Meet Kolin Sutherland Wilson
Educating ourselves about the impacts of colonization on Indigenous people is fundamental to the process of transformation. This week’s resource that helps to deepen our understanding is a powerful interview with Kolin Sutherland Wilson of the Gitxsan nation.
Kolin gives us a window into Gitxsan culture, law and philosophy. He explains why his house group, Wilp Git’luuhl’um’hetxwit, has shut down their territory in the Kispiox Valley to old-growth clearcutting. And he shares an urgent, hopeful vision for what we need instead. This interview focuses on the Gitxsan experience with the Crown and the corporations it serves, but the same playbook was used right across B.C. The 160+ years of colonialism and genocide Kolin describes is important context for all the battles over land and resources we see today. Kolin urges all of us to learn our adaawk – our history, where we come from, why we’re here. Only then can we truly understand what’s required of us.