Members of the Hartley Bay Community and Gitga’at Tribe linked together to enter a decade-long battle against Enbridge proposed pipeline. In 2016, the powerful movement set by the coming together of the community led to the defeat of the pipeline. The power in this community is breathtaking, while they won the Enbridge battle, the community knows this was the first of many to come.
Students, Katie (England), Kimberly (USA), John (Ireland), and Julie (Denmark) arrive at Hartley Bay to participate as student researchers for Cetacea Lab. These students spend countless hours on the land as their living quarters are beside the built bunker above water. With their tents surrounded by speakers attached to underwater microphones, students quickly realize the lasting effects that a small boat has on the echoing waters of whales. Over their time with Hermann, students spend 48 hours observing waters through binoculars, often to find action of only a seal – determined and eager to make a difference, students buckle down and do their part in the data collection in hopes to show others the importance of preservation and conservation within the Gitga’at community.
The underwater Chief relays the story of respect, the importance of giving, and the importance of taking. The ongoing lesson from the traditional story is the notion of what an individual is to take. Within prayer, you take with respect and with what you need, no more, no less. The world of giving and taking is within balance and prayers of no harm, to do no evil in the chain of living within the ecosystem. When greed is mixed with taking, individuals lose sight of the damage that can result, the purpose of protecting traditional land is not only to protect their knowledge but to share the same for centuries to come.