Tŝilhqot’in Nation announces Peaceful Gathering at Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny & Seeks Injunction against Taseko Drilling Program

Courtesy of the Tŝilhqot’in National Government:

The Tŝilhqot’in community of Xeni Gwet’in is assembling for a peaceful gathering and harvesting camp at Teẑtan Biny (Fish Lake) and Yanah Biny (Little Fish Lake), a place of profound cultural and spiritual significance for the Tŝilhqot’in people. This peaceful gathering and camp has the full support of the Tŝilhqot’in Nation.

On August 23, 2018, the B.C. Supreme Court upheld a permit authorizing Taseko Mines Limited (TML) to undertake an extensive drilling program at Teẑtan Biny and the surrounding area. The Tŝilhqot’in Nation has appealed this decision and will be seeking an injunction to prohibit the drilling activity.

At the same time, Tŝilhqot’in members from all six communities of the Tŝilhqot’in Nation are gathering in unity at Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny to exercise their Aboriginal rights and engage in the cultural and ceremonial practices that have actively connected them to these lands and waters for centuries, to the present day.

The Tŝilhqot’in Nation asserts that the drilling permit should never have been approved on the final day of power for the former BC Liberal Government in July 2017, to support a mine proposal that the Federal Government has twice rejected.

The drilling permit approves 76 kilometres of new or modified road and trail, 122 drill holes, 367 excavated test pits and 20 kilometres of seismic lines throughout Teẑtan Biny (Fish Lake), Yanah Biny and Nabas. The Government of Canada rejected TML’s New Prosperity mine proposal in 2014, and the mine cannot legally be built as matters stand. Two independent federal panels have confirmed the area is of unique and special importance to the Tŝilhqot’in.

Nits’ilʔin (Chief) Joe Alphonse, Tribal Chairman, Tŝilhqot’in National Government stated:

“We welcome everyone up to Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny that wishes to gather peacefully in this sacred area. Our members are calling for us to assemble as a nation at Teẑtan Biny and Yanah Biny. The Provincial Government should never have issued permits for a drilling program at Teẑtan Biny for a mine that cannot be built. We feel the courts and the government haven’t taken into account the significance of the Aboriginal rights and title of our people. The Nation is moving forward with an appeal in the BC Court of Appeal, while also seeking an injunction to stop the drilling program. We cannot allow TML to destroy our home, or who we are – our way of life.”