About R.A.V.E.N
RAVEN’s mission is to assist Aboriginal peoples within Canada in protecting or restoring their traditional lands and resources, and addressing critical environmental challenges such as global warming by strategically enforcing their Constitutional rights through the courts in response to unsustainable settlement or industrial exploitation supported by the State.
RAVEN is a Canadian-based non-profit with charitable status, and we now are also recognized as a tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization for U.S. income tax purposes.
At the bottom of this page, you will find links to various governance documents, including RAVEN's business plan.
RAVEN is a Canadian-based non-profit with charitable status, and we now are also recognized as a tax-exempt 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization for U.S. income tax purposes.
At the bottom of this page, you will find links to various governance documents, including RAVEN's business plan.
Letter From the President:
When we formed R.A.V.E.N. we recognized the need to redress an inherent imbalance. To obtain justice in the courts for Canada's First Nations in their struggle to protect rights and lands native leaders, advocates and their legal teams almost always face overwhelming odds when going against the established interests of large corporations and the governments that support them.
Governments and wealthy corporations are able to hire large teams of lawyers and experts to bolster their arguments. Their resources appear almost limitless to cash strapped First Nations and their dedicated legal teams that all too often work pro bono because of their belief in the cause. The background research and other costs attendant on the fight for native rights are invariably immense. Yet, without adequate research and background information, native causes are bound to fail in non- native legal systems.
We at R.A.V.E.N. have already enjoyed significant success. We were able to help mount a formidable campaign that enabled the Tsilhqot'in National Government to achieve success in defence of Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) and a sacred homeland.
We anticipate even greater victories in the courts of the land with the continued assistance of those who, like us, believe that our legal system should first and foremost dispense justice based on the best evidence available regardless of wealth and power imbalances.
As with Teztan Biny, the R.A.V.E.N. board has observed that the struggles worldwide for the rights of indigenous peoples are frequently closely related to the effort to prevent environmental degradation through inappropriate industrial development. By obtaining financial support for these inter-mixed native rights and environmental causes we hope to bring balance into the game.
David Williams
R.A.V.E.N. President
Governance Documents:
RAVEN's Business Plan
Letter of Patent, Articles and Bylaws
When we formed R.A.V.E.N. we recognized the need to redress an inherent imbalance. To obtain justice in the courts for Canada's First Nations in their struggle to protect rights and lands native leaders, advocates and their legal teams almost always face overwhelming odds when going against the established interests of large corporations and the governments that support them.
Governments and wealthy corporations are able to hire large teams of lawyers and experts to bolster their arguments. Their resources appear almost limitless to cash strapped First Nations and their dedicated legal teams that all too often work pro bono because of their belief in the cause. The background research and other costs attendant on the fight for native rights are invariably immense. Yet, without adequate research and background information, native causes are bound to fail in non- native legal systems.
We at R.A.V.E.N. have already enjoyed significant success. We were able to help mount a formidable campaign that enabled the Tsilhqot'in National Government to achieve success in defence of Teztan Biny (Fish Lake) and a sacred homeland.
We anticipate even greater victories in the courts of the land with the continued assistance of those who, like us, believe that our legal system should first and foremost dispense justice based on the best evidence available regardless of wealth and power imbalances.
As with Teztan Biny, the R.A.V.E.N. board has observed that the struggles worldwide for the rights of indigenous peoples are frequently closely related to the effort to prevent environmental degradation through inappropriate industrial development. By obtaining financial support for these inter-mixed native rights and environmental causes we hope to bring balance into the game.
David Williams
R.A.V.E.N. President
Governance Documents:
RAVEN's Business Plan
Letter of Patent, Articles and Bylaws
