Indigenous Sundancers stood their ground against the RCMP’s largest operation in Canada’s history in the summer of 1995.This took place at Ts’Peten, or Gustafsen Lake, in central BC, in Secwepemec territory.
In 1989 the Sundancers, under spiritual leader Percy Rosette, began holding their traditional ceremonies at Ts’Peten, a site that was surrounded by land used by non-indigenous rancher Lyle James. All had agreed to the use of the site as long as no permanent barriers were constructed. In 1995, when the Sundancers put up a fence to keep out Lyle’s cattle from defecating on the site, James asked the Sundancers to leave.
They explained they could not leave until the ceremonial cycle was finished. After night time harassment from local cowboys, two Indigenous members of the RCMP were put in place to “keep the peace” for the 20-30 Sundancers, including men, women and children.
Two spokespersons for the Sundancers, Wolverine (aka Jones William Ignace) and Splitting the Sky (aka John Hill) asserted the right of the Sundancers to occupy the site until the ceremonies were over, and that the site was part of unceded Shuswap territory. Tensions then arose with some locals about claims to the land and there were reports of gunfire.
The RCMP intervened with 400 officers. AFN Grand Chief Ovide Mercredi tried to bring the Sundancers, or Ts’Peten Defenders, out of the site. After Rosette issued a media release on August 24, 1995, to “seek a peaceful resolution to a crisis which has been going on for 139 years”, the RCMP cut off communications to the camp and set up their own media centre.
Thus began a classic smear campaign, with police characterizing the Ts’Peten Defenders as “terrorists”, “criminals” and “thugs.” A video of RCMP officers discussing smear tactics against the Defenders was submitted as evidence in court, and today can be viewed on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjoqaFg5ZjY. To top it all off, local media were not allowed to enter the site, which meant the only interpretation of what was happening was coming from the RCMP.
Worst of all was that this “standoff” took place while the NDP was in power in BC. The Attorney General Ujjal Dosanj made the shocking statement “Where’s the other side of the story? There is only one side of the story. There is no other side.” In other words, the Defenders had no right to speak about the site or about indigenous rights more broadly. And when the RCMP alleged they had been shot at (a charge later shown to be a fabrication, but consistent with the smear campaign), Dosanj used this as a pretext to have the Department of National Defense send in armoured personnel carriers and other equipment including land mines that were set around the camp.
Two Sundancers hit a land mine on September 11, when they tried to drive out of the camp to get water. They were shot at by the RCMP while attempting to flee and were hurt, thought luckily not lethally.
Throughout this period, Sundancers trickled out of the site, trusting in their Indigenous negotiators. The crisis came to an end on September 17 when the last Defenders left the site, on assurances from the RCMP that there would be no arrests. But, consistent with historic betrayals by the state, eighteen people were arrested, including a sentence of four years in prison to James Pitawanakwat, who fled to the US after his release one year after his incarceration, fearing for his life. The US refused to grant the extradition request made by the Canadian government.
While there was not universal support for the Defenders from all Indigenous people, especially among the political leadership, the conflict was admired by most as an assertion of indigenous rights. Unfortunately, there was not much in the way of widespread solidarity from non-indigenous sources, a situation that was not helped by the NDP government’s negative characterization of the situation. This was the same government that established treaty tables in 1991, but only enabled a handful of treaties.
“Gustafsen Lake” is part of the “red thread” of resistance by Indigenous peoples and horrendous state repression. The position of the NDP is consistent with other betrayals when the NDP has formed government or even while in opposition, such as when Mulcair called on Chief Theresa Spence to call of her hunger strike, at precisely when Idle No More was taking off in popularity. The situation might have been resolved with more fairness, and no arrests, had there been more widespread and visible solidarity from the public. Thanks to Idle No More and other indigenous sovereignty activity, today we are starting to see the kind of alliances and mass action needed to support self-determination and respect for indigenous traditions and spirituality.
The Ts”peten Defence took place at the same time as Ipperwash in Ontario, which will be reported on in our next issue.
