YINTAH // An afternoon with the Wet’suwet’en

Please register for this free documentary film screening at the Kahnawake United Church
 on Saturday, March 15th. Everyone is welcome, no one will be turned away. There will be an audience talkback with Wet’suwet’en guests Jen Wickham and Sleydo’ Molly Wickham. Photos will be taken.

To get to the event, enter Kahnawake United Church into your Google Maps. It is on Old Malone Highway.

Please register at www.storymoneyimpact.com/yintahqc and share our event with your friends.

YINTAH means “land.” Spanning more than a decade, Yintah follows the Wet’suwet’en Nation’s fight for sovereignty, following Howilhkat Freda Huson and Sleydo’ Molly Wickham as their nation reoccupies and protects their unceded ancestral lands from some of the largest fossil fuel companies on Earth.

This ongoing fight spotlights the Canadian government’s role in sidestepping the 1997 Supreme Court decision that affirmed that Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs have authority over their ancestral territories. When Canada seized of Indigenous land at gunpoint for the purpose of resource extraction, it forced Wet’suwet’en leaders to put their bodies on the line, building barricades to keep the companies out.

Our panelists
Kahentinetha Horn, local panelist, member of Mohawk Mothers
Kahentinetha Rotiskarewake of the Bear Clan is a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) from Kahnawà:ke territory. Kahentinetha has been involved in indigenous resistance throughout her life like all Mohawk kahnistensera who follow he kaianerekowa great peace philosophy. Like many Mohawks she witnessed and has taken part in numerous struggles of her people, including the Mohawk crisis of 1990 and other even of her people. She has published several books including “Mohawk Warrior Three”, and has been the editor and writer of the the Mohawk Nation News service since the Oka crisis of 1990. She is a moher, grandmother and great grandmother. Kahentinetha means “she who is at the forefront.” Her continued activism and actions is known in the Indigenous rights movement. In 2023, a group of Kanyen’kehà:ka (Mohawk) women, including kahentinetha, took on their duties as kahnistensera Mohawk Mothers to bring a case to the Quebec Superior Court to find the indigenous children who are missing as a result of MKULTRA experiments carried out at the Allen Memorial Hospital of McGill University. In this unique case they used indigenous law in the court, without lawyers, and got an injunction to stop the construction.

Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, film protagonist, wing chief of the Gidimt’en Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation
Tsakë ze’ Sleydo’ Molly Wickham is a wing chief of the Cas Yikh people of the Wet’suwet’en Gidimt’en clan. For ten years, she has lived on unceded Cas Yikh territory with her family, in a cabin built strategically to protect an idyllic lake from mining. After supporting the Unist’ot’en behind the scenes for years, Molly was thrust into the national spotlight as the appointed spokesperson of the Gidimt’en Checkpoint. As her clan retook control of their traditional lands, she confronted the police on her doorstep, becoming a recognized icon of the Wet’suwet’en resistance. After leading a 55 day blockade of the Coastal GasLink pipeline, she has experienced targeted state harassment and ongoing criminalization as a result of her unwavering defense of the yintah.

Jennifer Wickham, Co-Director & Producer of YINTAH
Jen is Cas Yikh (Grizzly House) from the Gidimt’en (bear/wolf) clan of the Wet’suwet’en people. Jennifer grew up in and around Wet’suwet’en territory, and has actively participated in her nation’s governance system since 2008. Jen’s background is in writing and Indigenous resurgence, with a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Victoria and an Education degree from the University of Northern British Columbia. She has worked as an educator, a mental health advocate, and community support worker. She is a founding member of the Indigenous Life School on Wet’suwet’en territory. From 2018 to 2020, Jen worked as the Executive Director of the Witsuwit’en Language and Culture Society. Since 2018, and currently, Jen has been the Media Coordinator for the Gidimt’en Checkpoint.

Shay Lynn Sampson, film participant
Shay lynn Sampson is a Gitxsan Land Defender from the Lax Gibuu (Wolf Clan) and Wilp Spookw, she grew up below the mountain Stekyoden on Gitxsan Lax’yip. Shay lynn has been living between Gitxsan, Wet’suwet’en and Lekwungen territory for the last five years committing her life to the fights for the rights of marginalized peoples, specifically dedicated to Indigenous Sovereignty and Youth organizing. She upholds an ancient alliance between the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en Nations through her solidarity work both on and off the Yintah, and continues her work in advocacy against the disputed PRGT Pipeline proposed to go through Gitxsan territory. Shay lynn continues to face state repression stemming from the 2021 militarized raids of Coyote camp on Wet’suwet’en Yintah, they await the decision from a criminal trial alongside Sleydo’ (Wet’suwet’en) and Corey Jocko (Mohawk) for defending Wedzin KWa, the sacred headwaters of the Wet’suwet’en.

Date and Time

Saturday, Mar 15 1:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Location