Canadian Oil Imperialism And The Lubicon First Nation

The presence of oil and minerals in Lubicon territory attracted the oil company, Petro-Canada, and other Big Oil interests such as Shell and Imperial Oil. Japanese logging giant Daishowa came to clear-cut trees on Lubicon territory. University of Colorado Ethnic Studies professor Ward Churchill wrote, “The Canadian state itself exists on the basis of the expropriation of native land and resources, the subordination of native polities.” (2) The tiny Lubicon nation finds itself a minority population pitted against different levels of government, multinational corporations, and a settler court system. Capitalist exploitation of the traditional territory of the Lubicon Lake First Nation persists. In 2002, over 1,700 well sites and several kilometers of pipelines had already been erected in Lubicon territory. (3) The federal government and Alberta government are complicit in this theft of Lubicon land and resources. The Royal Proclamation of 1763 decreed that Original Peoples were not to be “molested or disturbed” in unceded or unsold territories. Because of past “great Frauds and Abuses,” colonists were strictly forbidden “from making any Purchases or Settlements whatever” with the Original Peoples. The legally-binding Proclamation was an attempt to convince Original Peoples of “our Justice.” (4) Instead, Original Peoples are besieged by an “internal colonization,” whereby, the colonizing power incorporates contiguous areas and people within itself. The ultimate aim is assimilation of Original Peoples and their territory. In 1920, an official of the Department of Indian Affairs stated the Canadian government’s intention toward the Original Peoples with surprising candor: “Our objective is to continue until there is not a single Indian in Canada that has not been absorbed into the body politic and there is no Indian question, and no Indian Department...” (5) The decolonization struggle of Original Peoples is epitomized in the Pacific coast province of British Columbia (BC) where a corporate-governmental collaboration is arrayed against them. Examples abound: the Haida Gwaii First Nation are at loggerheads with timber-falling behemoth Weyerhaeuser, the Secwepemc people struggle for rights to their territory, which they call Skwelkwek'welt. (6) Full story: http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Apr05/Petersen0425.htm For more on the Royal Proclamation, see Anthony Hall's work: http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php?story=20031114122047147&query=The%2BAmerican%2BEmpire http://www.vivelecanada.ca/article.php?story=20031030172621100&query=Tony%2BHall