It's incredible! Since the start of this year, donors have generously granted almost 400K miles to RAVEN -- and we are super grateful. Those miles will be used to help fly leaders of different Nations in to cities like Vancouver to attend important court dates. Not the least of which is the Kinder Morgan hearing set to start October 2nd. Leadership from Coldwater Nation will need to come into the city for almost two weeks - an expensive venture for the small Nation. Miles also cover hotel costs, so this is really helpful.
RAVEN has had a busy year, launching several new campaigns: Wild For Salmon to assist four Nations defending their rights and land from the Petronas pipeline. (And despite recent news articles, that legal action is NOT dead.) We raised funds for three Yukon Nations to attend Supreme Court of Canada hearings in March over the Peel Watershed. And we are fundraising to help Heiltsuk Nation to prepare for legal actions over the catastophic 2016 diesel spill when the Nathan E. Stewart ran aground in their territory, damaging a rich marine ecosystem where the Heiltsuk harvested at least 25 food species. Plus we are running Pull Together - the People vs Kinder Morgan with Sierra Club BC and Force of Nature - and we just passed our first goal of $500K!
It's been a while since we posted an update, so just to fill you in on RAVEN's impact, since 2014 RAVEN has raised more than $2.6 million dollars for our campaign communities! This support for various legal actions has resulted in the cancellation of permits for the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and tankers project, fended off several efforts by Taseko Mines to destroy the area around Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) for an open pit gold mine, and ensure the Beaver Lake Cree litigation has the funds to continue to trial to stop the degradation of their traditional lands by the tar sands industries.
"It's not every day that we come across an organization such as yours that would assist First Nations with such a cause as ours. Mahsi cho for all your efforts and to RAVEN for providing fundraising and suppport to the Peel Land Use Planning court session. It has been an honour to work with you." ~ Chief Robert Joseph, Tr'ondek Hwech'in
What is at stake for Indigenous Peoples is at stake for everyone: the expectation that human rights will be upheld, and that we will always have water to drink, land to grow healthy food on, and sustainable ecosystems for all life.
Thank you for being part of the growing team of people across Canada who support RAVEN's work; your donation is reconciliation in action.