It Stops Here

A personal account of one man’s confrontation with colonization that illuminates the philosophy and values of a First Nation on the front lines of the fight against an extractive industry, ineffective government, and the threat to the life-giving ocean. It Stops Here is the story of the spiritual, cultural, and political resurgence of a nation taking action to reclaim their lands, waters, law, and food systems in face of colonization. The book recounts the intergenerational struggle of the Tsleil-Waututh to overcome the harms of colonization and the powerful stance they have taken against the expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline—a fossil fuel megaproject that would triple the capacity of tar sands bitumen piped to tidewater on their unceded territory and result in a sevenfold increase in oil tankers moving through their waters. The book provides a firsthand account of this resurgence as told by one of the most prominent leaders of the widespread opposition to the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion—Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. He has devoted more than a decade of his life to fighting this project and shares stories about his family’s deep ancestral connections to these waters that have provided the Tsleil-Waututh with a rich abundance of foods and medicines since time immemorial. Despite the systematic attempts at cultural genocide enacted by the colonial state, Rueben recounts how key leaders of the community, such as his grandfather, Chief Dan George, always taught the younger generations to be proud of who they were and to remember the importance of their connection to the inlet. Part memoir, part call to action, It Stops Here urges policy makers to prioritize sacred territory over oil profits and insists that colonial Canada change its perspective from bending natural resources to their will to respecting this territory and those who inhabit it.