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“Thirty-one organizations from within Kamloops and outside the city and province signed a declaration of support during a Saturday ceremony at Thompson Rivers University, in effect backing two area First Nations in their opposition to the proposed Ajax copper and gold mine.
On March 4, following a months-long review of the KGHM Ajax’s 18,000-page mining application the Tk’emlups and Skeetchestn Indian bands — known collectively as Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation (SSN) — declared its opposition to the proposal.
In its decision, the SSN cited the sacred and culturally important Jacko Lake on KGHM Ajax-owned land, a lake the First Nations call Pipsell.
“Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation does not give its free, prior and informed consent to the development of the lands and resources at Pípsell (Jacko Lake and Area) for the purposes of the Ajax Mine Project,” the SSN stated in its decision. “The Ajax Mine Project in its proposed location at Pípsell is in opposition to the SSN land use objective for this profoundly sacred, culturally important, and historically significant keystone site which significance is fundamental and undiminished. “
In September 2015, the bands. along with the Splatsin First Nation, filed in B.C. Supreme Court a claim for title to Jacko Lake and the adjacent area south of Aberdeen.”
– Kamloops this Week, 31 groups join local First Nations in opposing Ajax mine.
“The Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation has rejected a proposed open-pit copper and gold mine south-west of Kamloops, B.C., after its months-long review of the project.
The decision could be an important upset for KGHM International, a subsidiary of Polish company KGHM Polska Miedźthat, which has been trying to push the controversial $1.3-billion project forward since 2006.
According to the company’s website, the Ajax Project is the first in B.C.’s history that was required to prepare a First Nations consultation plan as part of its environmental assessment process.
The panel’s decision was announced Saturday afternoon at a ceremony at the Moccasin Square Gardens in Kamloops, with about 200 people in attendance.
The First Nation said it prefers to protect the long-term health of its traditional territory instead of take advantage of short-term economic benefits. ”
– CBC News, First Nation-led environmental review panel rejects Ajax mine in Kamloops, B.C.
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Download the 18″x24″ poster (.pdf), Indian Country 52 #14 – Do not open Ajax (Kamloops).
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Indian Country 52
Indian Country 52 is a weekly project by David Bernie that uses the medium of posters that promote issues and stories in Indian Country.
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This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
