And the wave breaks on the shores of the future [Column]

As an aspiring poet once said, “we used to be red, the color of soil/ we get so black inside, the color of oil.”

Indeed the color of oil has been very influential throughout Indian country in Canada. No more so than in the western provinces and no more so than right now.
Elders often say that an oil spill is like mother earth bleeding. I wonder how long can she survive at the current rate of loss?

Allow me to get slightly abstract for a minute. Imagine that there are two waves forming far off in the distance, one on each side of us. At this point we can’t tell which one is larger. One wave is bright and filled with so many different colors. It’s a wave that resembles the one that washed over the U.S. when a younger generation stood up against the mistakes of its elders and helped to end the Vietnam War.

If you turn your ears towards what is going on locally in your town or city you may hear talks of the environment and the government and oil companies, much of it dissatisfied. If you turn your eyes towards the west you will see the people who are rallying in the streets, standing up for the dirt beneath their feet and the waters at their shores. This is how waves begin. And if they are allowed to grow to their full potential they can change things that otherwise seem inevitable.

The other wave is black and old and needs no help. Momentum is on its side.

The process to approve the building of the Gateway pipeline is underway; a formality really. If you are in politics in Canada you have a high-nineties chance of being oil related. You are a former employee of an oil company, you got to where you are through the backing of oil companies, or it’s your family business.

Make no mistake, unless there is a wave of epic magnitude the gateway pipeline will be built. The wave that it rides on is a sure thing. The world is demanding that the pipeline is built. You can’t hear these demands because of all the recent oil spills, but the world needs more.

China needs oil to compete with the U.S. The US needs oil to bomb poor countries. Poor countries need oil to make things to sell back to the U.S. and China. So when you think about what we’re up against, what are a few handful of First Nations in B.C. and Alberta supposed to do about it?

This is our traditional land, we will say. They need to consult, we will say. Look at Enbridge; they are applying for Environmental approval here while in Michigan and Illinois they are still cleaning up their latest spills, we will say. And people will listen while the media is casting its harsh light on oil spills and tar sands and other dirty things.

But how will we hold our ground? I watched as Enbridge went on a tour of First Nations and got more than half along the proposed route to sign protocol agreements. Agreements, I assume, they will use to say that they are consulting and that First Nations are surfing the black wave. They came to my reserve with the promise of much-needed work and it sounded so good with 30,000 jobs in B.C., and thousands more in Alberta. But how long does it take to put a stretch of pipeline through your traditional territory? Because after that wave flows past it will be dry again.

There will be around 560 full-time jobs in B.C. on the pipeline, less in Alberta. A lot of those jobs may go to current Enbridge employees. It doesn’t seem like much when you think about it. I think we can get work in the bush, if that’s what we want, without having to risk our coastline.

I haven’t been very technical in writing this. I haven’t given the statistics on oil spills, or Enbridge’s safety record, or other supporting documents. But you can find these things on your own and most of us already have an idea of the dangers associated with this project.

Therein lies the problem; most people hear these things and have throughout history and have done little to prevent them. Who can stop a wave that carries history, politicians, corporations, and a world full of money and power on its crest?

The ocean has been flooded with oil in front of our very eyes this summer. In Russia they use nuclear bombs to close underwater oil spills, and please take a look at the tar sands for yourself.