Will George was called upon to protect his nation's land and waters, then was taken to court for doing so

In January 2021, Will George took the wheels off a car to blockade the Trans Mountain pipeline terminal in Burnaby, B.C. For this act, he faced a criminal charge and potential prison time. 

Warrior Spirit follows George's journey as he defends himself, offering an intimate inside look at the colonial court system.

George — whose traditional Tsleil-Waututh name is Swaysən — is a grassroots leader, community organizer, and land and water protector most known for defending Tsleil-Waututh Nation's territories from the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project. 

"My elders called on me to step up and to help stop it," says George in Warrior Spirit. "And that was just the beginning."

His activism has included hanging from bridges and skyscrapers, all while employing media, canoeing and other traditional knowledge to educate others and fight industrial development where First Nations communities have not consented to it.

'Culture saves lives'

Will George was born in 1981 in Tsleil-Waututh Nation territory in B.C. His upbringing was difficult.  

"With my mom going through residential school, she didn't have the tools to take care of a child," George says in the documentary. His father also wasn't in the picture much, and around the age of 10, the provincial government took George away from his mother and community, putting him in a group home.

The experience was devastating — George recalls the group home was a "bad place" — and disconnected him from his culture. "I became angry," he says in the film. 

"And then this man came to get me…. He dropped me off at another house. It was a very traditional family. I powwow danced. They reconnected me with my culture. That man changed my life."

George was moved multiple times in the years that followed, and his connection with his culture ebbed and flowed as different challenges arose. But through it all, the idea that "culture saves lives" stuck with him. 

'A devastating effect on our salmon, our orca, our way of life and our culture'

As George grew into adulthood, he fished salmon for his community, which gave him a strong sense of purpose and love for his people. "This fish, this land, it's everything to my people," George says in Warrior Spirit. 

In 2012, the Trans Mountain expansion (TMX) project was proposed. The original Trans Mountain pipeline was completed in 1953, and tankers started moving oil through Burrard Inlet in 1956. The tankers and portions of the pipeline operate on unceded First Nation territory, including that of Tsleil-Waututh Nation. 

The expansion adds a second pipeline that winds nearly 1,000 kilometres from the Alberta oilsands to Tsleil-Waututh territory. It's estimated that TMX will almost triple the amount of oil transported there, up to 890,000 barrels per day. This will increase tanker traffic in the Salish Sea by approximately 700 per cent.

Tsleil-Waututh Nation stood up against the project. "We said no. Over and over and over again," says George. 

"My Nation conducted an extensive research study, which said this increased tanker traffic and the risk of a spill would have a devastating effect on our salmon, our orca, our way of life and our culture." 

The Nation also started The Sacred Trust, an initiative to stop TMX, and has taken part in multiple legal actions.

"The salmon in these rivers are key to our health, well-being and culture. Pipeline construction is directly affecting them," George says. "By building this pipeline on our land, they are continuing this cycle of colonization and trauma. We need our land to have our culture."

Relentlessly acting for his community and culture's benefit

George's role within the community became one of action. He confronted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at fundraisers and town hall forums. He supported constructing and manning a watch house, the traditional way Tsleil-Waututh Nation has watched its enemies, beside a pipeline construction site.

He rappelled down skyscrapers to drop resistance banners. He took clandestine drone footage of TMX operations. He hung off the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge to block oil tanker traffic through the Burrard Inlet — an act featured in the Climate Justice exhibition at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

And in January 2021, George was one of the activists who removed the wheels from a car to blockade the Burnaby Terminal, breaching a court injunction that barred them from obstructing or impeding access to the site. 

He was subsequently charged and found guilty, and the Crown recommended a sentence of 28 days in prison. 

Before he was sentenced, George prepared a Gladue report, a document outlining his Indigenous identity, personal history and traumas, which was meant to be considered by colonial courts during sentencing. 

The process of preparing the Gladue report was painful, and in the end, the judge did not give it sufficient weight to alter his sentencing. "She took 15 minutes to read a 16-page document," George says in the documentary while recounting his experience in court. 

George stresses the importance of recognizing that his story is not his alone. "It's the story of many Indigenous men and women," he says. Many Indigenous people have faced similar challenges rooted in colonization. Many Indigenous people have been criminalized for protecting their homes.

George's film work

This film isn't the first to show George's strength and perseverance. He's featured in Coextinction, a documentary about the interconnected orcas, salmon and humans of the West Coast.

But Warrior Spirit is George's directorial debut. He called on the makers of Coextinction to continue working with him and support him in telling his story. The film itself was two years in the making, and also features archival clips from George's early resistance work.

Outside of film work, George leads canoe tours through his traditional waters, educating people on the history of his home and the extensive action his community has taken to protect it. 

He's also continuing his personal healing journey. "I'm focusing on being a warrior for myself now," says George. "It's hard, but I know now that being a warrior for myself is being a warrior for my people and the water."