Kick off the No Pipelines!: Action Training for Climate Justice weekend with this community feast. Food, inspiring words from indigenous land defenders and local poets, and a chance to meet and get to know the fellow activists and organizers you will be working with throughout the weekend.

 

T'Uy'Tanat-Cease Wyss is Skwxw'u7mesh ethnobotanist, media artist, educator, and food security activist. She has stood up with other Indigenous Peoples to fight for native peoples' rights to hunt, gather, and fish in their traditional territories.

 

Ancestral Pride: Gwaiina and Xhopakelxhit sovereign Ahoushat / Snuneymuxw. NYM og's, West Coast warriors seeking to create a culture of resistance by: asserting the jurisdiction and authority we have over our lives and lands. We are in resistance to colonization, industrial land death, mining, logging, pipelines and the illegally occupying military force of so called canada. We also are part of a larger network of decolonizing sovereign nations. 

 

From the Unist'ot'en Camp:

 

Togestity: Likhts'amisyu hereditary chief, Wet'suwet'en nation. Toghestiy has been living in the Unist'ot'en resistance cabin with his family. Toghestiy's philosophy is based on the ancient Wet'suwet'en philosophy called "Wiggus", which requires the highest level of understanding, respect, and humility for absolutely everything. There is no price that will ever compromise his responsibility.

 

Freda Huson: spokesperson of the Unist'ot'en clan of the Wet'suwet'en. The Unis'tot'en are taking action to protect their lands from Lions Gate Metals at Tacetsohlhen Bin Yintah, and have also built a cabin and resistance camp in the pathways of approximately seven proposed oil and fracked gas pipelines.

 

Ant Loc is Nəxʷsƛ̕áy̕əm̕ and a member of the controversial and influential Indigenous hip hop/rap group Savage Family Seowa. He is from the illegally occupied territory now known as washington. His music is rooted in and influenced by the many lives that he has been touched by. His voice represents that of the oppressed, the have nots, the poor and unfortunate and the unmentionables of society. His gritty lyrical ability was forged in the streets and found further strength in the spiritual/cultural foundations of his ancestors. He has been compared to the likes of Immortal Technique and Dead Prez but he suggest that he is "more relentless in his pursuit of justice for the original inhabitants of these illegally occupied lands" and therefore believes that he "does not fit in any category." Make no mistake though; regardless of wether or not you agree or disagree with the content of his lyrics, Ant Loc is a true lyricist. No one can walk away from listening to his music and suggest that he is unable to rhyme. He spits in an intelligent and precise manner that is rivaled by few. Ant Loc is mostly unheard of as of yet outside of Indigenous/Native communities but is now prepared to share the music that fulfills the prophecies of his people that will make the cities crumble.

 

Artists:

 

Stephen Collis is a Vancouver based poet and activist. He teaches contemporary literature at Simon Fraser University and organizer with Rising Tide and Mining Justice Alliance.

 

Christine Leclerc is the editor of The Enpipe Line - an anthology of poetry written against the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline - and Oilywood, a poem about Vancouver's beaches, Kinder Morgan, and why oil and water don't mix.

 

Rita Wong's poetry books include Monkey Puzzle and Forage, which won the BC Book Prize for poetry. She has been researching water for several years now, and teaches at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.at Emily Carr University of Art and Design.

 

The evening will end with at performance by SAVAGE FAM - No Pipelines!: Action Training for Climate Justice.

 

Russian Hall

The hall has two levels. The top level is accessible (wheelchair ramp). The lower level is not accessible (4 steps, no ramp). Because the bathroom is located in the lower level, there is no wheelchair access to the bathroom. The bathroom is also not wheelchair accessible. There will be a male washroom and a gender neutral washroom available.