and their supporters have been controlling access to this road to stop Coastal Gaslink from drilling under Wedzin Kwa, their sacred headwaters. 15 people were arrested on November 18th in an invasion on the Gidimt’en yintah, including 2 Wet’suwet’en elders, 3 Haudenosaunee members, 3 legal observers and 1 journalist. The RCMP are actively raiding Coyote Camp, dropping RCMP behind the blockades with helicopters. (Info from https://www.yintahaccess.com)

“We will never abandon our children to live in a world with no clean water. We uphold our ancestral responsibilities. We continue to protect our yintah and invite all of our supporters to join us on the ground or to take action where you stand.” – @yintah_access

There will be no pipelines on Wet’suwet’en territory.

#indigenouspeoplesday #nothankstaking #givethanksforindigenousresistance #decolonize