Nechako River Drama: First Nations Been Fighting the Power for Decades! ✊

The Deets

Listen up, fam. There's this river in B.C. called the Nechako, right? And like, way back in 1950, some peeps built this Kennedy Dam, and it was NOT a vibe. It straight-up snatched like 70% of the river's water, which, as you can imagine, made the salmon population dip faster than my bank account after payday. 📉

Fast forward a few decades, and the Saik'uz and Stellat'en First Nations were like, "Aight, we've had enough." They took Rio Tinto Alcan (the company) and the province to court. They were fighting for their fishing rights and tryna get some justice for what happened to the river. It was a whole saga that lasted over a decade, no cap!

In 2022, the B.C. Supreme Court finally weighed in and was like, "Yeah, the river's messed up, and the First Nations have a right to fish there." But here's the sus part: they kinda put the blame on the province more than Rio Tinto. The First Nations appealed, but the higher court basically said, "Yeah, we feel you, but the first ruling still applies." Major L. But fr, they were like, the Crown has a greater duty to consult with the nations in regulating the Nechako's flow.

But wait, there's more! There's a new documentary droppin' called "Nechako: It Will Be a Big River Again," and it's all about this whole sitch. The best part? It was made by an all-Indigenous crew. Talk about reclaiming the narrative! 🎬

Rio Tinto's been like, "We're tryna make things right," and said they've been working with the First Nations since 2021 to see how they can help the river. They even signed an agreement to study infrastructure projects. We'll see if it's just for the optics or if they're actually about that action.

The real tea? This is all about Indigenous sovereignty and how important it is for Indigenous peeps to have a say in what happens to their land and water. It's a reminder that we gotta protect the environment, not just for us, but for future generations too. Period!