By Cara McKenna

Indigenous people who successfully fought against Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline are sharing their advice and support with those trying to stop Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project to the Lower Mainland.

About 300 people gathered in Vancouver in early March for a fundraising event to raise legal fees for the Tsleil-Waututh and Coldwater nations who are opposing the pipeline through their territories. Speakers included leaders from the communities who spent nearly a decade successfully fighting Enbridge.

That battle climaxed in a court action that overturned the project’s federal approval. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the project was officially dead late last year.

Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs said their success proved that it’s “more than possible” to defeat big oil. “I believe what we accomplished with Enbridge, we can absolutely accomplish with Kinder Morgan,” he said.

“We need to be incredibly visible, to be incredibly vocal and to replicate many of the same things that the Yinka Dene Alliance did, in a relatively challenging tight timeframe.”

The alliance is a group of leaders from six northern communities that spent years fighting Enbridge both on the street and in the courts. The chief from one of those communities, Saik’us First Nation, shared specific strategies that the group used to fight Enbridge, including establishing allies, using the media to disseminate their message and using strong consent language.

“I’m here to support the fight against Kinder Morgan,” Chief Jackie Thomas said. “I hope I made a good path for you.”

Thomas gifted Tsleil-Waututh Nation with a carving from her community plus $5,500 from the Yinka Dene Alliance for the legal fight. Thomas specifically gave kudos to Rueben George, a member of Tsleil-Waututh, who assisted the Yinka Dene Alliance’s efforts to defeat Enbridge.

Thomas said she wants to support George now that it is his community being affected.

His 20-year-old son, Cedar George-Parker, represented his father at the event and spoke about his fears for the future of both his community and generation.

“When I’m on my land, there’s nothing better than that, especially when we’re healthy,” he said. “But that’s getting challenged by Kinder Morgan. That’s getting challenged by dirty oil.”

George-Parker said he doesn’t agree with how the government is choosing to spend its money – on big business rather than helping individuals.

“I see my friends down in the bad side of Seattle dying from suicide, dying from killing each other, from school shootings, from DUIs, and that doesn’t make sense,” he said. “These oil companies are getting millions of dollars of government subsidies that should be going towards social uplifts.”

Chief Phillip shared a similar sentiment, saying the entire world is at a tipping point. “Our worth is determined by our bottom lines and how much wealth we can accumulate regardless of how we do that,” he said.

“That has brought us to this perilous state that exists in today’s world.”