Last month, the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) voted unanimously to endorse the Secwepemc Women’s Warrior Society and the Tiny House Warriors’ Women’s Declaration Against Kinder Morgan Man Camps.
The women’s declaration connects current Man camps to past colonialist practices “Man camps provide temporary employee housing to thousands of mostly non-Indigenous male workers – who are legally disallowed from bringing their families – in the resource sector. This is a consistent pattern of the settler state over the past century. Hudson’s Bay Company prohibited European women from accompanying and flooded Indigenous lands with non-Indigenous men who kidnapped, sexually exploited, enslaved and sold Indigenous women.”
The women’s declaration describes Man camp’s impact on indigenous women and the community as a whole: “Today, wherever man camps are set up, we face exponential increases in sexual violence. As development results in the destruction of our land base and our food sovereignty, it also drives up food and housing prices. This further intensifies our economic insecurity and we are forced into even more vulnerable conditions.”
The declaration quotes James Anaya, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, “indigenous women have reported that the influx of workers into indigenous communities as a result of extractive projects also led to increased incidents of sexual harassment and violence, including rape and assault.”
The Secwepemc Women’s Warrior Society and Tiny House Warriors are currently building ten solarized Tiny Houses on their land to block Kinder Morgan. They are committed to upholding their collective jurisdiction to look after the land, the language, and the culture of their people, as well as the safety and well-being of women, two-spirits, and children.
To support Secwepemc Women’s Warrior Society and Tiny House Warriors fight against Kinder Morgan, add your name to the declaration.
