“This is their home, their history, and their heart.” Inside the Fairy Creek Protests

Jen Osborne/The Canadian Press

Since August 2020, Indigenous land defenders have been at “River Camp” and “Fairy Creek HQ” on Vancouver Island peacefully protesting old-growth logging. The protests started when activist Joshua Wright, along with other conservation advocates, noticed a logging path in a satellite image of the area near Fairy Creek. Since the path was found, countless protests have been held at Fairy Creek, in front of the Legislative Assembly in Victoria, and in other municipalities across B.C.

Old-growth forests are ecologically significant because they are trees that have grown naturally without disruption for long periods. To be classified as old-growth, a coastal forest must contain trees that are at least 250 years old, and 140 years old in the Interior, according to the provincial government. Fairy Creek, situated on the land of the Pacheedaht and Ditidaht First Nations, and according to ecologists is part of the 2.7 per cent of forests that are old-growth in B.C. However, that figure is disputed, with the province claiming that 23 per cent of B.C.’s forests are old-growth.

First Nations leaders wanted to take care of the old-growth forest after consulting members of their nations, but the B.C. government made their decision to hire a logging company, called Teal Jones, to remove the old-growth.

In June, the NDP government deferred logging activity, and said the Pacheedaht and Ditidaht First Nations leaders should decide how to handle the old-growth. However, Teal Jones and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) remained at Fairy Creek, said Indigenous Educator Toni Gladstone.

Teal Jones requested an injunction to stop protestors from standing in the way of their work. As Gladstone puts it, “Teal Jones is wrongfully towing vehicles and charging $1000+ to get their car out.”

When the court approved the injunction, the RCMP created a blockade in front of the site restricting access for land defenders. The RCMP created trenches to keep people back, but the protesters filled in those trenches to continue their protest.

Gladstone, who attended the protests during summer, said, “[police] are being violent towards the land defenders and the supporters. I have seen the ‘law enforcers’: smashing car [windows], choking people, preventing access to healthcare, shoving older people, their medical responders spraying mace onto land defenders, [illegally] arresting so many people and specifically taking Indigenous and BIPOC defenders first.” Videos obtained by CBC and APTN News taken at Fairy Creek have shown unconscious protestors being carried away by officers.

Over 1,000 arrests have been made since the start of the protests, and some protesters have been arrested more than once. The number of arrests surpassed the previous record formed during the War in the Woods in 1993.

National Police Federation President Brian Sauvé addressed the situation in a press release. He said, “We are very proud of our members’ professional, thoughtful and patient approach to enforcing the expired Fairy Creek injunction.” He added that the RCMP faced numerous verbal and physical aggressions from land defenders as they carried out their work.

The injunction came to an end in September and the B.C. Supreme Court ruled it would not be extended due to the RCMP’s misdemeanor at the protests; Teal Jones appealed the decision to the B.C. Court of Appeal. Until the appeal is settled in court, the injunction remains in force.

Gladstone added that, “[Teal Jones] has petitioned to increase the budget to keep the injunction going multiple times because if Indigenous people can gather and stop this forest being logged, who knows what other act of sovereignty they will perform.” An act of sovereignty is an action that shows the power of one person over another. With the NDP government being in power, they can enforce their position by taking away more rights and land from Indigenous peoples.

Protestors say their aim is to get the B.C. government to ban old-growth logging. Gladstone said, “[for her] it comes down to sovereignty. This land is the territory of the Pacheedaht and Ditidaht nations and they are expressing their power to protect and defend their land. This is their home, their history and their heart.”  She continued, “All the stories that forest holds cannot be said of another forest. This fight is a fight for our future survival and doing our best to give the next generations an earth that won’t be on fire.”