INDIGENOUS SOLIDARITY @ SCAN!

RBC (Royal Bank of Canada) Actions

SCAN! partners with Decolonial Solidarity, a cross-country ally network working with Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and Land Defenders, to organize actions at RBC branches opposing RBC financing of the Coastal GasLink pipeline being built across Wet’suwet’en territory without consent. Stay tuned to find out about actions at RBC branches in your community.

Land Back – What is it?

Indigenous scholars explain the past, present, and future of Land Back in three short videos produced by the Suzuki Foundation.

… in recognition of:

• The historic and ongoing effects of colonialism on Indigenous Peoples, including the disproportionate impacts of the climate crisis;
• The leading role of Indigenous Peoples in resisting fossil fuel and resource extraction on their traditional territories, the principal source of the climate crisis; and
• The centrality of Indigenous ways of knowing and practices in developing sustainable solutions to the climate and ecological crisis.

SCAN! recognizes the central roles of Indigenous Peoples in the implementation of our core purpose–addressing the climate emergency.

SCAN! Platform, Page 4

• To respectfully engage with Indigenous Peoples and their campaigns related to Indigenous rights, the environment, and the climate crisis;

• To work towards building a just and equitable relationship between settlers and Indigenous Peoples with the mutual goal of an equitable flourishing of all life on a liveable earth.

SCAN! sets aside 10% of all its general revenues to support Indigenous organizations whose goals and activities address the causes of and solutions to the climate crisis. In 2023, two Indigenous organizations and a campaign have received support from the Fund:

Indigenous Climate Action (ICA)

Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) describes itself as “an Indigenous-led organization guided by a diverse group of Indigenous knowledge keepers, water protectors and land defenders from communities and regions across the country. We believe that Indigenous Peoples’ rights and knowledge systems are critical to developing solutions to the climate crisis and achieving climate  justice.”

Protect the Breathing Lands

The Breathing Lands (aka the Ring of Fire) are located within the vast James Bay boreal lowlands that have sustained the lifeways of Anishinaabe and Anishini people for thousands of years. Ten Nations are joining forces to defend Treaty 9 territory and the vast carbon-sequestering peatlands in Northern Ontario.  “10 First Nations sue Ontario and Canada over resource extraction & broken Treaty Nine promises,” The Narwhal, April 26, 2023. 

Keepers of the Water

“Keepers of the Water are First Nations, Métis, Inuit, environmental groups, concerned citizens, and communities working together for the protection of water, air, land, and all living things within the Arctic Ocean Drainage Basin. Keepers of the Water understand that clean, fresh water is invaluable to life and the environment for a sustainable, balanced, and just future for the survival of all of the life we share on this incredible planet.”