Lelu Island (British Columbia)

Lelu Island (British Columbia)
Native name:
Lax U’u’la
Lelu Island at Sunset
Lelu Island
Geography
Coordinates54°11′59″N 130°17′19″W / 54.19972°N 130.28861°W / 54.19972; -130.28861[1]
Area192[2] ha (470 acres)
Highest elevation40 m (130 ft)[3]: 1 

Lelu Island is an island of the Range 5 Coast Land District, of British Columbia, Canada,[4] located in the Skeena Estuary between Smith and Ridley Islands.[1] The island has gentle topography, with moderate perimeter woodland slopes rising to a central plateau, characterized by wetlands and bogs.[3]: 29, 44  Gitwilgyoots are reliant on the island for traditional food gathering and other cultural traditions.[5]

Immediately southwest and associated with the island is the Flora Bank, a unique geomorphic feature supporting a critical fish habitat.[6]

Features

Range Marks

Due to the combination of strong tidal currents, and a narrow entrance to Port Edward, Lelu Island hosts three pairs of range marks. One pair of range lights on the northwest, guiding ships past the Agnew and Flora banks, while the other two pairs of daymarks are to the northeast, guiding ships through Porpoise Channel and Porpoise Harbour.[7]

Culturally Modified Trees

Culturally Modified Trees are widely distributed on the island, dated across the range of 1830‍–‍1961.[2]: 23  In the winter of 2015, a survey of approximately 550 were identified.[3]: 126 

Lelu Wolf Totem

Carved by Tsimshian artist Phil Gray, significant figures include a wolf (near the base) and also an orca (killer whale) fin near the top.[8] The totem was blessed by Tsimshian of high ranking,[9] the Nine Allied Tribes of the Lax Kw’alaams were involved in raising the totem, and the Prince Rupert Port Authority recognizes the cultural significance of the event.[10]

Lelu Slough

The island is separated from the mainland by Lelu Slough.[11]: 40  This is an intertidal slough of soft silt containing an estuarine channel.[12] The slough contains the 11.45 ha (28.3 acres) Stapledon Island.[13][14]

Indigenous Education

The island functions as a cultural camp aimed at teaching Tsimshian (Tsm’syen) lifeways, and as a forum to learn traditional teachings, cultural revitalization, and the health, and well-being of Tsm’syen communities on their land.[15]

History

In the Coast Tsimshian dialect, the island is referred to as Lax U’u’la in community and advocacy publications.[16]

Development Moratorium

On 17 January 2019 the Prince Rupert Port Authority announced a twenty year moratorium prohibiting industrial development within the Flora, Agnew, and Horsey Banks, and the foreshore of Lelu Island.[17]

Lelu Island Declaration

Main article: Lelu Island Declaration

On 23 January 2016, Hereditary Chiefs across the Skeena watershed, and citizens of the Nine Allied Tribes of Lax Kw'alaams, signed the Lelu Island Declaration, declaring that Lelu Island, and Flora and Agnew Banks will be protected and held in trust for all time.[18][19][20][21]

Pacific NorthWest LNG export facility

Petronas made a proposal for a liquefied natural gas export facility on this island in 2013. In September 2015, members of Lax Kw'alaams Nation began occupation of a camp on the island in opposition to the facility.[22] In April 2016, the Prince Rupert Port Authority ordered a stop to construction of the camp.[23] In September 2016, the Canadian federal government approved the project[24] with 190 conditions, but members of the Lax Kw'alaams nation maintained their camp opposing the project.[25]

The proposal had previously been opposed by unanimous vote but then supported[26] by John Helin the mayor of the Lax Kw'alaams First Nation while still finding opposition among its hereditary chiefs, and is supported by Premier of British Columbia Christy Clark.[27]

On July 25, 2017, Petronas announced they were abandoning the proposed export facility.[28] The reasons for ending the project included market factors as well as political opposition.[29]

In Media

The resistance of Lax Kwʼalaams is the subject of a short documentary, A Last Stand for Lelu, which premiered on 15 February 2016 at the Vancouver International Mountain Film Festival.[30]

