Mikmaq territories, in so-called "Rexton, New Brunswick", October, 2013.
For over two weeks now, a coalition of people including
local Mikmaq residents, and anglophone and Acadian settlers,
have blockaded the road leading to an equipment compound leased to South Western Energy or SWN.
SWN is a Texas based energy company, that has been attempting to conduct
natural gas exploration in the area's shale formations.
It is believed that if significant deposits of gas are found,
SWN would then employ the controversial extraction method of hydraulic fracturing or fracking.
But since this past summer, protests, direct actions and sabotage have thwarted their work,
and have turned public opinion on the side of the protesters.
[Pamela Ross] Fracking is dangerous, it's not worth risking our water
even if they drill 5 wells and nothing happens,
if they drill the 6th well and it could be a disaster,
and it's just, our water is not worth it.
Our land is not worth it.
And the future generations deserve better.
[ Stimulator] Throughout the summer, police arrested dozens of people
conducting non-violent civil disobedience.
But since the arrival of members of the Mikmaq warrior society,
the police have not been as keen to come near protesters.
[Jason Okay] Last Thursday?
We had the highest red alert in New Brunswick that was involving 500 RCMP members,
on both sides of the highway.
And we did a stand off with them for a few hours,
and stuff then was resolved a little bit, peace was resolved,
and then they were on their side, and we were on our side.
And we're still remaining peaceful, and they're still remaining peaceful.
[Stimulator] The blockade is preventing SWN from operating thumper trucks,
massive vehicles that gather seismic data to determine the location of natural gas.
[Suzanne Patles] This barricade that's been happening here at SWN resource compound
has been costing the company upwards of $60,000 per day,
which is what they're stated in their court procedings.
They've also stated that, um, they're really upset and angry
with the provisions that we have available to us.
[Stimulator] During my short stay here
I've witnessed the co-operation between natives and settlers,
a partnership that has kept this blockade fully stocked and operational.
Food, wood, hot coffee, tents and other supplies keep streaming in,
all the while SWN berates the police in the media for not arresting the protesters.
[Stefanie Lafontaine] We are here for fight for the same reason,
so it's important to everybody to stay together.
I'm fighting for the hearts, the planet, the water, the animal;
I'm fight for my children,
ah, it's important to us to keep what we've got now.
We have Mi'kmaq, we have Acadians, we have English,
so we all came together, that's why we became a unity camp.
Before, we were like this:
We weren't gettin' along,
til the one day they started messing with our water, then we became this:
This became stronger,
now the government knows that we are strong,
and that we are helping each other, we are talking with each other,
we are becoming as one.
And when we become as one, that is the most biggest voice we can ever bring,
saying "No to shale gas!"
[ Captions by Radical Access Mapping Project, On Un-ceded Coast Salish Territory, 2013 ]