Some Squamish local people are organizing a fundraiser in Brackendale to raise money for legal fees for the Klabona Keepers.
Klabona Keepers is a First Nations organization of elders and families of Tl’abāne, an area of their traditional lands known as the sacred headwaters of the Stikine, Nass and Skeena Rivers, near Iskut, in northwestern British Columbia.
The Klabona Keepers need funding to continue protecting their territory, according to Squamish event organizer Skyler Flavelle.
“They are in court with Imperial Metals (a Vancouver-based exploration and mine development company) who are trying to grant an injunction against them on their own land, because they have been trying to occupy drill sites and whatnot to try to keep [Imperial Metals] off of their land and keep them from drilling,” said Flavelle.
“A lot has been going on up there because no one is up there to see how… the mining companies are treating the First Nations. It is not quite like here where everything is transparent.”
According to Flavelle, the area’s Stikine, Nass and Skeena Rivers are the largest salmon-bearing rivers left in the world. “Therefore, it directly affects us here in Squamish and the entire province as well,” he said.
At the fundraiser next Tuesday, Canadian Folk Music Awards Nominee (2014) singer Sarah Jane Scouten will perform and there will be speeches and a short film by Tamos Campos — grandson of David Suzuki — who was recently arrested for protesting the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion work underway on Burnaby Mountain.
Desiree Wallace, who rode her bicycle to the headwaters this summer, will also speak. Brackendale’s own 13-year-old banjo wizard, Emily Ashcroft too will perform.
There will be a raffle for clothing and outdoor gear and a silent auction of art by local Squamish artists.
The all-ages fundraiser is put on by Beyond Boarding, a group dedicated to arousing interest in environmental and humanitarian causes within the snowboarding community.
Save The Sacred takes place Dec. 16 at the Brackendale Art Gallery, which is located at 41950 Government Road in Brackendale. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are by donations of $5 to $25.
For more information on the Klabona Keepers go to www.theklabonakeepers.com/
