Feature Image: Tsakë ze’ Howilhkat Freda Huson stands in ceremony while police arrive to enforce Coastal GasLink’s injunction at Unist’ot’en Healing Centre. (Photo Credit: © Amber Bracken)
The serene beauty of a snow-covered evergreen landscape and the dark, flowing waters of Wedzin Kwa, the Morice River in southwestern British Columbia, is shattered by the threatening roar of a helicopter and bulldozers.
Against this backdrop, red dresses hang on a bridge. On one side, steadfast Wet’suwet’en land defenders beat drums; on the other, Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers await. Tensions escalate as threats of arrest echo from above. A land defender’s voice pierces the air, shouting to the RCMP, “You do not have consent to enter our territory. You are invaders!”
YINTAH (land) is a documentary co-directed by Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell and Michael Toledano. The film follows Howilhkat Freda Huson and Sleydo’ Molly Wickham as they defend their ancestral lands against the Canadian government and fossil fuel giants like Alberta’s TC Energy, the company behind the Coastal GasLink pipeline project.
The film documents over a decade of interactions between energy companies and the land defenders. In a 2015 scene, a Chevron representative presents Huson with a 24-pack of Nestle bottled water and two packs of Number Seven tobacco as an “offering” in exchange for working in their territories. Huson politely declines, insisting they have their own water.
Central to the film is the 1997 Supreme Court of Canada ruling in the landmark Delgamuukw case, which recognized that the Wet’suwet’en people never surrendered title to their 22,000 square kilometres of land.
The film also addresses state violence, highlighting the RCMP’s historical role in forcibly removing Indigenous peoples from their lands to make way for white settlers and government exploitation of resources. Notably, the RCMP even collaborated with church and state to remove Indigenous children from their families and place them in residential schools.
“As much as they can deny and try to say that they’re there for everyone, I have witnessed first-hand that they are not there to protect me,” says Huson. “They’re not there to ensure my safety. They’re there to ensure their system. They always have been since contact, and they are still today.”
As the film progresses, police presence increases, leading to multiple confrontations, arrests and militarized raids. The Guardian reported that the RCMP considered “lethal overwatch,” meaning lethal force, to prevent a blockade by these land defenders at the end of 2019.
The government cultivates an image of Canada as empty land for the taking. The film challenges this portrayal, documenting how Indigenous peoples never “gave up” their land – it was taken by force, and force is still used today.
YINTAH weaves a powerful story of stolen lands, state violence and broken promises. At its heart is the enduring spirit of ongoing Indigenous resistance.
YINTAH made its Canadian premiere at Hot Docs in Toronto, winning the Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary and the Hot Docs Audience Award. It is available for streaming on Netflix. Future screenings will be made available at https://www.yintahfilm.com/screenings, and information about the movement will be available at https://www.yintahfilm.com/take-action.
