Film Review: YINTAH, A Documentary On A Decade Of Wet’suwet’en Resistance
An astonishing achievement in filmmaking, evoking a rollercoaster of emotions, from laughter to anger, love and solidarity to deep heartache, our community was treated to a well attended showing of masterful storytelling that chronicles the continuing resistance waged in a growing indigenous occupation and restoration of their hereditary community and traditions on their Yintah (lands.) The filmmakers sang and spoke and answered questions following the 125min screening at Denman Community Hall, on Sunday, Oct.6.
Spanning more than a decade, YINTAH follows Howilhkat Freda Huson and Sleydo’ Molly Wickham as their nation reoccupies and protects their ancestral lands from the Canadian government and several of the largest fossil fuel companies on earth.
The Wet’suwet’en nation have lived on and governed their territories for thousands of years. They have never signed treaties or sold their land to Canada. In 1997, Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs joined with Gitxsan Hereditary Chiefs and won the landmark Delgamuukw-Gidsaywa Supreme Court of Canada case. The court recognized that the Wet’suwet’en people have never given up title to 22,000 km2 (8500mi2) of land in northern British Columbia.
Despite these rulings, the governments of Canada and British Columbia continue to assert jurisdiction over this territory and have issued permits for resource projects without the consent of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs. Wet’suwet’en people upholding decisions made in accordance with Wet’suwet’en law have been criminalized by the Canadian state, and have repeatedly been arrested for occupying and controlling access to their “house” territories.
(Spoiler Alert) While the Coastal Gas Link pipeline has been built, we are reminded that this act of resistance has not ended, and is not only about a pipeline and indigenous rights, but a movement that involves all of us, indigenous and non-indigenous, in the battle against the corrupt regimes of settler governments and the multinational corporations that control them. As it has been throughout the history of the settler Crown, the RCMP play a central and violent role in the enforcement of policies intended to erase indigenous people and their culture, and their relationship with their Yintah.
Whether you missed this local presentation, or you wish to see it again, you’re in luck, as you can watch it at home. Rating: Brilliant. A cinematic masterpiece!
Streaming now on CBC Gem (88 minute version)
Streaming on NETFLIX October 18 (Theatrical version)
