Respecting Aboriginal Values and Environmental Needs (RAVEN) is a charitable organization that works with First Nations across Canada to raise funds to assist Indigenous Peoples in enforcing their rights and title in court to protect their territories.
Indigenous Peoples in Canada have some of the most powerful environmental rights in the world—but only if they can afford to uphold them in court. A registered Canadian charity (#85484 0147 RR0001) and a US 501(c)(3) organization (EIN 98-0628334), RAVEN works to support Indigenous Peoples in enforcing their rights and title in court to protect their lands, sovereignty, and ways of being by partnering with First Nations bringing legal actions that seek redress for violations to Indigenous land and rights. Indigenous-led litigation is sparking transformative change across Canada, and every campaign we take on is an opportunity to redefine justice through setting legal precedents that aim to return stewardship and sovereignty to First Peoples. Through fundraising and public education activities, RAVEN is committed to advancing Indigenous rights and taking action for our shared futures by establishing environmental legacies.
Since 2009, RAVEN campaigning and fundraising activities have led to legal victories that have protected lands, sacred sites, upheld modern Treaty rights, stopped pipelines, and defended the land from open-pit mining. After fifteen years, RAVEN-supported cases have been cited over 370 times in other court cases, contributing to systemic change that addresses the climate crisis by honouring the right to free, prior, and informed consent by all Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Together, we root into the power of movement building to actualize a future that upholds Indigenous laws and ways of being.
By supporting RAVEN, you are part of a movement that increases access to justice so that Indigenous Peoples can afford to assert their rights and reclaim environmental stewardship through litigation against colonial governments and extractive corporations. What is at stake for Indigenous Peoples is at stake for everyone: basic rights to clean water and abundant lands that support ecosystems for all life and for all generations.
Actions
RAVEN raises legal funds to assist Indigenous Peoples in Canada who enforce their rights and title through the courts to protect their traditional territories. Since 2014, the legal actions funded resulted in the quashing of the approval of the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline; protection of 83% of the Peel Watershed in the Yukon; halting of mining developments at Teztan Biny (Fish Lake), and T’ak Tl’ah Bin (Morrison Lake); and the cancellation of the Petronas Pacific Northwest LNG project at the mouth of the Skeena River.[citation needed]
Projects the organization has helped to support include:
RAVEN created "Home on Native Land", a virtual class on environmental justice issues, Canadian history, and Indigenous law.[10] Employing humor as a tool, the ten-video course features comedian Ryan McMahon (Couchiching Anishinaabe).[10]
Home on Native Land, 10-module course about Indigenous law, Canadian history, and environmental justice developed by RAVEN
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