You're invited: This is What a Spill Looks Like
- Details
- Published on Saturday, 19 August 2017 19:30
- Written by editor
www.raventrust.com | (250) 383-2331
Dear PAOV,
You are invited to a fundraising event in support of Heiltsuk Nation and their oil spill recovery. The event features underwater and wildlife photography of the Great Bear Rainforest by April Bencze and a talk by Jaimie Harris, a councillor and first responder of Heiltsuk Nation.
We're excited to be hosting three events in three communities in three days!
Sidney: Wednesday, August 30th
Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea, 9811 Seaport Pl, Sidney
7 - 9:30 Slideshow and Talk with April Bencze + Jaimie Harris
Purchase your tickets here: http://fundraise.raventrust.com/sidneybc
Duncan: Thursday, August 31st
The Hub, 2375 Koksilah Road, Cowichan Station
7:30 - 9:30pm Slideshow and Talk: "This is What a Spill Looks Like"
Entry by donation at the door
Salt Spring Island: Friday, Sept 1st
Fulford Hall, 2591 Fulford-Ganges Rd, Salt Spring Island
6 - 7pm pre-show seafood bbq $30
7 - 9:30pm Slideshow & Talk by donation
Tickets: fundraise.raventrust.com/saltspring
Jaimie and April were in Bella Bella in the fall of 2016 when the tug Nathan E. Stewart spilled over 110,000 litres of diesel fuel straight into the Heiltsuk’s main marine harvesting area, damaging clam beds, endangered abalone and countless other species.
“This is What a Spill Looks Like” is on tour to raise funds for the Heiltsuk who are now preparing legal actions against Kirby Corporation, and the federal government, to recover damages for loss of Aboriginal rights to food, social and ceremonial harvesting, and the loss of their commercial harvesting of marine resources.
Says Heiltsuk Chief Marilyn Slett: “Everything that we do as people is tied to the land and to the sea - our history, our stewardship, our culture, our livelihood. Who we are is tied to the land and sea, so we have a responsibility to be stewards of the territory; so, that is why we filed, to protect our way of life for the future.”
The Heiltsuk aim to expose the actual state of British Columbia and Canada’s “world class” oil-spill response system. The small First Nation is reaching out for assistance to prepare their case and to stand up against lawyers from the Department of Justice and Kirby Corporation. If they can demonstrate how the poor spill response directly affected their community’s breadbasket, their case may support increased environmental awareness, better safety measures and/or restrictions on oil shipping, and real improvements to spill response.
We all bear the burden of this catastrophe. Recall the calamity in English Bay when a much smaller spill occurred. Indigenous Nations along the coast have warned for the need to protect our water and the life within it. Heiltsuk Nation now stands ready to take this to court to prove the point, and you can support them. This can happen anywhere, any time and we're not ready.
“For thousands of years we have created clam gardens, and seeded them, to ensure we would always have access to that resource. Our harvesters come down with a punt full of clams and call it out on the radio: come get clams! And everyone comes down, old people who can’t go out themselves, single moms, people who need that food, they come down to the dock and help themselves. And now it’s gone.” - Ayla Brown
Please book your calendar and go online now to purchase your tickets. Thank you!!
With gratitude,
The RAVEN team
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