Indigenous Legalities, Pipeline Viscosities

Indigenous Legalities, Pipeline Viscosities examines the relationship between the Wet'suwet'en and hydrocarbon pipeline development, showing how colonial governments and corporations seek to control Indigenous claims and how the Wet'suwet'en resist. Tyler McCreary explores pipeline regulatory review processes, reviews attempts to reconcile Indigeneity with development, and asks fundamental questions about territory and jurisdiction. In the process, he offers historical context for the continuing influences of colonialism on Indigenous peoples. Throughout, McCreary demonstrates how the cyclical movements between resistance and reconciliation are affected by the unequal relations between Indigenous peoples, colonial governments, and development operations. This sophisticated analysis invites readers to consider the complex realities of Indigenous and Wet'suwet'en law, as well as the politics of pipeline development. McCreary explores how colonial forces seek to control Indigenous claims, and how the Wet'suwet'en resist. Tyler McCreary is a settler from Wet'suwet'en territory and Associate Professor of Geography at Florida State University. The book explores how colonial forces seek to control Indigenous claims, and how the Wet'suwet'en resist. 3 maps, 3 photographs, 1 figure, index
"Indigenous Legalities, Pipeline Viscosities documents Indigenous resistance to extractive projects, traditional territorial claims, and colonial energy development. The legal questions and observations are important innovations to help us better understand Indigenous-colonial resources conflicts." Andrew Curley, University of Arizona "McCreary examines how Wet'suwet'en territorial claims intersected with the logic of extractive capitalism in the development and review processes for the Northern Gateway pipeline project. He demonstrates the constraining effects of this process on Indigenous claims to land and territory while also revealing the manner in which such processes created space for powerful Indigenous counter-claims, challenging colonial logics of sovereignty and jurisdiction." Nicholas Blomley, Simon Fraser University
"Recommended." B. E. Johansen, CHOICE, October 2024
"For those wanting insight into the complex realities of Indigenous law and proposed resource development in Canada, [Indigenous Legalities, Pipeline Viscosities] is an essential book." Alberta Views, May 2025



• Acknowledgements
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• A Note on Terminology and Orthography
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• Introduction: Indigenous Peoples and the Infrastructure of Colonialism
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• I The Historical Context of the Wet'suwet'en Encounter with Colonialism
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• 1 The First Century: Early Wet'suwet'en-Settler Relations
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• 2 From Renunciation to Reconciliation: Colonialism Goes to Court
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• II Pipeline Governance and the Arts of Reconciling Indigenous Peoples with Development
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• 3 Indigeneity on the Page: Land Use and Occupancy Studies
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• 4 Indigenizing Infrastructure: New Industrial Partnerships
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• III Indigenous Resurgence and Enduring Conflicts over Territorial Sovereignty
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• 5 Sovereignty's Returns
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• 6 The Ongoing Cycle of Struggle
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• Appendix 1: The Five Wet'suwet'en Dïdikh and Their Yikh, Chiefs, and Other Hereditary Titles
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• Appendix 2: Wet'suwet'en Bands
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• Glossary: Wet'suwet'en Place Names, Witsuwit'en Terms, and Gitxsanimaax Terms
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• Notes
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• Bibliography
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• Index
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