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.

Breathing Lands, not Ring of Fire

Four northwestern Ontario First Nations have formed a strategic alliance to protect their land and waters from Ford government-authorized mining exploration on their territories.  The four are: Kitchenuhmaykoosib (Big Trout Lake; Wapekeka; Neskantaga; and Asubpeeschoseewagong Anishinabek (Grassy Narrows).

Click here to get more information and to sign a petition calling on the Ford government to withdraw Grassy Narrows’ Protected Area from Mining & Logging.

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 2022, two Indigenous organizations 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.

Neskantaga First Nation

Located in the ‘breathing lands’ (aka the Ring of Fire) Neskantaga First Nation is one of several First Nations asking the court to ensure the Crown fulfils its duty to consult and accommodate “ in a way that meets Canada’s obligations and commitments towards Indigenous peoples: co-designed and co-implemented with First Nations as full partners”.  SCAN!’s support will help cover the costs of this court action.