December 13 2007 | News Clippings | The Canadian Press
Tahltan protesters win temporary injunction against Shell Canada
VANCOUVER - Members of a B.C. First Nation have won a temporary reprieve in court to protect lands they says have been used by them for centuries.
An interim injunction was granted to members of the Tahltan First Nation in northwestern B.C. after they applied to stop road construction by Shell Canada. The road is for a coalbed methane project in the Klappan Valley, about 700 kilometres north of Smithers, B.C.
The interim injunction means repair work on a section of road 29 kilometres from Highway 37 must be stopped until a court can hear the natives’ application for a permanent injunction.
Since 2005, the road has been the site of roadblocks by members of the Klabona Keepers, a group opposed to the project.
“The land has been used for thousands of year by our people,” says Rhoda Quock, a Tahltan elder and spokeswoman for the Klabona Keepers.
“It has major cultural significance. That’s the place where we take our youth to teach them about our culture.”
The keepers claim the area contains an ancient trail and bush camp used for centuries for hunting, fishing, trapping and trade.
They have also identified trees modified for cultural purposes.
Shell submitted their its application in August to have the protesters removed from the road. That application was adjourned.
Repair work resumed in October and there are currently no roadblocks.
Quock has asked the court to halt any further approvals for road construction or authorizations for new wells.
The Tahltan’s application for a permanent injunction will be heard next week.
Shell Canada responded Wednesday by defending its efforts to protect culturally significant areas.
“Shell is trying to be respectful and careful not to harm anything that might be archeologically significant,” spokesman Larry Lalonde said.
“We have undertaken two independent archeological assessments at the site.”
Lalonde said the items in questions, including the culturally modified trees, were found to be no older than 1846 and therefore not protected by the Heritage Conservation Act.
But on Sunday, the Klabona Keepers raised concerns about the presence of a heritage trail. Lalonde said this was the first mention of such a site.
The land in question is the traditional territory of the Klabona people. It is also where the Nass, Stikine and Skeena rivers are born, inspiring the nickname the Sacred Headwaters.
Peter Jakesta, a member of the Klabona Keepers, said his people are determined to avoid the kind of destruction that accompanied railway construction in the 1970s.
“What our elders and many of our people are saying is what we have left there we hold in high significance,” he said. “And we don’t feel that Shell is respecting our wishes.”