On Thursday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) attacked the protesters trying to dismantle a highway barricade in the region.
“The RCMP is coming in here with their tear gas – they even had dogs on us,” said Susan Levi-Peters, the former chief of the nearby Elsipogtog aboriginal reserve, adding, “They were acting like we’re standing there with weapons, while we are standing there, as women, with drums and eagle feathers.”
Reports say that the protesters set several police vehicles on fire during the clash.
The Elsipogtog chief and some of the reserve’s council members were reportedly among those arrested by the police.
The incident came after activists and local aboriginals blocked a road near the town of Rexton around a week to show their opposition to shale gas explorations by SWN Resources Canada, a subsidiary of Southwestern Energy Co, in the area.