The Unist'ot'en Camp
Treaty Rights
Healing Center
The Unist’ot’en are a part of the Wet’suwet’en’s Gilseyhu (Big Frog) Clan, one of the Nation’s five clans made up of thirteen houses.
In 2009, Unist’ot’en Matriarch Freda Huson (Chief Howihkat) founded the Unist’ot’en camp at Wedzin Kawh (the Morice River). The first cabin was built in 2010 and culture camps began shortly thereafter. In 2015 the Unist’ot’en Healing Center was constructed.
At the healing center, culture camps are centered around land-based activities including, hunting, canning/preserving food, fishing, gardening, hiking, berry picking, fireside chats, sharing the language and many other activities.
Wet’suwet’en tradition teaches a reciprocal relationship with all human and non-human beings rooted in mutual respect and care for one another and their environment. The healing center serves as an area to build these reciprocal relationships and offers a place for Indigenous persons to heal from colonial trauma. “Heal the People, Heal the Land” is a mantra for the healing center.
Land-based trauma and addiction treatment programs are central to the healing center. Through the land-oriented healing process, guests have an opportunity to form intimate relationships with water, fish, trees, and all other types of living beings.
Chief Huson’s camp also serves as a checkpoint before entering Unist’ot’en territory. Admittance to the territory is predicated around “Free Prior and Informed Consent” (FPIC). The consent form “…is a request of permission to enter the lands of the traditional chiefs and matriarchs. Visitors are asked to identify themselves and their relationship to the hosts, as our ancestors did. Like a border crossing, the protocol questions make Unist’ot’en land a safe place. FPIC ensures peace and security on the territory.”
In this capacity, the checkpoint has served a healing function for the people, the land, and the atmosphere alike. As a manifestation of the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs’ unanimous opposition to pipeline construction across their territory, the checkpoint’s denial of admittance played a crucial role in the Land Defenders’ success in preventing previous pipelines.[1]