Gustafsen Lake Standoff

The Gustafsen Lake Standoff was an indigenous land dispute involving members of the Secwepemc nation and members of other indigenous groups in British Columbia, Canada which began on June 15, 1995, and lasted until September 17, 1995.

The Standoff begins

In June 1995, people from the Secwepemc (Shuswap) and other indigenous began an occupation of sacred Sun Dance lands at Ts’Peten (pronounced "che-peten"), known as Gustafsen Lake in English, located at the head of Dog Creek, near 100 Mile House, British Columbia. The specific location of the lands were in District Lot 114, Lillooet Land District, at approximately 51°32′28.8″N 121°43′0.1″W. The occupation at Ts’Peten followed a long history of attempts to gain recognition of Secwepemc sovereignty by the Canadian Government, and indigenous rights to unceded lands in British Columbia.

The standoff began when a previous arrangement from 1989 to hold sun dances on Crown Land under the jurisdiction of rancher Lyall James broke down. Some Natives chose to remain at Gustafsen Lake and continue to hold annual sun dances in defiance of threats of eviction by Lyall James, and to assert indigenous rights to the land. The conflict reached a head when natives erected a fence to keep out James' cattle, which were despoiling the site with their dung and James and his cowboys responded first with an attack on the camp on horseback, firing guns, cracking whips and calling the occupants "red niggers" (as alleged by Gustafsen defence lawyer George Wool), then called in the RCMP.

British Columbia Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh branded the occupation as strictly a criminal matter, refusing to consider political negotiations.

RCMP siege

After failed negotiations, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched one of the largest police operations in Canadian history, including the deployment of four hundred tactical assault team members, five helicopters, two surveillance planes and nine Armoured Personnel Carriers. By the end of the 31-day standoff, police had fired approximately 7,000 rounds of ammunition, blown up a vehicle with an IED, shot one woman and killed a dog. The operation was the largest paramilitary operation in British Columbia history and cost $5.5 million dollars.

Resolution

Fourteen indigenous and four non-native people were charged following the siege, fifteen of whom were found guilty and sentenced to jail terms ranging from six months to eight years. The leader of the occupation, William "Wolverine" Jones Ignace, was found guilty of mischief to property, mischief causing danger to life, possession of firearms and explosives, discharging a firearm at police, and using a firearm to assault police officers. Three of the defendants appealed the verdicts on the grounds that the Canadian courts have no jurisdiction over the lands where the Gustafsen Lake standoff took place, which they claimed remain unceded indigenous land. The Supreme Court of British Columbia refused to hear the appeal.

Pitawanakwat extradition

One of those convicted was James Pitawanakwat, who was sentenced to three years in jail for endangering life. He fled to the United States when he was released for parole, and successfully fought extradition to Canada to complete his sentence, becoming the only Native ever granted political asylum in the United States. According to Janice Stewart, a magistrate justice of the U.S District Court in Oregon, "The Gustafsen Lake incident involved an organized group of native people rising up in their homeland against an occupation by the government of Canada of their sacred and unceded tribal land." She also asserted that "the Canadian government engaged in a smear and disinformation campaign to prevent the media from learning and publicizing the true extent and political nature of these events".

Since the beginning of the standoff, the "Ts'Peten Defenders" and their supporters have called for an independent, impartial inquiry into the RCMP siege at Gustafsen Lake and the alleged ensuing cover-up.

See also

• Seton Portage Incident
• Oka Crisis
• Ipperwash Crisis
• Burnt Church Crisis
• Caledonia Land Dispute
• Splitting the Sky

References

• Matas, Robert (September 17, 2005). "Hoped-for sundance film to tell the story." The Globe and Mail, A10.
• Boncore Hill, John. From Attica to Gustafsen Lake (2001).
• Ts'peten (Gustafsen Lake) Document Archive
• Chronology of the Standoff
• Macleans Article on Gustafsen Trial
• The Case of USA versus Pitawanakwat (PDF)
• Evidence presented to address Canada's request to extradite James Pitawanakwat
• [1]

External links

• Everything2 Article