Rolling out the red carpet for Indigenous protectors at VIFF
October 8, 2019: On the eve of the raising of a Big House in Heiltsuk territory, the Vancouver International Film Festival hosted a special joint screening with Tsleil Waututh and Heiltsuk Nations. RAVEN’s latest documentary, “Raven People Rising”, screened alongside “When the Tide Goes Out”, a piece by Eliot Galan chronicling the return of the... Read More
As Heiltsuk Raises the Roof on Their Historic Big House, RAVEN Launches a Week of Action
Heiltusk are raising a Big House in the heart of their community where they can host potlatches, hold ceremonies and carry out traditional governance of their territory. It’s no coincidence that the Big House opens on the anniversary of the Nathan E. Stewart spill. Fiercely determined to enshrine Indigenous stewardship practices into law, the Heiltsuk... Read More
Tar Sands Trial boosted: Beaver Lake Cree awarded advance costs
(français ci dessous) This week, the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench granted advance costs to Beaver Lake Cree Nation to allow it to proceed with its “Tar Sands Trial” treaty case against Canada and Alberta. It’s a huge breakthrough for a case that’s been called ‘a gamechanger’ for Indigenous rights in Canada. Now, after years... Read More
Help the Tŝilhqot’in Nation Protect Teẑtan Biny: An ongoing fight to protect our sacred lands and waters
The Tŝilhqot’in won another legal victory in its protection of Teẑtan Biny, but the fight isn’t over yet. We need your help. Make a donation to the legal fund today! The Tŝilhqot’in Nation celebrated yet another legal victory that has once again prevented a massive drilling program at Teẑtan Biny in support of the rejected... Read More
VIFF to screen RAVEN’s Heiltsuk film at Pacific Cinemateque October 8
This special screening features two films that delve into Indigenous Nations’ relationships with the respective lands they call home. In Raven People Rising (dir. Andrea Palframan), we learn of the ancestral teachings that powerfully connect the Heiltsuk Nation to the Great Bear Rainforest. Meanwhile, When the Tide Goes Out(dir. Eliot Galan) examines how food sovereignty... Read More
On Strike for the Climate: At Work for the Future
The anticipation is building: in city after city, around the world, millions of people are joining forces and taking to the streets to demand climate justice. Climate strikes, led by youth, are disrupting business as usual in a unified demand for justice. At RAVEN, we focus on the intersection of Indigenous rights and climate... Read More
Another barrier to TMX, brought to you by Indigenous Nations
In a victory for the Squamish Nation — and a setback to TMX — on September 17, 2019, B.C.’s Court of Appeal ordered ministers to reconsider the Provincial Environmental Certificate issued to Trans Mountain under the previous provincial government. This means that BC can now impose more stringent conditions on TMX, and could, as Squamish Nation recommends,... Read More
Game-changing: The Bitumen Reference Case
Who gets to regulate the flow of bitumen through boundary-traversing pipelines: the province or the federal government? That’s been the question at the heart of the prosaically-named “Bitumen Reference” case that, after being dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeals, is now set to be heard before the Supreme Court of Canada. Maybe, though, that... Read More
Sentencing of Kirby Takes Place in Bella Bella, an Unprecedented Assertion of Indigenous Law
In October, 2016 a tug without a certified pilot ran aground and spilled over 110,000 liters of diesel oil in Heiltsuk waters on the central coast of British Columbia. The tug and attached barge were carrying diesel through Heiltsuk waters despite Heiltsuk prohibition of oil transport through their marine harvesting areas. Through inadequate government and corporate... Read More