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Gustafsen Lake standoff
The Gustafsen Lake standoff was a land dispute that led to a confrontation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Indigenous protestors ("Tsʼpeten Defenders") and non-Indigenous protestors in the interior of British Columbia, Canada, at Gustafsen Lake (known as Tsʼpeten in the Shuswap language).
The standoff began on August 18, 1995, and lasted for 31 days, ending on September 17, when the few remaining protestors left the site peacefully. The RCMP operation during the standoff ended up being the most costly of its kind to date in modern Canadian history, having involved 400 police officers and support from the Canadian Armed Forces in the form of Operation Wallaby.
The 1995 Sun Dance was the sixth Sun Dance to be performed at Gustafsen Lake. Sun Dances began at the site after Faith Keeper Percy Rosette and other Shuswap elders had a vision of the site. The site is located at the head of Dog Creek, near 100 Mile House, British Columbia. The specific location of the lands were in District Lot 114, Lillooet Land District, at approximately 51°32′28.8″N 121°43′0.1″W / 51.541333°N 121.716694°W.
Rosette approached ranch owner Lyle James about conducting the ceremony at Gustafsen Lake. James agreed to allow the ceremony to take place for four years as long as no permanent structures were erected at the site. The Sun Dance continued in 1994 and James discovered that Rosette and his partner Mary Pena had taken up permanent residence at the site sometime late in 1994.
Rosette was in contact with veteran Indigenous rights lawyer and supporter of Indigenous sovereignty, Bruce Allan Clark. On January 3, 1995, Clark submitted a petition to Queen Elizabeth II signed by representatives of Indigenous religious communities from across Canada, including Rosette and Alberta medicine man John Stevens. The petition sought an international inquiry into the subject of the occupation of unceded Indigenous territories by the Canadian government.
At this point, the RCMP operated as mediators between the James Cattle Company and the protestors.
In June 1995, people from the Secwepemc (Shuswap), other Indigenous, and non-Indigenous supporters joined Rosette and Pena at Gustafsen Lake in preparation for the Sun Dance to take place in July. The situation intensified when James presented the camp with an eviction notice after they erected a fence to keep defecating cattle from the ceremonial area. James believed the Indigenous community members and their supporters were staking their territory.
The situation was complicated by allegedly armed and racist ranch hands who impaled the notice on a sacred spear. The Secwepemc believed their religion was under attack. Although guns were already present at the camp, the 1995 Sun Dance leader, Splitting the Sky called for an armed defensive stance. The involvement of local elected Shuswap leadership further aggravated the protestors who saw elected leadership as a functionary of the Canadian state. Initial press releases from the protestors in June and July called Sun Dancers to the site, claimed their right to practise their religion was being violated, and re-asserted the belief that the grounds were part of a larger tract of unceded Indigenous land.
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Gustafsen Lake standoff
The Gustafsen Lake standoff was a land dispute that led to a confrontation between the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Indigenous protestors ("Tsʼpeten Defenders") and non-Indigenous protestors in the interior of British Columbia, Canada, at Gustafsen Lake (known as Tsʼpeten in the Shuswap language).
The standoff began on August 18, 1995, and lasted for 31 days, ending on September 17, when the few remaining protestors left the site peacefully. The RCMP operation during the standoff ended up being the most costly of its kind to date in modern Canadian history, having involved 400 police officers and support from the Canadian Armed Forces in the form of Operation Wallaby.
The 1995 Sun Dance was the sixth Sun Dance to be performed at Gustafsen Lake. Sun Dances began at the site after Faith Keeper Percy Rosette and other Shuswap elders had a vision of the site. The site is located at the head of Dog Creek, near 100 Mile House, British Columbia. The specific location of the lands were in District Lot 114, Lillooet Land District, at approximately 51°32′28.8″N 121°43′0.1″W / 51.541333°N 121.716694°W.
Rosette approached ranch owner Lyle James about conducting the ceremony at Gustafsen Lake. James agreed to allow the ceremony to take place for four years as long as no permanent structures were erected at the site. The Sun Dance continued in 1994 and James discovered that Rosette and his partner Mary Pena had taken up permanent residence at the site sometime late in 1994.
Rosette was in contact with veteran Indigenous rights lawyer and supporter of Indigenous sovereignty, Bruce Allan Clark. On January 3, 1995, Clark submitted a petition to Queen Elizabeth II signed by representatives of Indigenous religious communities from across Canada, including Rosette and Alberta medicine man John Stevens. The petition sought an international inquiry into the subject of the occupation of unceded Indigenous territories by the Canadian government.
At this point, the RCMP operated as mediators between the James Cattle Company and the protestors.
In June 1995, people from the Secwepemc (Shuswap), other Indigenous, and non-Indigenous supporters joined Rosette and Pena at Gustafsen Lake in preparation for the Sun Dance to take place in July. The situation intensified when James presented the camp with an eviction notice after they erected a fence to keep defecating cattle from the ceremonial area. James believed the Indigenous community members and their supporters were staking their territory.
The situation was complicated by allegedly armed and racist ranch hands who impaled the notice on a sacred spear. The Secwepemc believed their religion was under attack. Although guns were already present at the camp, the 1995 Sun Dance leader, Splitting the Sky called for an armed defensive stance. The involvement of local elected Shuswap leadership further aggravated the protestors who saw elected leadership as a functionary of the Canadian state. Initial press releases from the protestors in June and July called Sun Dancers to the site, claimed their right to practise their religion was being violated, and re-asserted the belief that the grounds were part of a larger tract of unceded Indigenous land.