Warrior Spirit

Once a high-rise window washer and fisherman, Will George's life transformed when Tsleil-Waututh elders chose him to protect his nation's lands and waters against oil pipeline industries and increased tanker traffic. 

Now, George challenges Canada's leaders, striving to stop environmental threats on traditional territories. His high-profile activism has included hanging from bridges, attaching huge banners to skyscrapers and actively blocking the TMX facilities.

In Warrior Spirit, elder Xwechtaal of the Squamish nation narrates the traditional story of the two-headed serpent. With one head representing ceremony and peace and the other greed and destruction, the serpent was killing the people of the land. One of the nation's leaders called on his people to slay the serpent, and a warrior stepped forward.

The story is an analogy to today's threats, like TMX and George's own story. 

As pipeline construction advances and protests escalate, George intensifies his efforts, ultimately facing criminal charges. He advocates for his people and territory in the courtroom, even as he experiences the systemic racism of the Canadian legal system. 

In court, George is found guilty. He prepares a Gladue report, a document outlining his Indigenous identity, personal history and traumatic childhood and which is meant to address the unique circumstances of an Indigenous person accused of a crime. Preparing the report takes a toll on George, as he dredges up old memories. The court can consider the report during sentencing, but the judge in George's trial doesn't even read the report until a 15-minute break during the proceedings. 

In the end, the judge disregards the report and George is sentenced to 28 days in jail. 

While out on bail, George seeks healing over fighting and returns to ceremony, guiding his community in a canoe journey across sacred waters now riddled with industrial projects. In doing so, he is showing everyone that his people are still here, protecting their lands and waters.

As George says in the documentary, "I know now [that] being a warrior for myself is being a warrior for my people and the water. And I feel ready to do this."