During the night, blockaders managed to set up two new hard blocks despite constant RCMP patrols. One was a variation on something I’ve heard referred to as a Lorax. A large log was pulled across the road with a pipe attached to the underside. The arrestable blockader had their arm clipped into a hole underneath the log. As we made our way past, a handful of RCMP officers were working on the extraction.
Further up the road, a blockader had just been removed from the second hard block, a large tripod near the edge of the second growth and a cutblock. It’s always a little depressing to hear chainsaws on the way towards the old growth, but the RCMP usually cut the tripods into small pieces so they can’t be reused.
We were urged by a couple of “Green Guys” to have a look at a big fir tree holding space in the forest a few minutes past Grandfather Tree. I always try and visit the ancients in the morning as a reminder of what brought me here in the first place. I also visited Grandmother Tree for the first time. She doesn’t always “accept” visitors and I can see why. She’s listing towards the river like she’s being serenaded.
In truth, sometimes it seems the river is serenading us all.
It was close to noon by the time enforcement reached what remained of River Camp. A dozen or so blockaders were grounding themselves in ways that ranged from silent meditation to free-flowing dance near the front of the bridge. The road is narrow here, and the bridge provides a strategic pinch point for which to make a stand.
The blockaders gathered for a ceremony led by Lady Chainsaw. They went around in circle, describing their feelings as if it were the weather. Responses ranged from sunny with clouds to a “category 23 super hurricane.” They discussed items they hoped to be able to negotiate with RCMP and whether they wanted to make a stand where they were or retreat to the bridge. The consensus was to put safety first and retreat, with the added bonus of working on building trust between themselves and the new crew of enforcement.
Lady Chainsaw suggested asking for a double cheeseburger and a Pepsi as part of the negotiation. I heard others chime in with their own suggestions of pizza and ice cream. It was nice to hear a little laughter from these intrepid humans after witnessing what they’d been through the week before.
The RCMP weren’t in the mood to negotiate today and instead informed the blockaders they would be taking the bridge. Blockaders were given five minutes to execute their retreat. Right on cue, at the five minute mark, RCMP slowly began making their way towards the bridge.
Blockaders retreated to the midway point where two blocks with were stretched across the width of the bridge with climbing ropes, both holding two indigenous land defenders suspended over the river below. A young man was guarding the line, requesting everyone move slowly for the safety of the two land defenders.
RCMP waited for the blockaders to settle in before announcing again that they would be taking the bridge today. A lengthy standoff ensued as the blockaders held their ground while negotiations persisted. Blockaders managed to secure a pathway to the river which serves both as a water source and as a way for them to keep eyes on their people. They are always adamant that their people are looked after. I’m often asked what it is that keeps drawing people back to this place, and I think so much of it has to do with the community here. It’s about looking after one another, and trees and the land are included as part of the collective.
I watched a trio of fish swim underneath the bridge as the blockaders began to retreat, creating a conveyor belt for supplies passed from hand to hand. Later I climbed atop a wooden blockade a few feet off the bridge to watch a steady stream of RCMP officers face off toe to toe with half a dozen brave blockaders refusing to concede more than an inch of land off the bridge.
The extractions that day were swift. A few feet in front of me no less than three strong women covered in enough chain to hold down a yacht were removed in a matter of minutes by a small army of RCMP equipped with long-handled bolt cutters. Farther away, a pair of blockaders had attached themselves to the bridge using bike locks around their necks. They too were removed much faster than I imagined they would be.
Lady Chainsaw was moved to the centre of the bridge. An officer explained to the blockaders that they would be securing the rope attached to the sits (platforms holding blockaders) beneath the bridge so that Lady Chainsaw could be moved safely to the other side. He assured the blockaders that the ropes were not going to be cut. It seemed a reasonable enough thing to believe at the time.
A few minutes later, a man with a chainsaw walked across the bridge and began sawing a large stump close to where the blockaders had gathered. Simultaneously, two members of the ERT or “Green Guys” as they are called at camp, went to work on the ropes holding the sits. They worked quickly to cut the ropes and secure the two new ends to much smaller pieces of wood.
Raven, one of the land defenders in the sits, was making her presence and her displeasure known. You never have to guess how Raven feels, she’ll make sure you know. By this time the other blockaders could see the sawing of the log was designed to distract from what was happening in the bridge. When they asked for the sawing to be paused so that they could hear their friends’ concerns, one officer snapped “she’s only spewing hate.”
A white man in a uniform, whose job it was to enable industry to further remove a woman from the land, felt justified in silencing her because she sounded angry. Last week’s crew arrested Raven and Whale Tale right in front of me after first telling them to go up the road and then back down. It was ridiculous. And it felt equally ridiculous that this RCMP officer felt Raven is the one who needs reform.
If I learned anything from the insanity of prior weeks, it’s that what a lot of us saw for the first time was something that Indigenous peoples have been experiencing for 150 years. The RCMP were never designed to operate in the best interest of the public. They were created to remove people from the land so that it could be drained of it’s resources.
When the dust from the needlessly severed log settled, Lady Chainsaw was gently escorted across the bridge and into a waiting police van to a vocal crowd of adoring fans. She bowed to them graciously before being taken away.
When I left for the day, the two trenches at the front of the bridge and a pair of intrepid defenders chained to some kind of purple cube remained steady and strong in their holds.
Enforcement has been focused this week on safety and being extra accommodating to media. But they still lie and I still see some officers with contempt for certain people. Some reading this may feel some justification in the lies and the contempt and I suppose we are all entitled to feel what we do.
Let me share what my reaction was to seeing a man in uniform today tending to a call outside a grocery store: Mistrust.