Protests Over Mining in Northern BC

I am back from Iskut in northern British Columbia. I made a short trip there, to the place of my dissertation field work, to catch up with old friends and to introduce my son to Iskut people and places.

I heard lots of talk about politics during this short trip. On the heels of last fall’s blockades of mining trucks and arrests for violating a court injunction, many Iskut people are continuing to fight for a permanent moratorium on coal mining, coalbed methane gas extraction, and other extractive processes the headwaters of the Klappan, Skeena, Spatsizi and Nass Rivers.

Early in August, Iskut people hosted a gathering in what they call the Sacred Headwaters. Members of neighboring native communities participated in ceremonies to mark the importance of the area as a place of origin. The gathering, and the protests more generally, are attracting media attention. The Seattle Post Intelligencer has run two stories in the past couple of weeks, including one which fits the mining and development of this area into the larger context of global warming (links below).

I have always had an interest in sacred sites and the efforts of aboriginal people to protect them. I have not made that interest a research focus. Likewise, I am not enitrely sure I have much to offer the protesters beyond observation and documentation. The duration of the Iskut protests, the passion with which they are being pursued, and the way in which talk about history and the land are embedded in these presentations has me thinking much more seriously about the anthropology of protest.

At the very least, this is a fascinating venue for continuing my current interests in the ways in which hunting identities are displayed and spoken about publicly. I am watching and listening carefully to see if the stories of encounters with non-native business people over the past 100 years inform the rhetoric and tone of the current protests.

I also need to read more about the relationships between mining and aboriginal rights in other parts of the world too. Rex’s recent Savage Minds post seems like a good place to start.

Related Links

Sacred Headwaters website of the Klabona Keepers
My recent pictures on flickr
Seattle P-I article about the Sacred Headwaters gathering
Seattle P-I article about the connections between mining in BC and global warming
Globe and Mail review of protests in northern BC

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