References

  1. ^ a b "Lelu Island". BC Geographical Names.
  2. ^ a b Prepared by Adrian Clark (13 December 2013). "Aboriginal Use and Occupancy of Lelu Island, 1793 to 1846". Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  3. ^ a b c Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (September 27, 2016). Pacific NorthWest LNG Project Environmental Assessment Report (PDF). Government of Canada Publications (Report). Environmental Assessment Report – Pacific NorthWest LNG. Ottawa, Ontario: Government of Canada. ISBN 978-1-100-25630-6. Retrieved 2026-01-03.
  4. ^ "Lelu Island". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2026-01-02.
  5. ^ "Environment: Lelu's Last Stand". Mountain Life Media. June 29, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2026.
  6. ^ Mazumder, Asit (June 2016). "Pacific NorthWest LNG Project: A review and assessment of the project plans and their potential impacts on marine fish and fish habitat in the Skeena estuary" (PDF). Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  7. ^ "Canadian Sailing Directions: PAC 205, Inner Passage, Queen Charlotte &c" (PDF). Canadian Hydrographic Service, Fisheries and Oceans Canada. December 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  8. ^ Kurjata, Andrew (23 October 2017). "'Our blood is still on the land': Tsimshian raise totem pole declaring victory over B.C. LNG project". CBC News. British Columbia. Retrieved 5 January 2026. Gwishawaal (Ken Lawson) said, We made a stand to show Canada that our blood is still on the land and that we are here forever.
  9. ^ Gill, Ian (25 October 2017). "Life and Breath on the Skeena River". The Tyee. TheTyee.ca. Retrieved 7 January 2026.
  10. ^ Lough, Shannon (2019-01-24). "Future of the Lelu totem pole up to Gitwilgyoots Tribe". The Williams Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2026-01-07.
  11. ^ Stantec Consulting Ltd. (July 2013). Project Description for the Proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG Project (PDF) (Report). Pacific NorthWest LNG Limited Partnership. Retrieved 2026-01-07.
  12. ^ Pacific NorthWest LNG Limited Partnership (December 12, 2014). Habitat Offsetting Plan (Appendix G.10) (PDF) (Report). Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. Retrieved 2026-01-07.
  13. ^ "Stapledon Island". BC Geographical Names.
  14. ^ "Official Community Plan Bylaw No. 712, 2020 (Final) – District of Port Edward" (PDF). District of Port Edward. District of Port Edward. Retrieved 2 February 2026.
  15. ^ Armstrong, Charlotte G.; Brown, Christopher (April 2019). "Frontiers are frontlines: Ethnobiological science against ongoing colonialism" (PDF). Journal of Ethnobiology. 39 (1): 14–31. doi:10.2993/0278-0771-39.1.14. Retrieved 2026-01-08.
  16. ^ "Council supports Gitxsan & Lax Kw'alaams opposition to the Pacific NorthWest LNG project". Retrieved 2026-02-17.
  17. ^ Prince Rupert Port Authority (January 17, 2019). "Development Moratorium on Flora, Agnew, and Horsey Banks Announced". rupertport.com. Retrieved December 25, 2025.
  18. ^ "Pact aims to permanently guard island from LNG". Global News. The Canadian Press. January 25, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  19. ^ "First Nations do not have veto over Petronas Pacific Northwest LNG project". Vancouver Sun. Postmedia Network. 2016-02-03. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  20. ^ Ian Gill (25 January 2016). "Lelu Declaration a Major Wrench in Hardhat Premier's LNG Plans". The Tyee. TheTyee.ca. Retrieved 5 January 2026.
  21. ^ "Lelu Island declaration sparks outcry from some First Nation leaders". Business in Vancouver. Business in Vancouver Media Group. January 23, 2016. Retrieved January 5, 2026.
  22. ^ "B.C. First Nations divided over Lelu Island LNG amid protests". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  23. ^ "Anti-LNG protesters in Prince Rupert told to stop camping at Lelu Island". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  24. ^ "Ottawa approves Pacific NorthWest LNG project for B.C. coast". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  25. ^ "Indigenous campers stage year-long protest to keep LNG at bay on Lelu Island, B.C." CBC News. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  26. ^ McCarthy, Shawn (18 March 2016). "Lax Kw'alaam Band gives green light to Pacific NorthWest – with conditions". The Globe and Mail. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  27. ^ Lukacs, Martin (20 March 2016). "By rejecting $1bn for a pipeline, a First Nation has put Trudeau's climate plan on trial". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  28. ^ "TransCanada Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Project – Overview". www.transcanada.com. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  29. ^ "What killed the $36-billion Pacific NorthWest LNG project?". Global News. Retrieved 2018-03-17.
  30. ^ Carroll, David (2016-02-08). "A Last Stand for Lelu: A Film About the Fight Against Industrial Development on Lelu Island". The Tyee. Retrieved 2026-01-12.
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