An enclave of environmentalists was recently established in Vancouver Island, Canada which is located north of Victoria. The encampment was founded for the sole purpose to disrupt logging in a rainforest in Fairy Creek. However, National Post reports area Indian tribes are not on board since the logging is taking place in Pacheedaht First Nation land.

This is one of a few growing incidents, according to National Post, of native Canadian Indian tribes running up against environmentalists in which native Indians are increasingly needing to tap their territory’s resources resulting from gaining more authority to do so. However, green groups spring up and conduct campaigns to prevent it. From the article:

“In early 2020, Southern Vancouver Island’s Scia’new First Nation denounced Extinction Rebellion Vancouver Island after the group blockaded the home of B.C. Premier John Horgan, ostensibly in defence of the recognition of Indigenous rights.”

The article also points out:

“Around the same time, a different Vancouver Island faction of Extinction Rebellion was also denounced by K’òmoks First Nation for an illegal highway blockade that activists asserted was devoted towards “defending our home in the K’omoks Territory.””

Furthermore:

“Although two thirds of Fairy Creek are subject to existing protections, the remaining third is subject to a tree-cutting licence owned by the Surrey-based forestry company Teal-Jones Group.

After Teal-Jones began moving equipment into the area in August, a group calling itself the Rainforest Flying Squad quickly moved into the area to blockade roads. While Teal-Jones successfully obtained an injunction earlier this month to arrest protesters, the area remains at a stalemate.”

Unfortunately, this is not the first time Canadian Native Indian tribes have been harassed or even suffered at the hands of environmentalists. Greenpeace conducted a 30 year opposition campaign against Nunavut tribal whale and seal hunting. The organization is not only blamed for destroying one of the region’s only revenue sources, but for driving once-proud Indian hunters to welfare dependency and even suicide. It wasn’t until around 2014 that Greenpeace stood down and essentially apologized for what they did.

In 2017, in an effort to stop polar bear hunts, an environmentalist group named Sea Legacy attempted to slander Indian tribes in Nunavut claiming they denied climate change. Not only do the the polar bears hunts generate needed revenue but the animals are a source of meat for the Inuit tribal people. Not surprisingly, the accusations Sea Legacy made were found to be completely untrue and grounded in racism.

A people and their way of life were destroyed by the efforts of environmentalists who sought to save whales and seals. Despite Greenpeace’s apology, environmentalists on Vancouver Island seek to pick up where Greenpeace left off in an effort to ruin the lives of Nunavut Indians who benefit from logging and gang green won’t shed any tears in the process.

PHOTO CREDIT: Inuit seal hunter in a kayak with a harpoon By flickr user wili hybrid – flickr.com, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=986538