The RCMP initiated siege against the civilians peacefully camped at Ts’peten (Gustafsen Lake) was the largest para-military operation (at $5.5 million) of this kind in Canada’s history. Costs of the court case are estimated at an additional $8 million. The most serious travesty that has occured is that the judge either withheld the following, obviously relevant, information from the jury or instructed them not to consider it.
1. The Ts’peten Sundance grounds is a sacred burial site. The Dog Creek Peoples had been decimated by a small pox epidemic which had raged throughout BC in 1862-3, killing an estimated 60 to 70 percent of their population. Eleven Dog Creek people were all that remained of over two hundred. Many of the dead were buried at the sacred Ts’peten Sundance grounds at Gustafsen Lake.
2. Siege created by the RCMP: Supt. Len Olfert admitted in testimony on January 7th 1997, that the siege was planned as early as May of 1995. Why? All the incidents reported by the RCMP to the media were out-right fabrications used to garner public support for their planned assault on the camp. As explanation for why the RCMP knowingly released false information to the media, Olfert testified that "it was important that the public perceived a threat from the camp". The RCMP, themselves acting illegally, "criminalized" the Ts’peten to legitimize their own aggressive position.
3. The siege was taped. The entire deadly RCMP assault and developing siege, including the ongoing planning process, was taped by Norm Torpe of the RCMP Training Branch to train members for future assaults on Indigenous People who attempt to assert their legal rights. It was these tapes which captured the frightening and racist attitudes held by the RCMP.
4. Smear and disinformation campaign: The RCMP intentionally mounted a "smear and disinformation campaign" (Sgt. Denis Ryan’s words) calculated to turn public opinion against the Ts’peten Defenders and their lawyer, Dr. Bruce Clark. They were quoted as saying they wanted to "smear this prick and anyone associated with him". The press were often willing accomplices, checking their stories with the RCMP press agent for vetting. Other journalists were just unquestioning of what they were told. False criminal records of camp participants were illegally released by thr RCMP, and dutifully printed in the press. At one point, citing "security reasons", the press was ordered to print only the RCMP ’s version of events.
5. Race hatred/Class Bias: The on-site Commanders deliberately misinformed their ground troops in order to activate existing systemic racism . This led, as it was calculated to do, to unwarranted fear and a gross misreading of everyday events as abnormal or frightening by RCMP officers in the field. RCMP notebooks are rife with racial slurs and White Supremist code words. The RCMP propaganda whipped locals into such a frenzy of racial hatred that vigilante activities became a real problem. Signs declaring "WANTED: Posse to Restore Law and Order to the Caribou" circulated in 100 Mile House.
6. Weapons of War/ Attempted murder: The RCMP used military weapons like tanks, mines, grenades, armoured vehicles, and helicopters. During the siege they fired 70,000 rounds of internationally prohibited hollow point ammunition. They used excessive force in an attempt to kill camp participants including using a land mine to blow up a truck in a previously agreed no-shoot zone. It was a miracle no-one was killed.
7. FBI involvement: Court testimony indicates two FBI agents, and a negotiator from the Waco massacre and the murder of Tupac Amaru rebels in Peru were present during the siege.
More info: contact Bill Lightblown (604) 251-4949, or Splitting the Sky (604) 543-9661. Or go to
The Settlers In Support of Indigenous Struggle Site