Secwepemc Ts'ka7 Warriors deactivate Imperial Metals Ruddock Creek mine road.  

 

International Statement

 

With  much discussion with Elders Councils and around Sacred fires and  ceremonies the Secwepemc Ts'ka7 Warriors have acted out their collective  responsibility and jurisdiction to and in the Ts'ka7 area by  deactivating the Imperial Metals Ruddock Creek mine road.  

 

Imperial  Metals Corporation never asked for or received free, prior and informed  consent to operate in Secwepemc Territory.  The Imperial Metals Mount  Polley mine disaster, in the area known as Yuct Ne Senxiymetkwe, the  absolute destruction and devastation of our Territory has never been  answered for.  No reparations have been made.    Instead Imperial Metals  continues to force through another mine in our Territory while  criminalizing the Klabona Keepers of the Tahltan Nation also exerting  their jurisdictional and withholding consent from the same company.

 

The  Ts'ka7 (Tumtum Lake Area) area is a Sacred and important area for the  Secwepemc.  These are our Sacred Headwaters where the glaciers meet and  melt and have fed the creeks and rivers in our Territory for thousands  of years.  Our Kikye7e call this our food cupboards.  It is where we  hunt, it's where we harvest our food and our medicines.  It is the  birthing grounds for our water and our salmon.  We live off this land.   Our land is our survival.  We need the land the land doesn't need us.   Mother Earth carries on but it is our survival that is dependent on the  land and the water.  

 

The genocidal  displacement of the Secwepemc from their Homelands through starvation,  fear and assimilation by the state and industry being acted out by  Imperial Metals stops now.  We are committed to the ongoing protection  of our Territory.  Our salmon is sacred, our land is sacred, our Women  are sacred, our water is sacred and we the Peoples, the rightful title  holders are the decision makers and we will protect them.  

 

Agreements  made by elected chief and council do not have authority and do not  represent us.  This is a warning to Imperial Metals Corporation:  Leave  our Lands and do not come back.  This is a warning to the provincial  government: You do not have jurisdiction on this Land to issue permits  to any corporation.  This is a warning to investors (including the  province), contractors, suppliers and subsidiaries:  Divest from  Imperial Metals Corporation.  We the Secwepemc, united, will not allow  Imperial Metals Corporation to continue. Secwepemc Law will prevail in  our Territory.  

 

Secwepemculecw wel me7 yews, wel me7 yews

 

Secwepemc Ts'ka7 Warriors