‘We can feel our ancestors’: one First Nation’s fight to save Canada’s old forests

Serb Creek’s aqua blue color is created by ‘glacial flour’, fine silt and clay that floats suspended in the water, the particles absorbing purple and blue light. Photograph: Erica Gies/Guardian

Flying over squares of clearcuts and various shades of green marking conifer plantations in north central British Columbia, the pilot followed directions from David DeWit, a leader of Wet’suwet’en Nation. DeWit’s map of their territory’s traditional trails reflected markers on the ground: circles carved into trees, which offered proof of the Nation’s history in this area.

As the helicopter approached Caas Tl’aat Kwah (also known as Serb Creek), a 1,600-hectare (about 3,953-acre) watershed, the forest became a blanket of deep green, cleaved only by yellow-green wetlands threaded with glacial blue streams.