Inventing Wet’suwet’en

Carrier Indians dancing a welcome dance; this would sometimes go on for two or three days until all the guests had arrived; Hagwilget 1930's

If you’re under the age of 37, the name Wet’suwet’en if you lived in the Bulkley Valley is a name that has always been around, however for those of you born before the Delgamuukw trial started, you will probably know it as something akin to the words “land claims”.

Wet’suwet’en is a byproduct of the land claims in the early 80’s.

The name Wet’suwet’en is a result of a choice made by some local aboriginals, note I am not advocating for or against here, merely reminiscing history. Also the name Unist’ot’en is a product of kids who chose to take up protesting vs working for a living. If you review the Delgamuukw evidence they were called Oonis to d’en, there are some other versions published as well.

So let’s be clear, there were no Wet’suwet’en here for thousands of years. There were First Nations here without any doubt, but to say it was any modern day clan or tribe is mere speculation, and should not be considered as factual history. Tribes were very mobile especially the Carrier Indians, it was the arrival of today’s non aboriginal settlers that proved to be the point in history where movement ceased. In fact its partly how they got the name Carrier, because they were traversing such great areas as from Babine Lake to Hazelton, inland up the Bulkley and so on.

No evidence exists beyond the trapping era that proves otherwise.

The name we all grew up with, we meaning both white and Indians prior to 1982 was  Dakelh or Carrier Indians, in fact if you can find school text books from the 60’s to early 80’s it’s in there as well.

We are awash with fabricated history, its time be put truth back on the table.

So as time evolves so do names, today aboriginals have not only the blood of many aboriginal societies, but also they are heavily mixed into Canadian society as well. Many times I wonder if the ones with the most settler blood in them are the loudest when it comes to land grabs under the flagship of land claims.

There was a time not long ago when Gitxsan Indians would gladly kill Carrier Indians and the other way around, now most have bloodlines that cross each others families.

Since the Delgamuukw trial there were three more words that were “reinvented”, all with the intention of bringing racist hate for anyone, inclusive of their own flesh and blood, dare anyone disagree with them.

The first is “settlers” when referring to legitimate citizens of Canada that are not status card carrying Indians. The second word also intended a racial slur is the use of the word “colonialist” for everyone who does not follow their script on what the truth is. The third is the word “genocide” directed at Canadian citizens.

On that last one let me draw a comparison, when you say Canada is intentionally committing genocide, I want to create for you a visualization, as per the eyes of survivors of the Holocaust.

When you loosely use that term, it has about the same level as insult to Holocaust survivors, as if someone akin to you telling someone dying of cancer that you can relate because you had a common cold. Its demeaning , extremely selfish, rude and arrogant to make that claim. The good part is most intelligent people will see you for what you are.

How dare you use the blood of 6 million Jews to promote your cause for land claims? How incredible shameful and vile not to mention desperate you sound to people the world over who understand what a real genocide is.

I can fully understand when people that hear this say, just shut them up or lock them up, throw away the key. Your ignorance on the topic is so blatantly ignorant, it takes away from any credibility you have as a human making land claims.

That said I am all for settling land claims, there are some well-known, and well documented cases, in some cases so severe, I am talking recorded history, not oral, where land was taken from local aboriginals and given to white settlers. (Notice the difference in how I used the word settlers)

Likewise there is a lot of “cock and bull” stories created, fabricated, to pull the wool over people eyes in an attempt to sell guilt in exchange for cash, I refer to the road trips the blockaders go on to raise money, they already got around ¼ million in donations, and show no signs of slowing down.

Here they are using the energy they oppose to drive, fly, and everything about how they live, coming from the production of energy or resources, out there in the name of stopping their own bread and butter.

There is far too much outside interference in our local affairs, they don’t have to live with our local problems or issues, but they flood our newspapers with their garbage. Local residents need to stand up now, we need to tell those running for the next federal election, step up or step out of the discussion.  The silent majority is getting a shit kicking from the hooligans with big fancy trucks, quads, snowmobiles, cellphones, 40 inch plus TV’s and now don’t want to work for a living.

Listen to a local Ellis Ross, we need more leadership like this telling it as it is.

It’s by no accident that these kids are up the road otherwise known today as the energy corridor, somehow they have it in their heads that other nations should simply say yes, while they have a tap for the gold with full hostage rights on the money pouring through.

The only difference between a settlement by the Wet’suwet’en people and the hereditary house chiefs is who gets control. “Democracy vs Communism”

I wish I could live another 50 years so I get a front row seat when karma has all the non-aboriginal environmentalists, standing by helplessly while everything gets done by First Nations. After all that’s the only reason they side with the blockaders today, once the blockaders approve the line, those idiot protesters will only have themselves to thank.

One more closing comment for the stupid idiots on the blockade, did you know that the Office of the Wet’suwet’en gets funding from Tides Foundation? If you shrug and say so what, did you also know that the Tides Foundation also funds the animal rights movement to block the fur trade and end the use of leg hold traps? Its not only leg hold traps its hunting and even fishing in some cases.

They are using you, just like they use most Canadians, to fit the best needs for Americans, not you or anyone you love, to think they care proves you are delusional.

When you sell your soul to the devil, you must dance with the devil.


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"Two Feathers"






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  1. Sorry to burst your bubble, but that is simply incorrect. The term wetsuweten has been around as long as the people. U’in witen and wetsuwiten refer to people who speak Witen.
    Each geographic area is broken down further, specific to the people occupying a certain portion of territory. For example: unistoten = people who live near the headwaters of widzinkwah.
    C’iggiz witen = broman lake people
    Tatkl’ah witen = takla Lk people
    De’ witen = moricetown (now witset)
    Pg 89 in Witsuwiten topical dictionary
    Not manufactured or invented. Simply misunderstood. Language is tricky
    I really like the articles you have put together though, great for debate. Informative!

    • We have always said we are open to respectful corrections, can you name any recorded written instance where the name Wet’suwet’en was used in public documents prior to 1980. Other than in the paperwork leading up to the Delgamuukw trial? That would be starting in 1977 to the trials completion. Also I want to reiterate what I said in the article, I have no objections to its usage, but rather the observation it was picked during the litigation time frame.

      The Carrier language is a Northern Athabaskan language. It is named after the Dakelh people, a First Nations people of the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada, for whom Carrier is the usual English name. People who are referred to as Carrier speak two related languages. In more modern days, we have Babine-Witsuwit’en, what used to be Northern Carrier. The other, Carrier proper, includes what are sometimes referred to as Central Carrier and Southern Carrier.

      I did find this, but it dates back to 1991 by Sharon Hargus

      I also found this reference during my research “”Nadot’en” is an alternate name for the Babine tribe of Canada. It is a native Athabaskan name, but its original meaning is not known; it does not refer to anything other than the Babine people in modern usage (-t’en is a suffix meaning “people.”) It may have come from a place name. Other spellings of this name include Nadoten and Nadot’ene. ”

      Also note that the Carrier language used the word “local name plus” “Whut’enne” So I get how they came by the last half of the name, but not the first half, but it does not change the fact someone created the name as a best guess, I cannot find any reference to the existence of that name prior to the team working on history for the purpose of litigation, not argument, an observation I would love to see contested for the sake of finding the truth.

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