The Latest Conflict Around “Conflict Free” Canadian Diamond Mines
To many First Nations people in the North West Territories, Canadian diamonds are full of conflict. Despite the promise of jobs and the Impact Benefit Agreements which gave money to communities, there were some who opposed the mines, anticipating the ecological havoc on their ancestral lands.
As this article in Canadian Mining Watch details, the environmental cost of Canadian diamonds has been significant. In any honest assessment, no diamond that comes from Canada can legitimately be called “conflict free” unless you discount the conflict mining has caused to the environment and the Native communities which live with it.
Currently, the diamond mines in the Northwest Territories are powered by generators that run on petrol, which is imported at great cost during the winter, when the permafrost allows trucks to reach the mines. In response to this power issue, the Talstone Hydro Expansion Project has been proposed. It would stretch 690 km of transmission lines to serve Ekati, Diavik, Snap Lake and the proposed Gahcho Kué diamond mines located in the Akaitcho Territory.
The Lutsel K’e Dene First Nation is strongly opposed to this expansion. According to a document I received from Tracey William, the areas that will be impacted by this project are considered sacred lands from time immemorial. The new power lines would cause, “Irreparable cultural and spiritual damage to the Desnethche (the Lockhart River) and Tsankui Theda (The Old Lady of the Falls).”
For people in the extractive industry, language such as “sacred land” does not mean anything. Yet in the Native world view, everything is alive. The very fabric of indigenous communities rests on intimacy with place which anchors generations of wisdom and tradition. The Land is The People and The People are the land.
Despite the protests, and the fact that the NWT diamond mines as potential customers have not been secured, the Deze Energy Corporation business model has gone to an environmental assessment process which held a public hearing in Dettah, NWT January 14-15, 2010.
Documents submitted in protest of the expansion note that wildlife has been hurt by massive extractive industries in the territories. Recent surveys show caribou herds are down 60% as reported this December 2009 from tabulation of four years of survey results by GNWT caribou biologists. Additionally, the hydro expansion will significantly affect lake trout spawning habitat in Nonacho Lake.
The impact of this infrastructure will open up new areas to full development of pristine areas in the North West Territories. It is because of the diamond mines that this proposal is even being considered.
Undermining of the indigenous world views by the destruction of their environment has always been a critical element in the commoditization chain which feeds the mainstream jewelry sector. Any movement forward in the ethical jewelry space must have indigenous rights at the center, as defined by the United Nations Declaration of Indigenous Rights.
Read the enviromental report on this project here: www.reviewboard.ca
You can email your statement of opposition to: ttestart@reviewboard.ca
For more information on these issues, contact Tracey Williams
Interim Lands and Resources Director lkdfn_lands@yahoo.com
