Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Squamish & Tsleil-Waututh Nations Sign Historic Declaration to Protect the Salish Sea

The North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance will be hosting its second annual Native American Heritage Month Celebration at the state capital in Bismarck from Nov. 15-16. (Photo courtesy of the North Dakota Native Tourism Alliance)

Nations collaborate to oppose Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline project

North Vancouver, BC, Sept. 1, 2012 – Today, the Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations celebrated their sacred connection to the waters of the Salish Sea with an historic canoe journey starting at Swáywi (Ambleside Park) and ending at Whey-Ah-Wichen (Cates Park) where each Nation signed a Declaration to protect the Salish Sea. The historic Declaration marks the Nations’ decision to work collaboratively to stop the proposed expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline and increased oil tanker traffic in the Salish Sea.

“The potential for an oil spill is too high for our people, our community, and this region,” said Chief Gibby Jacob, Squamish Nation. “We are exercising our Aboriginal rights and title and will uphold our Nation’s cultural and environmental values.”
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Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.