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Juneau activists stand with Canadian protesters

Published 1:30 pm Monday, February 10, 2020

By Ben Hohenstatt

An event held in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en pipeline protests being held in British Columbia drew dozens of Juneauites to Auke Bay Recreation Area Sunday. (Courtesy Photo | Sigoop Price)
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An event held in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en pipeline protests being held in British Columbia drew dozens of Juneauites to Auke Bay Recreation Area Sunday. (Courtesy Photo | Sigoop Price)

An event held in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en pipeline protests being held in British Columbia drew dozens of Juneauites to Auke Bay Recreation Area Sunday. (Courtesy Photo | Sigoop Price)
An event held in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en pipeline protests being held in British Columbia drew dozens of Juneauites to Auke Bay Recreation Area Sunday. (Courtesy Photo | Sigoop Price)

Dozens of Juneauites stood in solidarity with indigenous opposition to a Canadian pipeline project.

At at Sunday event at Auke Bay Recreation Area, about 50 people gathered to show support for ongoing protests against the Wet’suwet’en pipeline. The government-approved pipeline that would go through Wet’suwet’en territory in British Columbia faces opposition from Canada’s First Nation people and indigenous rights supporters in both the U.S. and Canada.

In Juneau, solidarity was shown through song, dance and signs, said one of the event’s organizers Naawéiyaa Austin Tagaban.

“We were just gathering because we feel like we’re in the same struggle, not the exact same struggle, but the struggles we have here in Alaska, are related to those struggles,” Tagaban said. “We are battling for the same sort of freedom.”

Plus, Tagaban said the Wet’suwet’en have a culture and proximity that resonates with his Tlingit identity.

“They are not that far away from us,” he said. “We are only separated by this colonial border. They are our relatives.”

• Contact reporter Ben Hohenstatt at (907)523-2243 or bhohenstatt@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BenHohenstatt.

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