Communities knit their resistances together with Tiny House build on Lekwungen territory

Published by Brent Patterson on June 11, 2025June 11, 2025

Article written by Seb Bonet.

Photo Description: Two Xinca land defenders visit the tiny house construction site and pose with volunteers. Photo Credit: Cory Greenless.

From May 16-30, the Friends of Gitxsan and Gitanyow constructed a tiny house on a trailer that will be journeying from Lekwungen territory (Victoria) to the house of Gitludahl to be placed in the proposed path of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline.

The house will also become a home for Mass Gwitkunuxws (Teresa Brown), who has been operating a dog rescue sanctuary and resistance camp since last Summer.

Photo: Maas Gwitkunuxws at her resistance camp situated a few dozen metres from the projected right-of-way of the PRGT pipeline. Photo by Mike Graeme.

Just a few days after the completion of the build, the British Columbia government announced that the pipeline project has been “substantially started”, meaning that the environmental assessment certificate issued in 2014 is considered valid and the project can move forward.

Over the course of construction, people participated in numerous ways, from helping build to providing meals, fundraising, and securing supplies. In addition, people attended some of the eight workshops that were organized in the evenings at collective houses around the city, with topics ranging from learning about Rojava and the Zapatistas, to considering the ethics of struggle through workshops on Joyful Militancy, Radical Tenderness, and Queer Indigenous feminism.

The project’s aim was to not only help fortify Gitxsans who are resurging their own presence and authority on their territories, but also to support the generation of communities here that are connected to, cognizant of, and can deepen and amplify those efforts.

These aspirations align with PBI-Canada’s mission to provide protective accompaniment to communities in struggle, and, as such, PBI offered tangible support to this project.

Additional reading: Tiny House for Gitxsan land defenders opposing the PRGT pipeline to be built in Victoria, May 16 to 30 (PBI-Canada, May 9, 2025).