The Uts'am Witness Project formally began in 1997, and was at first known as The Witness Project. The project was co-founded by artist photographer Nancy Bleck, world-renowned mountaineer John Clarke and Squamish Nation Hereditary Chief Bill Williams in order to bring the public onto the land, in a contested part of the Squamish Nation territory in a non-violent way. This part of the territory was known at the time as "Tree Farm License 38" (TFL38) and was threatened with logging. It was a time when there were many protests and clashes between environmentalists and loggers.