Neil Young Honor the Treaties Tour: Blog, Images, Video

Gallery of images from Regina Press Conference – Ryan Peterman for Leftboot Productions 

Regina, SK – When iconic Canadian singer Neil Young travelled to Fort MacMurray, Alberta, this past summer, he wanted to see for himself what many scientists described as the one of the biggest causes of   CO2 emissions in the world — the Alberta tar sands.

A self-described environmentalist, Young met with the Dene people of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation (ACFN) a community that is located 200 km downstream from the oil sands project.

After hearing their stories and meeting with leaders, Young decided to do something about it.

The result was a series of four benefit concerts being held to raise money and awareness for the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation Legal Defense Fund, to stop further oilsand expansion and exploration in their territory.

Joining Neil on the panel at the press conference held in Regina, SK before that show was Chief Allan Adam (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation), Eriel Deranger (Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation) and David Schindler (Killam Memorial Professor of Ecology Emeritus at the University of Alberta). Doreen Somers, AFCN Industry Relation Corporation Consultation Coordinator. Renowned scientist David Suzuki was the moderator for the panel.

Direct from the press release….”The ACFN refer to themselves as K’ai Taile Dene, meaning ‘people of the land of the willow.’ A Legal Defense fund was set up to support the ACFN’s legal challenges against oil companies and government that are obstructing their traditional lands and rights. As people of the land the ACFN have used and occupied their traditional lands in the Athabasca region for thousands of years, hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering to sustain themselves and continue spiritual cultural rights passed down through generations. The ACFN’s legal challenges will ensure the protection of their traditional lands, eco-systems and unique rights guaranteed by Treaty 8, the last and largest of the nineteenth century land agreements made between First Nations and the Government of Canada, are upheld for the benefit of future generations.”

The tour has since wrapped up and made quite the educational and controversial impact in news media and other outlets.

For those of you who have not seen the impact of Alberta’s tar sands, the following is a trailer from the film ‘Petropolis’

Also here are some of the media’s coverage of the tour along with some fan recorded videos of the performances:

Media Coverage

Promotional Video

Press Conference

Performances

Story by Miranda Hanus / Images by  Ryan Peterman for Leftboot Productions)