News from the Nest Summer 2018
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 29 November -0001 16:00
- Written by editor
With all of this glorious sunshine comes some great news from the RAVEN’s nest!
First the Good News:
It’s been a year since Petronas cancelled its $36B Pacific Northwest LNG project, including a massive LNG terminal in the middle of the salmon nursery on Lelu Island.
“We stood up to Petronas in the courtroom and on the land, and increased investor risk and uncertainty to the point where they weren’t able to proceed. Knowing that we are not alone, and that we are supported by so many committed people across Canada, made a huge difference,” said chief Yahaan. Faced with court challenges by four Indigenous groups: the Tsimshian tribe of Gitwilgyoots, the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, the Gitxan House of Gwininitxw and House of Luutkudziiwus, as well as Skeena Wild Conservation Society, Petronas withdrew from the project rather than face a potentially adverse court decision.
Thank you friends and allies!! Moments like this are the result of years of dedicated campaigning. You’ve been along for the long haul, standing with Indigenous Nations along the Skeena River who are protecting wild salmon. It’s so important to savour the moments when the tide turns towards justice. Hamii ya with gratitude to all the people who donated, organized cook-outs and concerts, and supported this fight in so many ways. Together we stopped Petronas!!
Because the court case was never completed - it was declared moot after the project was cancelled - important issues remain unresolved. RAVEN is waiting in the wings to support any Indigenous legal next steps. Read More:
Tŝilhqot’in Nation welcomes court victory
The Tŝilhqot’in Nation welcomes the B.C. Supreme Court decision to grant an interlocutory injunction against an exploration permit issued by British Columbia to Taseko Mines Ltd. (TML) for an extensive drilling program in the Teẑtan Biny (Fish Lake) area. TML had planned to start the drilling work as early as next week.
Nits’ilʔin (Chief) Joe Alphonse, Tribal Chairman, Tŝilhqot’in National Government: “The Tŝilhqot’in Nation being granted this interlocutory injunction is one more small victory in the long standing fight to protect Teẑtan Biny and the surrounding area. This permit created a lot of distress for Tŝilhqot’in communities directly in the midst of the largest wildfire season that we have ever seen.”
The injunction prohibits TML from carrying out the drilling program until the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled on the Tŝilhqot’in Nation’s legal challenge to the drilling permit issued in July of 2017, based on breaches of the Crown’s duty to consult and accommodate the Tŝilhqot’in. That case was argued in B.C. Supreme Court the week of June 25-29.
You've been staunch in your support of the Tsilhqot'in for the decade that they have been defending Teẑtan Biny (Fish Lake). Everyone in the RAVEN community deserves to celebrate this victory, and to be celebrated for their part in it. Read More: https://raventrust.com/case/tsilhqotin-nation/
More Good News Campaign Updates:
Heiltsuk Nation/Kirby spill Nathan E. Stewart: RAVEN is co-creating an initiative to protect our coast from unsafe oil transports by articulated barges. One Coast is a transboundary campaign between civil society organizations (Sierra Club, Sierra Club BC, Friends of the Earth US, Pacific Wild and RAVEN), Indigenous Peoples and concerned citizens. We’re joining forces to keep our coast oil-spill free, and to stand with communities already affected by marine shipping disasters. One more spill is one too many! Take the One Coast pledge at www.onecoast.eco.
Beaver Lake Cree Nation v. Alberta and Canada:
The Beaver Lake Nation has filed for an Advanced Cost Award, and they have been granted trial dates at the end of November. If successful, BLCN could dramatically accelerate their case, and the evidence collected for the advanced cost award would also be used to support the main litigation - so your donations get more value in the courtroom!! You can read more here: https://raventrust.com/tar-sands-trial/
Pull Together - Kinder Morgan:
There is still no judgment from the October 2017 hearing. Tsleil-Waututh Nation lost its bid to reopen the hearing to present new information from the FOI/whistleblower, suggesting ‘the fix was in’ prior to the National Energy Board hearings. While everyone awaits the judgment, people are fundraising and organizing, and we know we have a force for good at the ready for the appeals stage - all the way to the Supreme Court if need be. For other ways to stand in solidarity, check out www.pull-together.ca. You can donate or fundraise for the Pull Together campaign here. Let’s stop this pipeline once and for all!!!
7th Annual Young Scholars Essay Prize - WInners Announcement!
The RAVEN Young Scholars Essay Competition recognizes outstanding undergraduate work which intersects with the core precepts and values of RAVEN. We are very proud of this year’s winners!!
