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

The World Wildlife Fund is partnering with whale researcher Janie Wray and Gitga’at First Nations to protect West Coast whale habitat from the proposed tanker route along Hartley Bay, BC. Alberta’s Enbridge pipeline corporation proposed a tanker route along what is known as “Whale Point” among the traditional territories of Gitga’at First Nations; this spot doubles as a sacred area of conservation for Indigenous species and land, and the proposed area of where four hydrophones take route for instrument oil from Alberta, attempting to liquify natural gas.

After the tanker proposal in 2006, Gitga’at First Nations hired Janie Wray as a trusted whale researcher who specializes in land based research that is non intrusive to local species and hopes to further a clear understanding of the valuable wildlife in these areas. Wray co-founded Cetacea Lab as a preliminary step into land based Indigneous led research and continues to highlight the benefits of this approach, “[when you conduct] land based whale research…you are having a very limited impact on them, and they can make the decision to come to you or not.” (Wray, 2016). Once Wray had made her name in the community through compassionate presentation and emphasis on animal and land conservation, Gitga’at First Nation took to her knowledge and passion; through this education, Wray was adopted into the Killer Whale clan of Gitga’at, making her work all the more meaningful and relevant, “When I was adopted into the killer whale clan it showed me it was on the right path and it meant to me I was being accepted. It meant everything to me.” (Wray, 2016). 

Matriarch of the Gitga’at First Nation Killer Whale Clan, Helen Clifton, humbly guides Wray on her research journey, and helps draw parallels between Gitga’at culture and modern day research. Clifton joins the protest of denying pipeline routes through Hartley Bay, while educating her First Nation on intergenerational beliefs as to why these whales are sacred to culture, and imperative to Gitga’at way of life,

“We know that [the whales] are special. [I am] a killer whale” (Clifton, 2016).

Clifton points out the legacy of these whales, and she reminds us that they have always been special. With modern day research of Wray, and Gitga’at First Nation connection and story, WWF is doing their best to put up a coherent fight against Enbridge Pipeline Company in hopes to protect the precious whales of Hartley Bay. 

World Wildlife Fund Canada is the country’s largest international conservation organization. Guided by the best scientific analysis and Indigenous knowledge, WWF works to conserve species at risk, protect threatened habitats, and address climate change through a holistic and localized approach. Our long-term vision is simple: to create a world where nature and people thrive.

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World Wildlife is Canada’s biggest international conservation organization. WWF takes pride in their commitment to pristine scientific analysis, leaders of Indigenous knowledge, and localized, land based, non intrusive approaches. WWF works to protect species at risk, vital ecosystems and habitats, and mitigate effects of climate change; all while addressing these causes on a global scale in an attempt to instill a sympathetic understanding within our society. WWF has the long term goal of creating a world where nature and people thrive.

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