Indigenous Legalities, Pipeline Viscosities

Colonial Extractivism and Wet’suwet’en Resistance

Tyler McCreary

• Publisher: University of Alberta Press
• Year: 2024
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9781772127263
• Subtopic: Civil Law
• Index: Politics & International Relations

Indigenous Legalities, Pipeline Viscosities examines the relationship between the Wet'suwet'en and hydrocarbon pipeline development, showing how colonial governments and corporations seek to control Indigenous claims and how the Wet'suwet'en resist. Tyler McCreary explores pipeline regulatory review processes, reviews attempts to reconcile Indigeneity with development, and asks fundamental questions about territory and jurisdiction. In the process, he offers historical context for the continuing influences of colonialism on Indigenous peoples. Throughout, McCreary demonstrates how the cyclical movements between resistance and reconciliation are affected by the unequal relations between Indigenous peoples, colonial governments, and development operations. This sophisticated analysis invites readers to consider the complex realities of Indigenous and Wet'suwet'en law, as well as the politics of pipeline development.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• A Note on Terminology and Orthography
• Introduction: Indigenous Peoples and the Infrastructure of Colonialism
• I: The Historical Context of the Wet’suwet’en Encounter with Colonialism
• II: Pipeline Governance and the Arts of Reconciling Indigenous Peoples with Development
• III: Indigenous Resurgence and Enduring Conflicts over Territorial Sovereignty
• Appendix 1 The Five Wet’suwet’en Dïdikh and Their Yikh, Chiefs, and Other Hereditary Titles
• Appendix 2 Wet’suwet’en Bands
• Glossary Wet’suwet’en Place Names, Witsuwit’en Terms, and Gitxsanimaax Terms
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index
• About the Author