Fifteen years ago, RAVEN took flight. Together with Indigenous Nations, community organizers, and a growing wave of supporters, we’ve seeded a movement that aims to reimagine Canada’s legal system forever. RAVEN is environmental justice, powered by you. 

Indigenous Peoples are reclaiming their land, waters, and ways of being — and we’re with them in solidarity. 

Here’s some of what we’ve accomplished together since the start of RAVEN in 2009:

PULL TOGETHER — 500+ community organizers and fundraisers supported legal actions by 11 Nations to stop the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion (TMX) and the Northern Gateway Pipeline projects, the latter of which was cancelled in 2016. RAVEN also supported Coldwater Indian Band to successfully reroute TMX around their aquifer.

DEFEND THE TREATIES — Supporting Beaver Lake Cree Nation, which was the first community to ever bring forward a case for the cumulative environmental, social, and cultural impacts of industrial development, including their efforts to clarify the test for advance costs at the level of the Supreme Court of Canada.

PROTECT THE PEEL WATERSHED — A 2017 decision handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada now protects 6.8 million hectares of land in the Yukon’s Peel Watershed from resource extraction projects by affirming that the Yukon government must complete meaningful consultations with the Nations who call this area home.

TSILHQOT’IN FIRST NATION — The Federal Court of Appeal issued a 2019 decision to uphold the federal rejection of Taseko’s Prosperity Mine project, securing a win in Tsilhqot’in First Nation’s decades-long struggle.

DEFENDING WILD SALMON — Supporting the Tsimshian tribe of Gitwilgyoots, the Gitanyow Hereditary Chiefs, the Gitxan House of Luutkudziiwus, and the Gitxan House of Gwininitxw to stop Petronas’ LNG pipeline and export terminal from proceeding in the pristine salmon habitats along the Skeena and Nass Rivers.

STOP SITE C — Raising over $300,000 for Treaty 8 Nations’ court challenges against the Site C Dam project.

PROTECT BANKS ISLAND — In 2023, the BC Supreme Court provided a favourable decision for Gitxaała Nation, when they ordered the change of gold rush-era mining rules. Thanks to Gitxaała Nation and RAVEN-supported intervenors, over 200 First Nations must now be consulted when mineral claims are staked in their territory.

INTERVENTION IN ACTION — Heiltsuk Nation saw immediate results when they intervened in the Saugeen Ojibway Nation Appeal. The intervention brought significant changes to Canada’s position on Aboriginal title to the foreshore and seabed and greatly increased the chance of success in Heiltsuk’s ongoing title case that aims to protect the seabed and foreshore from future oil spills.

We know the origins of Canadian law are riddled with racism and the erasure of claims Indigenous Peoples have to land and rights. We also know that the current unchecked resource extraction and environmental exploitation that takes place across Canada is not a sustainable model for caring for future generations. RAVEN has spent 15 years working to support those who are going to court to assert their rights and their territorial stewardship roles. As of the end of 2024, RAVEN-supported cases have been cited over 350 times in other court cases, creating systemic change for key areas like climate justice and the right to free, prior, and informed consent by all Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

For 15 years, you’ve helped us prove that collective power has the potential to transform courageous ideas into impactful change. Thank you for being a part of the last 15 years of justice.