Readers of my blogs know what an influence the struggles of the Wet’suwet’en peoples have had on my life. It was at a vigil for the Wet’suwet’en in February, 2020, that I met Ronnie James and became involved in Des Moines Mutual Aid. Links to articles about the Wet’suwet’en can be found below.
I am deeply saddened to hear that another invasion of the Wet’suwet’en territory is expected.
| Statement from Gidim’ten Checkpoint: For the fourth time in four years, we have received information that dozens of militarized RCMP are en route to Wet’suwet’en territory, to facilitate construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline and to steal our unceded lands at gunpoint. We continue to hold the drill pad site, where Coastal Gaslink plans to tunnel beneath our pristine and sacred headwaters. RCMP have booked up local hotels for the next month. We have also received word from the Union of BC Indian Chiefs that the C-IRG unit of the RCMP – the paramilitary unit that protects private industries who are seeking to destroy Indigenous lands – are being deployed onto our lands. We need boots on the ground and all eyes on Wet’suwet’en territory as we continue to stand up for our lands, our waters, and our future generations! If you can’t be here, take action where you stand – at investors’ offices, RBC branches, or your local police detachment. #ShutDownCanada #AllOutForWedzinKwa #WetsuwetenStrong |
Logan Staats is mentioned in the video above. His beautiful new song, “Deadman” is another example of the power of art to call attention to injustice. The track comes alongside a visual accompaniment partially shot at the site of a former residential school.
Logan was beaten and arrested by the RCMP while supporting the Wet’suwet’en peoples. I was only peacefully singing our water song and hugging/protecting a 70-year-old matriarch. I was free’d and remain steadfast and committed to defending the land from sea to sea all across Turtle Island.
“I wrote “Dead Man” while in rehab. It’s not about a girl. The culture is the love that I’m asking for. The love for myself. That was stolen from me – by the government, the crown, the church. When I sing “GIVE ME BACK MY LOVE”, I’m speaking about my culture, my pride, the love for myself.” – Logan Staats
Mohawk singer-songwriter Logan Staats makes his return with the new single “Deadman,” which signals the storyteller and activist’s debut release under the Indigenous-owned label, Red Music Rising.
“I wrote ‘Deadman’ while in rehab. It’s not about a girl; the culture is the love that I’m asking for,” he revealed in a press release.
The love Staats pleads for in the song is not romantic but rather a demand for something cherished, stolen by settler colonialism. “The love for myself that was stolen from me — by the government, the crown, the church. When I sing ‘Give back my love,’ I’m speaking about my culture, my pride and my love for myself.”
As a descendent of residential school survivors, Staats delivers the single alongside a video partially shot on the property of the Mohawk Institute — a former residential school in Brantford, ON — and at Land Back Lane, where Six Nations land defenders have been fighting development on unceded Six Nations territory.
In a statement, Staats recalled fighting for land sovereignty alongside the land defenders in Wet’suwet’en territory:
Recently I’ve been spending a lot of time on the West Coast in Wet’suwet’en territory after answering the call of the Hereditary Chiefs there and standing in solidarity with the land defenders on their sovereign ground. After serving an eviction notice to Coastal Gas Link, a for-profit corporation conducting illegal activities on Wet’suwet’en territory, heavily armed RCMP officers were flown in and conducted a raid on the traditional lands or ‘Yin’tah’. During that raid I was punched in the ear, my head was slammed into the frozen pavement by my braids, and I was kneed in my spine and held down while I was handcuffed and bleeding… all after I was only peacefully singing our water song and hugging/protecting a 70-year-old matriarch. I was hauled off to jail along with my sister Layla Black, several other land defenders, elders; along with members of the press. With the support of my community and people rallying across nations, I was free’d and remain steadfast and committed to defending the land from sea to sea all across Turtle Island.
Logan Staats Announces Red Music Rising Debut with New Single “Deadman”. The track comes alongside a visual accompaniment partially shot at the site of a former residential school by Haley Bentham, exclaim.ca, Nov 25, 2021
Iowa Solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en is about our action at Chase Bank in Des Moines on December 23, 2021. Chase is one of the main financial institutions supporting the Coastal GasLink pipeline through Wet’suwet’en territory. (Photos below).
Articles about the Wet’suwet’en on my blog Quakers, social justice and revolution. https://jeffkisling.com/?s=wetsuweten
And more recent articles on my blog LANDBACK Friends https://landbackfriends.com/?s=wetsuweten
LANDBACK Friends 
Reblogged this on Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News.
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