Our 2nd PLACE Winner ($1000) is Helena Arbuckle with her paper titled: Contemporary Colonialism: The Dakota Access Pipeline. Helena says: “I researched this paper with an intention to learn about non-Indigenous allies due to my position as a Settler on unceded and unsurrendered territories. Moreover, although it is important to note that my paper is written in a specific U.S context, I wrote it because of the many parallels I drew between the Kinder Morgan and Dakota Access pipeline.”
Our 1st PLACE Winner ($2000) is Helen Knott with her paper titled: Indigenous Resistance Is Relational. Helen Knott is of Dane Zaa, Nehiyaw, and mixed Euro descent from Prophet River First Nations living in Fort St. John, BC. She is in her final year of her Masters in First Nations Studies at the University of Northern British Columbia. Her poetry and writing has been published in various anthologies, collections, and through video productions. In 2016, she was one of sixteen women featured globally by the Nobel Women’s Initiative for her commitment to ending gender-based violence and activism. Her first book is a memoir focusing on healing from addiction and intergenerational trauma entitled, "In My Own Moccasins Now", that will be released in Fall 2019.
Here is a poem excerpted from Helen’s first place paper:
One thing I do know for sure to be true
is that I would not be standing and talking freely as I do
if not for those who came before me
because they did not admit defeat
they stood grounded in what they believed
they fought, they bled, they sacrificed
and it is because of this that I can sleep at night
knowing all of these actions are not done in vain
because I stand on the shoulders of these giants
and the next generation will one day say the same
and the giants that they speak of, well my dear they will be us
so never underestimate
the power of your voice
or the strength in a collective moving kind of love
Beaver Lake Cree Pow Wow: It’s all about Mentorship - - - -
Together with RAVEN’s executive director Susan Smitten and communications director Andrea Palframan were , I was honoured to attend the Beaver Lake Cree-hosted powwow near Lac La Biche on Treaty 6 territory on the July long weekend. We were among just a handful of non-Indigenous guests who attended: mainly, the three-day event was a chance for extended families, powwow circuit artists and the entire Beaver Lake Cree community to visit, relax, and join together to carry out traditions that give expression and continuation to the antiquity, power and grace of this prairie people.
One of the most striking elements of the powwow was the sense of mentorship: how much the honoured elders were influencing younger dancers and singers, and how much energy and attention was given to turning out younger participants — from the delicate beading of tiny moccasins to teenager's perfectly plaited waist-length braids. Read More.
RAVEN has produced a legal primer: Recognizing Rights: Aboriginal Justice in Canada. The purpose of this primer is to provide information on the different Aboriginal rights as they are understood in Canadian common law, and the ways in which Indigenous people can assert these rights within the Canadian colonial court system.
RAVEN’s work is taking place in a time of great change and great opportunity. With ‘reconciliation’ being discussed in communities, in classrooms, in boardrooms and on the floor of Parliament, there is an upwelling of interest and passion for engagement with Indigenous rights in Canada. At the same time, we face continued challenges as a result of centuries of assimilationist policy and colonization. While participating in dialogue about reconciliation, Indigenous communities continue to live without equitable access to clean water, to health care, and to education.
RAVEN is committed to putting reconciliation into action by providing access to justice so that Indigenous Peoples’ rights are recognized and upheld. We stand shoulder to shoulder in support of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, so that we can achieve parity for the people on whose land we live. Learn more about the context of RAVEN’s groundbreaking work. DOWNLOAD HERE.
You can get your very own 2019 RAVEN Calendar with incredible images from Doug Dance, Andy Cotton, Paulina O. Niechal, Tayu Hayward, Jeremy Williams and MORE!! Our calendar is the only one (that we know of!) that cites the precedent-setting cases in Canadian Aboriginal Law history. It is for sale in Victoria at the Papery; Munro’s; Bolen Books; and the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; in Vancouver at The Book Warehouse; and in Toronto at Another Story Bookshop. Do you have a book store in your hood that you wish sold the 2019 RAVEN Calendar? Let us know! Incredible value at only $20.
With thanks for all you are doing for Indigenous rights and environmental protection,
Jan, Ana, Andrea, Sue, Laurie, Josie, Leah & Michelle
The RAVEN team!
P.S. Do you want your donations to go farther? RAVEN is eligible for Employer-Matching Donations. Please talk with your employer to find out how you can get RAVEN on your company’s Employer-Matching list! And talk to us about it too - we can help!
Copyright © 2018 RAVEN, All rights reserved.
You signed up on our website or donated to one of our fundraising campaigns.
Our mailing address is:
RAVEN509 - 620 View StreetVictoria, BC V8W 1J6 Canada
r34.
