Compiled by: Gabrielle McLaren, Editor-in-Chief
Students at over 30 schools across Canada walked out of class on March 4 in support of the Wet’suwet’en nation. At SFU, students rallied in Convocation Mall to hear Indigenous youth speak. Some students proceeded to walk down to Gaglardi Way where they partially stopped traffic up and down the mountain. Here are 15 song lyrics, chants, and quotes from the event. As many speakers spoke of demonstrators feeling unsafe and shared experiences of being followed or harassed due to their activism, speakers are only identified by an initial.
Read more: (Wet’suwet’en Student Walkout draws crowd of around 100 to Convocation Mall)
Read more: (Students block Gaglardi in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en)
“What do we do when Indigenous rights are under attack? / Stand up, Fight Back.”
— Chant
“This little light of mine,
I’m going to let it shine
This little light of mine,
I’m going to let it shine.
This little light of mine,
I’m going to let it shine.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Indigenous rights and justice now,
It’s the only way.
Indigenous rights and justice now,
It’s the only way.
Indigenous rights and justice now,
It’s the only way.
The only way, the only way, the only way.
Fossil fuels have got to go,
Keep them in the ground.
Fossil fuels have got to go,
Keep them in the ground.
Fossil fuels have got to go,
Keep them in the ground.
In the ground, in the ground, in the ground.”
— Song led by G
“No pipeline
On stolen native land!”
— Chant
“Yey hey hey, yahee ho ho, yahee ho ho-o . . . ” “
— The Women’s Warrior Song, gifted by Martina Pierre of the Lil’wat Nation, sung by students
(You can listen to Chantal Chagnon’s version of “Women’s Warrior Song” on SoundCloud)
“As academics at this university, we have the privilege of being here and we are the ones who are going to make change.” — M
“Canada has no interest in its laws. It has signed onto many of the United Nation conventions. Convention of the Right of the Child, they signed onto that in 1990 and they closed the last residential school in 1996, six years later [ . . . ] They signed onto UNDRIP and they have broken all of those articles, they have violated all of those articles [ . . . ] Familiarize yourself with the laws of this land because they are a lie.” — S
“The Wet’suwet’en are under attack in their own land [ . . . ] it’s not right to be attacked on their own land, in their own homes.” — I
“This is not a fight for pipelines or against pipelines, this is a fight against white supremacy, genocide, imperialism. This is a fight to save our ecosystem and our water — that is what they arrest us for.” — S
“The media is focusing on how there’s a tentative agreement, but that doesn’t mean that [the RCMP has] left. You need to be critical of all information you’re receiving on social media [ . . . ] It’s a technique to stop us from gathering and standing in solidarity with those who need support right now.” — M
“This is a system that was meant to destroy us, and we have not let it.” — S
“It is Indigenous law versus colonial, imperial law of Canada . . . ” — E
“It is not an Indigenous principle to be violent, but it is for Canada.” — E
“I’m going to say ‘fuck’ and you guys all say ‘Justin Trudeau’ [ . . . ] Come on guys, this is all protected under freedom of expression. [ . . . ] ‘Fuck’ is a form of art and expression.” — T
“We need to make sure that we’re letting those who have priority in spaces, that we’re protecting Indigenous youth, that we’re protecting Indigenous women and Elders when they’re in those spaces.” — M
“So, so, so — solidarity!”
—Chant
