Pulling Together for First Nations Legal Defence

Details: Published on Saturday, 25 October 2014 11:00; Written by editor

Pulling Together with a New Site for First Nations Legal Defence

Happy Fall! We have a lot of news to share - and it will explain why it’s been so long since you’ve heard from us.

A Bold New Look: raventrust.com Through the summer the RAVEN team consolidated the intense strategic planning from 2013 - the results of which are now online in the form of our fantastic new website! This is why we disappeared for a while. We worked with the amazing Jason Mogus of Communicopia Inc, and Christopher Roy and Natasha Kong of Marketworks to develop the new site. It’s been an extraordinary experience - we feel so grateful to have teamed with these brilliant, insightful people.

The goals were to tell a clearer story of RAVEN’s unique work, create a better platform to support our fundraising for First Nations legal cases, and more easily share the bigger picture context of those legal actions. We hope you will agree with us that the new website accomplishes these goals, and more!

You’ll notice on the Donate page there are many more options for ways to engage. You can make a difference by not only donating to our legal cases, but also by signing up as a personal fundraiser. In the style of campaigns like Run for the Cure or Movember, you can choose from a variety of options for giving and getting involved. We’ll be reaching out soon with a fall/winter fundraising campaign - to muster the full force of our awesome donors who support First Nations and the environment.

As you go through the different pages, you will also notice we’ve expanded our work. Here’s a summary of what’s new. Pull Together

Our newest campaign is in support of five B.C. nations that launched legal actions to protect their land and water from the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker project.

The Gitxaala, Kitasoo/Xai’xais, Heiltsuk, Nadleh Whut’en and Nak’azdli Nations are challenging the federal government’s failure to consult First Nations during the federal environmental Joint Review Process. Their constitutional rights, recently strengthened by the Supreme Court of Canada’s Tsilhqot’in Nation vs British Columbia decision, give them substantial power.

RAVEN and Sierra Club BC launched the Pull Together campaign with a goal of raising $250K toward the cost of the five judicial reviews. The funds go toward the costs of researching, preparing and attending the hearings. Our campaign got a huge boost - with a pledge of matching funds! So every dollar donated up to our goal will be doubled and we’ve now just raised over $100,000! We’ve set up a separate website - pull-together.ca - where you can donate, or even better, become a fundraiser. Start a team! We have businesses like Moksha Yoga that are challenging others to beat their goal. There are resources and real people to help you if you need a hand. Please also share it with your networks. First Nations have a saying: Many paddles, one canoe.

Beaver Lake Cree Nation Chief Henry Gladue and the BLCN council continue to work towards a trial for their monumental legal challenge to the tar sands industries. Their legal team spoke about the trial as a long-term viable strategy to protecting the environment while affirming the band’s Treaty rights at the recent World Summit Conference held by the International Funders of Indigenous Peoples in New York.

Funds are currently needed to pay for expert reports, legal fees and preparation of the case. The immediate need is anthropologists and ethno-historians to establish a picture of the traditional life. Wildlife biologists and cumulative effects experts are also urgently needed. There is movement towards case management meetings with the judge - and if cash flow were not a problem and reality, this case could be ready for trial in three years or less.

Fish Lake

The Xeni Gwet’in First Nation and Tsilhqot’in National Government recently celebrated the first declaration of Aboriginal title in Canadian history. It’s a substantial victory for the tiny, central B.C. nation. It does not, unfortunately, settle the ongoing dispute with Taseko Mines Ltd. Despite two federal government rejections of the proposed open pit gold/copper mine, the company insists on pushing forward with litigation. TML filed legal actions to challenge the rejection, and RAVEN has been raising funds for this important legal battle. There is currently still a shortfall of $20,000.

Artist and Community Strategist in Residence We are extremely pleased to introduce Prav Pillay - artist, researcher and educator - who has taken on and is running with our mandate to assist aboriginal peoples in protecting and restoring the natural environment for the benefit of all people within Canada by developing and delivering education programs to advance knowledge and understanding of available legal rights and remedies. He has several programs and projects that are being developed in the residency, based on an “Open Source” design. In addition to two curriculum-based pilots for K-12 and undergraduate university, he also has two community based art projects under way: Transformation in Earth and Stone, and Witness: This Edge of Courage.

Please check out our website for more. We are currently seeking funding to fully realize the residency and these great programs.

And finally...

Thank you for your ongoing support of RAVEN and our work! Your contributions make it all possible. We feel privileged to be working alongside so many people who share our goal of embracing the caretaker values of First Nations and their equitable access to the justice system within a thriving natural habitat.

Please keep in touch - send us a note, or drop by our office if you happen to be in the neighbourhood. We love visitors! Warm regards,

Susan Smitten
Executive Director

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