Three hundred and thirty million juvenile salmon come out of
that river, through the estuary and you know that’s a victory right there,
that’s a victory… I know one day our future generations will talk about what we
have all done together no matter how it turns out that will be a victory. 

–Goot-Ges

About three years ago I had a dream that I was in a long
house. I was sitting around thirteen grandmothers and they were all speaking to
me in all the west coast languages.  I
could hear a little bit of Sm’algyax, a little bit of
Nisg’a and Haida and then all up the line I could here there was one
grandmother from each different nation.
They were talking to me and I couldn’t understand everyone but I think
my spirit knew. They said, “you know we’re going to be losing our salmon and
we’re asking you to go find the salmon warriors and to bring the people back to
the land to protect the waters because if we lose our salmon we are not going
to be who we are supposed to be anymore.” 

-Goot-Ges

Goot-Ges is a Haida, Nisga’a and Tsimshian woman from the
village of skulls, Gingolx, in the Nisga’a Nation whose clan is Raven from the
house of T’tanihaulk.  She is a
land defender, freelance writer, radio producer and independent mother of
three.  In August of 2015 in
collaboration with four other Indigenous women Goot-Ges began an occupation at
Lax U’u’la, which continues to protect the island and surrounding waters from
destruction to this day.  Her work is
rooted in cultural practice: prayer, story telling and medicine as healing and
an integral aspect of resistance to ongoing colonization.  She has founded and supported countless
projects assisting her people in healing inter-generational trauma and ending
gender based violence.  

Check out
Goot-Ges’ most recent project Yakguudan, which means ‘to respect all life’ in Haida.