RAVEN (De)Briefs

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 f...

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'r...

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 colonia...

On this episode of RAVEN (De)Briefs we're looking at the roots of Gitxaała Nation's court case challenging the outdated and unjust Mineral Tenure Act (MTA) in B.C.  Join host, Andrea Palframan, as she breaks down what the MTA is, and why we need to act in solidarity with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 J...

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counsels for two of the Nations who are intervening in Gitxaała Nation’s groundbreaking case, which takes aim at B.C.’s outdated and...

This April, Gitxaala Nation will be in court, pushing back against British Columbia’s outdated and unjust mining claims regime.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...

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 i...

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.

For the RAVEN (De)Briefs podcast “Indigenous Foodways” series, we spoke with celebrated author, distinguished professor emeritus and outstanding botanist Nancy Turner. She shared her perspectives from the decades of work she’s done travelling around the Canadian west, writing dozens of books and articles and, most importantly, cultivating friendships with Indigenous knowledge keepers.    Turner co...

Part 2 of our series on Indigenous foodways and features Ed Jensen of Secwepemc Nation in south central British Columbia.  Just as his Nation embarks on an historic Title Action to assert Indigenous sovereignty over traditional territories that were never ceded through treaty, Jensen is involved in practicing, teaching and breathing life into Secwepemc hunting traditions. Grounded in Secwepemc law...

For Part 1 in our series on Indigenous Foodways, we’re talking with Jess Housty, executive director of Q'qs Society,  from her kitchen in Bella Bella. Jess shares with us the story of her community’s Granny’s Gardens: an Indigenous food sovereignty project that is rooted within the traditions of Heiltsuk Nation on British Columbia’s central coast. 

Our guest on this episode is pioneering human rights lawyer and trailblazer on the path to Indigenous sovereignty, Dr. Judith Sayers. We spoke with Judith just as her community was reeling from the violent murder of Chantal Moore at the hands of police. Hear from participants in the Indigenous Justice Summit who gathered in the wake of Chantal Moore’s killing. Sayers also shares her perspectives o...

On this episode, we took a walk with the  director of the world’s first Joint Degree Program in Indigenous and Common Law, Val Napoleon, and her colleague Rebecca Johnson. Meet Julianna Alexander, a Secwepmec elder and research partner with the Indigenous Law Research Unit, and soon-to-be-lawyer and student researcher Carolyn Belleau.

Chief Ross presided over one of the most tumultuous - and triumphant - periods of modern Indigenous sovereignty assertion. Stepping into office at the height of the nation’s battle against Taseko mines, whose Prosperity Mine New Prosperity mine projects necessitated a 10 year legal battle - funded with support from RAVEN - Chief Ross also jumped into the Supreme Court challenge that ultimately led...

Nikki Iyolo Sanchez has been a wilderness guide and environmental educator in the Nuu-chah-nulth territory of Clayoquot Sound for over 10 years, and  is currently overseeing the first ever Indigenous Storyteller edition with Telus STORYHIVE; a project to provide funding and mentorship for  emerging Indigenous filmmakers in BC and Alberta. All of this while she pursues a PhD with a research focus o...

This week we have a  live recording of the “We Are the Stronghold” benefit concert at Toronto’s Great Hall with Serena Ryder, Chantal Kreviazuk, Cris Derksen, and many more luminaries. Get a glimpse of the strength, unity and power that underlies the Indigenous resurgence that is challenging oppressive systems and remaking Canada.

Immerse yourself in the poetic worldview of Canada Research Chair, Dr. John Borrows. His discourse on the intersection of Indigenous and colonial law is richly adorned with the shapeshifting sounds of Jeremy Dutcher, a classically trained musician who takes 100 year old wax cylinder recordings of his Wolastoq ancestors, and sets them to soaring strings and vocals.  Enjoy a special Earth Day editio...

Find out how Wetsuweten Nation are pushing back against fracked gas with a legal challenge calling out Coastal Gas Link for failing to care for the Indigenous People in whose territory they operate.

In this episode, Aboriginal Law scholar and practitioner Bruce McIvor speaks to the promise, and challenge, of pursuing Indigenous rights through the courts. We’ll look at the recent decisions on the Trans Mountain pipeline cases, backed by RAVEN supporters, and hear Bruce’s thoughts on how recent Wet'suwet'en decisions failed to honour the spirit of the Constitution. 

The next generation of activists, scholars, poets and players are forging a new way forward grounded in Indigenous traditions and motivated by a longing for justice. This episode features Saul Brown who is pursuing a law degree in Canadian and Indigenous law, spoken word from Zoe Pricelys Roy, Jayden Whitfield Williams, Jordan Smith, Takaiya Blaney, Sarain Fox, and Rebecca Wolf-Gage.

This first episode is a conversation between Jeff Nicholls, RAVEN’s board president, Indigenous lawyer and member of the Raven Clan of the Tsimshian Nation, and  Shoshona Kish, founder of the Indigenous Music Summit and front woman of the band Digging Roots.    Music by: Digging Roots, Kinnie Starr, and Amanda Rheuame. Used with permission.