HEADLINE: Gitga’at Defends Indigenous Coastal Whales Upon Enbridge Pipeline Expansion

Subheading: Gitga’at First Nations put up their best fight against the purposed Enbridge pipeline tanker route along Hartley Bay in order to protect Indigenous land and species.

DATELINE: Hartley Bay, BC – November 12, 2021

CONTACT: Olivia Holmes, Public Relations Land Out Reach Coordinator, World Wildlife Fund, Hartley, BC holmeso18@mytru.ca

INDIGENOUS GROUPS, LANDS, AND SPECIES

• The Gitk’a’ata (Gitga’at) are a part of the Tsimshian peoples, and have occupied the lands and waters around Txalgiuw (Hartley Bay) since time immemorial 
• The Gitk’a’ata (Gitga’at) First Nations, among other respected Indiegnous communities and local environmentalist performed multiple protests as a form of resistance regarding the enbridge pipeline (with the first protest being the 2012 Prince Rupert march)
• Gitga’at First Nations believe in a holistic unity between animals and people, and the relationality to their clans makes these whales an imperative part of culture and identity, and their conservation and protection is necessary 
• Gitga’at First Nations rely on the the research of Janie Wray as a liaison between traditional knowledge and modern day research in attempt to solidify coherent fights of resistance that are respected in the colonial world of research and economy 
• The Gitk’a’ata, Tsimshian peoples, and West Coast Indigenous individuals directly related to this cause span around  Hartley Bay, Prince Rupert, Terrace, Vancouver Island, and Vancouver, BC
• “Whale Point” on Gitga’at First Nations traditional territory that lies within the West Coast is where the proposed tanker route is 

RESEARCHERS & ORGANIZATION IN PARTNERSHIP WITH GITGA’AT

• World Wildlife is Canada’s biggest international conservation organization
• World Wildlife has integral commitments to prioritizing Indigenous knowledge and research within their initiatives
• Janie Wray is a Lead Researcher of BC Whales for WWF, cofounder of Cetacea Lab, and was adopted into the Killer Whale Clan of Gitga’at (in 2007)
• Janie Wray & Cetacea Lab conducted long term, land based research along Hartley Bay to help Gitga’at First Nations construct a clear, research based fight against Enbridge pipeline 

ENBRIDGE PIPELINE COMPANY

• Enbridge pipeline is a gas extraction and pipeline company located in Calgary, Alberta
• In 2006, Enbridge pipeline company proposed four hydrophones along a tanker route in Hartley Bay for instrument oil from Alberta attempting to liquify natural gas