FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 2023

Defending Indigenous Sovereignty through Divestment

An Introduction to Divestment for Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous nations all over the world share the fight against borderless corporations that rely on the lifeline of banks fuelling the climate crisis. Major Canadian banks such as RBC are the top investors of fossil fuel projects that continue to violate Indigenous rights. Indigenous sovereignty and traditions have proven to be a material risk for companies and their investors, but the threat to Indigenous ways of life is a climate risk for us all. 

Indigenous rights have the capacity to stop oil and gas projects. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) recognises Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) is the right for Indigenous people to give or withhold consent to a project that may affect them or their territories. But who defines FPIC and how is it unique for each of our nations?

WHAT:

ICA invites you to join the conversation hosted by Ellen Gabrielle, featuring Vanessa Gray and Sleydo from Wet’suwet’en Nation to learn how we are working together to develop strategies based on ways of life including:

• What is divestment in an Indigenous rights and sovereignty context?

• What is risk?

• Indigenous legal rights and divestment

• Land defense as financial risk

• The Banks, the pipelines and the police. How sovereign Wet’suwet’en Rights Protect the Yintah

WHERE/WHEN:

Monday, February 27, 2023
7:00 PM (AT); 6:00 PM (ET); 5:00 PM (CT); 4:00 PM (MT); 3:00 PM (PT)

Online | Event will  be recorded for those unable to attend live.

SPEAKERS: 

Sleydo’ Molly Wickham, Gidim'ten Camp
Wet’suwet’en Nation

Sleydo’ Molly Wickham is a spokesperson for Gidimt’en checkpoint on Wet'suwet'en territory. The Wet’suwet’en people, under the governance of their hereditary chiefs, are standing in the way of the largest fracking project in Canadian history. The Coastal Gas Link pipeline (CGL), owned by TC Energy (formerly TransCanada) aims to connect the fracking operations of Northeastern B.C. with a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility in the coastal town of Kitimat.

Vanessa Gray, Indigenous Climate Action
Aamjiwnaang First Nation

Vanessa Gray is a queer Anishinaabe Kwe from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation. She is a water protector, environmental researcher, and community organizer for the Great Lakes region. Vanessa is a respected land defender emphasizing Indigenous peoples inherent and legal rights and sovereignty within climate justice. Read more.

Ellen Gabriel
Kanien’kehá:ka Nation

Ms. Gabriel graduated from Concordia University in May 1990 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, Major Studio Art.  She began her public activism during the 1990 Siege of Kanehsatà:ke (1990 “Oka” Crisis) and was chosen by the People of the Longhouse and her community of Kanehsatà:ke to be their spokesperson. Read more.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Rosalyn Boucha, Indigenous Climate Action
rosalyn@indigenousclimateaction.com

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Indigenous Climate Action (ICA) is the only Indigenous-led climate justice organization in so-called Canada. 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. We model our work and organizational structure on systems of free, prior and informed consent and self-determination. By providing communities with knowledge and resources, we can inspire a new generation of Indigenous climate leaders building solutions centered around our inherent rights and cultures.