Upstream, the Stewards of the Land

Along the proposed pipeline route that is planned to connect the fracked gas wells in North Eastern British Columbia with the Pacific coast, like in the famous Standing Rock camp which was internationally in the headlines for months, Indigenous Peoples are reaffirming their title and going back to the land. During three months in Summer and Autumn 2016, Paola Rosà and Antonio Senter followed the 1000-km-route of the opposed gas pipelines from the construction site of the third dam on the Peace River to Lelu Island offshore of Prince Rupert, along the Skeena River and into the Morice Valley. In search of voices of resistance, they met the chief of the West Moberly First Nations who are fighting in court against Site C dam, they stayed at Unist’ot’en camp and at Madii Lii camp where Indigenous people reoccupy the land of their ancestors, they talked with Indigenous and white settlers activists working as allies, with activists and lawyers, with elders and youngsters, with hunters and fishermen. This documentary film is an abstract from their web series made of 18 short films and is a tribute to “the Stewards of the Land” protecting rivers and salmon, woods and caribous. Despite the change of government in Victoria, First Nations community members and activists haven’t stopped fighting because projects and developments have been approved and confirmed. People are still out there, in the bush, along the creeks, in the ocean, to stop the pipelines, to save our future.