Trans Mountain route change will ‘desecrate’ sacred site: Secwepemc knowledge keeper

Construction has resumed close to Pipsell, or Jacko Lake, near Kamloops, B.C., after a federal regulator approved a change to the Trans Mountain pipeline route.

A Secwepemc law called X7ensq’t says that if you disrespect the land and don’t take care of it properly, the land and the sky will turn on you.

“It’s a serious law”’ said Mike McKenzie, a Secwepemc knowledge keeper. He said he wonders “how much farther” people want to go in violating it.

McKenzie was speaking about the Trans Mountain Corp., which last week resumed construction close to Pipsell, or Jacko Lake, near Kamloops, B.C., after a federal regulator approved a change to the Trans Mountain pipeline route.

McKenzie, who has been a vocal critic of the pipeline expansion, said he believes the destruction of the site is a continuation of cultural genocide.

“Without that place, we lose a big part of ourselves,” said McKenzie, who noted the Secwepemc creation story takes place in Pipsell, and their laws and customs are born from that land.

“This is our Vatican. This is our Notre Dame. This is a place that gives our people an identity and keeps our people grounded since time immemorial.”

The Canada Energy Regulator approved Trans Mountain Corp.’s application to modify the pipeline’s route in late September — a decision that could spare the government-owned pipeline project from an additional nine-month delay.

The regulator made the ruling just one week after hearing oral arguments from Trans Mountain and Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation, which opposed the route change.