The Constitution Express with Doreen Manuel

Welcome to Episode 1 of RAVEN’s new mining justice podcast series, Plunder: True Crimes, Canadian Mines. This is a show that looks beneath the surface of mining in Canada, a country that’s home to 60% of the world's mining companies.    For all the glittering office towers that you might be used to seeing in Toronto and Vancouver, Mining has a dark history, and — you’ll discover, a controversial future. We’ll travel from the earliest days of colonization, fuelled by gold rush-style plunder, to the toxic era of uranium mining that contributed to the Manhattan Projects’ development of the nuclear bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to today, where hunger for critical minerals continues to drive colonialism deep into the heart of Indigenous lands: in Canada, and around the world.  After centuries of exploitation, the drive to get-rich-quick is baked into Canada’s DNA, with extractive industries still given preferential treatment by the government. Despite a lot of talk about reconciliation - allocation of resources is still very much done without proper consultation or consent of the Peoples who have stewarded these lands and waters since time immemorial.  We’re going to start the series by looking at how mining actually begins. Even today, anyone with a laptop and $25 can stake a claim without even bothering to inform the First Nation whose territory they’re staking. We take a deep dive to look at how Gitxaała Nation dealt with illegal discharge of tailings from the Yellow Giant gold mine - a project that Gitxaała said from the beginning they did not want. After the company devastated Banks Island’s salmon-rich creeks and near-shore areas, Gitxaała decided to go to court to change the outdated and unjust Mineral Tenure Act in a case that has fundamentally shifted how mining will be done: not just on Gitxaała territory, but everywhere in B.C.

Today on the show we’re talking with Bryant Doradea — HK aka Higher Knowledge. He’s a youth worker, activist and multimedia artist who joined RAVEN first for the Canned Salmon festival in 2021, and most recently brought his storytelling and teachings through hip hop  to our Vancouver Festival Afloat concert .  As we celebrate the landmark settlement of Cindy Blackstock's class action lawsuit, we're taking a look at kids in foster care. There are, right now, more Indigenous kids in the social welfare system than were ever at residential school at any given time. It’s a reality that has led many to observe that the foster care system IS the new residential school, for how it both pulls kids away from the land and their culture, and how it perpetuates the colonization of Indigenous families.  Illuminating the path he's taken, that  builds power — not in spite of, but from out of — the deep well of his own struggles, HK shares about how he uses his hard-won learnings to help Indigenous youth - in the inner city, on the 'rez, and on the land.   

Today we’re featuring a special guest episode by Louise Romain, recorded during the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal this past winter.    This episode features the voices of Melody Lepine, Tori Cress, Daniel T’seleie and Paul Belanger, all recorded at a press conference organised by Environmental Defence Canada and Keepers of the Water.  Fora like UN summits can be structured in very colonial ways: we are grateful to Lou Romain for weaving a tapestry of sound, grounding Indigenous teachings in birdsong, the voices of the river, and the breath of the wind.  The more-than-human voices are the Athabasca river and various animals are recordings from he Yellowstone National Park, which share many species also endemic to the Wood Buffalo National Park. red-winged blackbird, Wilson’s snipe, warbling vireo, bald eagle, western meadow lark, common loon, savannah sparrow, and sandhill crane. Additional music is by Holizna CC0, Soft and Furious, and Loyalty Freak through the Free Music Archive; theme music is by Luke Wallace.  You can hear more of Louise’s work on her podcast, Circle of Voices. Listen on Spotify and Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/tune-intotheworld Now: sit back, pour yourself some tea and enjoy this guest episode from Circle of Voices and Louise Romain. 

On this episode of RAVEN (De)Briefs we're looking at the roots of Gitxaała Nation's court case challenging the outdated and unjust Mineral Tenure Act (MTA) in B.C.  Join host, Andrea Palframan, as she breaks down what the MTA is, and why we need to act in solidarity with Gitxaała Nation to reform mining in their territory, and all across B.C. You'll hear from Chief Nees Hiwwas, Tara Marsden, and Jamie Kneen on this final instalment on the Gitxaała court case taking place throughout the month of April 2023.   Donate to support the cost of the legal challenge: raventrust.com/gitxaala

It’s not every day that you get a chance to change the nature of big industries, like mining, but that’s what’s happening at the BC Supreme Court this April. On our third and final guest episode from the legal experts at Ng Ariss Fong, Ruben Tillman interviews legal counsels for two of the Nations who are intervening in Gitxaała Nation’s groundbreaking case, which takes aim at B.C.’s outdated and unjust Mineral Tenure Act.    It’s been a long strange journey, from the fallout of a rogue mining company who despoiled sacred watersheds in Gitxaała territory to the assembling of a coalition of diverse yet committed intervenors who, one by one, have taken the stand to denounce the casual and discriminatory way mineral claims are handled in B.C. Protecting this one salmon-rich island, on B.C.’s north coast, is important enough: but if Gitxaała and their allies win, it will change mining regulations everywhere in B.C.  To contribute to Gitxaała's legal challenge, visit https://raventrust.com/gitxaala

This April, Gitxaala Nation will be in court, pushing back against British Columbia’s outdated and unjust mining claims regime.  The case has garnered national attention as it is the first to put legislation based on implementing UNDRIP to the test. As part of our work raising legal defence funds for Indigenous Nations, RAVEN gets to work with Nations like Gitxaala who are applying their own legal frameworks at the same time as expertly navigating colonial courts. Today on the podcast, we’ll hear about how those intersecting strategies come to life, from the powerhouse legal team of Ng Ariss Fong. Support this case by donating or fundraising online : https://raventrust.com/gitxaala

We sat down with Doreen Manuel, Secwepemc filmmaker and one of the organizers of the historic Constitution Express.  From her office at Capilano University, where she mentors a new generation of Indigenous media producers, Manuel shared stories and personal reflections from what was one of the most important Indigenous movements, ever. 

Private corporations with the power to police and jail peaceful land defenders. Oil and gas interests ordering the violent arrest of Indigenous peoples.  We'll dive into the shady world of corporate injunctions, lawsuits and prosecutions in this special bonus episode of RAVEN Debriefs, featuring guests Kai Nagata and Kris Statnyk.  

Terri-Lynn Williams Davidson - lawyer, singer, knowledge keeper and weaver of worlds. She hails from Haida Gwaii, a wild archipelago off of Canada’s west coast where bears, whales, otters and eagles all dwell in a lush coastal rainforest soaked in rain and salt water.  We asked Terri Lynn about her story - how she became the counsel for the Haida Nation- an expert in both Canadian common law AND in the indigenous laws of the Haida people. She talks about how she brought the stories and laws which she was raised with into the courtroom when her Nation challenged powerful logging interests in the landmark Haida case at the Supreme Court of Canada.  She also shares her perspectives on the defeat of Enbridge and on RAVEN's role in bringing together 8 Indigenous Nations to fight - and beat - the tar sands pipeline and tankers project. Today’s show features the magnificent Terri Lynn Williams Davidson in conversation - and in song. Music on this episode is by Terri Lynn, Bill Henderson and Claire Lawrence, and  is from their latest album, “Grizzly Bear Town” available on iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud. 

Right now, across Turtle Island, we are experiencing a flowering of anti-racist activism. On the other hand, we still contend with a system where Indigneous Peoples make up 5% of the country’s population but more than 30% of the prison population. As an organization dedicated to seeking justice, RAVEN is joining the conversation about those gross inequalities.  Music by Snotty Nose Rez Kids.