Montpelier, VT: Demonstration in Solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en

Report back on recent Wet’suwet’en solidarity action in Montpelier, Vermont.

Flyer Handout HERE

On Monday, February 10th, a banner drop and demonstration took place in Montpelier so-called Vermont, unceded Abenaki Territory, to express our solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en and to call for the immediate withdrawal of all RCMP and CGL from sovereign Wet’suwet’en territories. about 40 people demonstrated in front of TD bank, as they provide financing and own stocks in companies that fund the CGL pipeline.

A banner was dropped over the Interstate 89 during morning rush hour, reading “#WETSUWETENSTRONG

For the afternoon and into the evening we gathered outside TD Bank partially blocking the entrance to demand that TD cease funding destructive extractive industries and to ensure that TD bank is not allowed to conduct regular business while they profit off the destruction of land and the continuation of colonization. TD is an important financier of destructive projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline, Keystone XL pipeline, Vermont Gas Systems Pipeline, and the CGL pipeline in Wet’suwet’en territory.

Whether in unceded Wet’suwet’en Territory in northwestern so-called BC or in unceded Abenaki Territory in so-called Vermont, ongoing genocide and violence targeting Indigenous Peoples and particularly the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women across Turtle Island (“North America”) is part of ongoing colonial expansion aimed to destroy Indigenous peoples and their lands. There is no climate justice without sovereignty and self-determination for Indigenous peoples. There is no reconciliation without consent.

The Wet’suwet’en’s spirited efforts to resist colonization are an inspiration to anyone committed to creating a livable and free world for future generations.

Some chants included:
NO BC, NO CANADA, TD BANK OUT OF THE YINTAH
WETSUWETEN PEOPLES (or LANDS) UNDER ATTACK, WHAT DO WE DO? STAND UP FIGHT BACK
WET’SUWET’EN WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK, BLOCK THE ROADS AND CLOSE THE TRACKS
NO PIPELINES ON STOLEN NATIVE LAND

– Central Vermont Solidarity Working (A) Group (CVSWAG)