TRAVELLING ALL THE WAY FROM CANADA RUEBEN GEORGE, SUNDANCE CHIEF, MEMBER OF THE TSLEIL-WAUTUTH NATION, AND INDIGENOUS RIGHTS CAMPAIGNER, WILL JOIN UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS GEOGRAPHY AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT LECTURER MICHAEL SIMPSON IN DISCUSSION OF _IT STOPS HERE: STANDING UP FOR OUR LANDS, OUR WATERS, AND OUR PEOPLE_. READERS OF ROBIN WALL KIMMERER [http://toppingbooks.co.uk/books/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/9780141991955/] OR LOUISE ERDRICH [http://toppingbooks.co.uk/books/louise-erdrich/the-night-watchman/9781472155368/] AND THOSE INTERESTED IN THE MARTIN SCORSESE DIRECTED _KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON_ [https://www.toppingbooks.co.uk/books/david-grann/killers-of-the-flower-moon/9780857209030/] WILL NOT WANT TO MISS THIS ONE!
A personal account of one man’s confrontation with colonisation that illuminates the philosophy and values of a First Nation on the front lines of the fight against an extractive industry, colonial government, and threats to the life-giving Salish Sea.
_It Stops Here_ is the profound story of the spiritual, cultural, and political resurgence of a nation taking action to reclaim their lands, waters, law, and food systems in the face of colonisation. In deeply moving testimony, it recounts the intergenerational struggle of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation to overcome colonial harms and the powerful stance they have taken alongside allies and other Indigenous nations across Turtle Island against the development of the Trans Mountain Pipeline—a fossil fuel megaproject on their unceded territories.
In a first-hand account of the resurgence told by Rueben George, one of the most prominent leaders of the widespread opposition to the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, _It Stops Here_ reveals extraordinary insights and revelations from someone who has devoted more than a decade of his life to fighting the project. Rueben shares stories about his family’s deep ancestral connections to their unceded lands and waters, which are today more commonly known as Vancouver, British Columbia and the Burrard Inlet. He discloses how, following the systematic cultural genocide enacted by the colonial state, key leaders of his community, such as his grandfather, Chief Dan George, always taught the younger generations to be proud of who they were and to remember the importance of their connection to the inlet.
Part memoir, part call to action, _It Stops Here_ is a compelling appeal to prioritise the sacred over oil and extractive industries, while insisting that settler society honour Indigenous law and jurisdiction over unceded territories rather than exploiting lands and reducing them to their natural resources.
RUEBEN GEORGE is Sundance Chief and a member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN). After working as a family counsellor for twenty years, he became manager of the TWN’s Sacred Trust initiative to protect the unceded Tsleil-Waututh lands and waters from the proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion. Over the past decade, he has travelled across the world and built alliances with Indigenous people fighting for water, land, and human rights, and has become an internationally renowned voice for such issues. Rueben has been adopted and made a Sun Dance Chief by two Lakota families, and incorporates his cultural and spiritual teachings in all aspects of his life and work, including his work as a consultant to All Nations Cannabis.
MICHAEL SIMPSON is Lecturer in the School of Geography & Sustainable Development at the University of St Andrews.