Unist’ot’en members are claiming the provincial government stole ancient artifacts uncovered on their territory last week.
According to the Unist’ot’en, inspectors from the Archaeology Branch of the Ministry of Lands along with those from the BC Oil and Gas Commission took the artifacts on Friday.
After being uncovered, the discovery of the artifacts in question had been used to stall Coastal GasLink construction work taking place in the area.
Now, the Unist’ot’en say that the inspectors bypassed their gates, failing to receive free, prior, and informed consent before entering the territory.
They then proceeded to remove these artifacts of cultural importance from Wet’suwet’en land.
Unist’ot’en officials say the Ministry was well aware that they wanted their own archaeologists present for any inspections.
