The Council of Canadians mourns the passing of Secwepemc Elder William Jones ‘Wolverine’ Ignace.
The 84-year-old was a key figure in the Ts’Peten/ Gustafsen Lake standoff.
CBC explains, “The standoff began in 1995 when about 20 First Nations occupied a piece of ranch land near 100-Mile House that they said was sacred and part of a larger tract of unceded territory. In response the RCMP brought in 400 armed officers, backed by helicopters and armoured personnel carriers, blew up a supply pick-up truck with buried explosives, and fired thousands of rounds of ammunition. Both sides exchanged gunfire and one person was injured but no one was killed in the confrontation. Wolverine spent five years in jail for his role in the standoff.”
APTN adds, “One of Wolverine’s last acts was to issue a call for a public inquiry into the actions of the RCMP and Canadian military during the Gustafsen Lake standoff. The RCMP used an IED against the warriors during the standoff and Bison armoured personnel carriers provided and driven by the Canadian Forces. Wolverine wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould requesting the inquiry.”
In January, the Council of Canadians expressed its support for this public inquiry to be held.
In his letter to the prime minister, Wolverine wrote, “Despite the twenty years that have passed since the Ts’Peten standoff, the core issues that so forcefully clashed against each other remain at the forefront of the hearts and minds of Indigenous people. That is our right to self-determination, autonomy and protection from the dispossession of our lands and territories. …The use of Canadian paramilitary forces against the people of the Secwepemc nation asserting our inherent jurisdiction and title over our own territories therefore is a serious abrogation of the Nation to Nation relationship between the Canadian government and the Secwepemc Nation.”
And he highlighted, “An inquiry into the Ts’Peten standoff would demonstrate that the Canadian government is truly committed to a new era of respectful, Nation to Nation relationships in which the wrongs of the past are thoroughly understood and acknowledged, ensuring that threats, intimidation, defamation and force are never again used against Indigenous people in Canada.”
The APTN report notes, “The Gustafsen Lake standoff gave Wolverine a global platform that saw him travel to places like the United Nations and to Zapatista territory in Chiapas, Mexico. Kanahus Manuel, who was there at the time of his death, said Wolverine’s name is known from the Pine Ridge Oglala Lakota reservation down to Mapuche territory in Chile. …During his last hours, Wolverine’s children and grandchildren gathered around his bed singing traditional songs to him… After Wolverine died, at about 5:30 p.m., those in the room sang the American Indian Movement song of resistance, said Manuel.”
Just days before his death, Wolverine gave this interview.
Council of Canadians activists will be at a memorial for Wolverine on March 29 at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre Society.
