#WCW: Crystal Lameman
This week’s #WCW is the indefatigable Crystal Lameman, an indigenous activist from the Beaver Lake Cree Nation (BCLN) in Alberta, Canada. Much like our first #WCW, Nina Gualinga, Crystal has been engaged in an ongoing stand-off with her nation’s government to keep fossil fuels in the ground.
Canada’s First Nations treaty rights give indigenous communities the interminable right to trap, hunt, fish, and gather plant medicine on the land that they surrendered to the government in the late 1800s. Crystal’s community and numerous others protest that their treaty rights have been violated by the national and provincial governments’ push for massive crude extraction. Her home sits atop the Alberta tar sands, the largest crude bitumen reservoir in the world. This underground reserve has been estimated to contain 166 billion barrels of oil, which would rake in over $1 trillion in province royalties alone. With so much to gain, the governments of Alberta and Canada have already signed away over 19,000 permits to companies like Shell, BP, and Chevron. But Crystal and her crew are out to put an end to their own government (and multinational oil and gas companies) profiting from their pain.
Despite the powerful interests investing in the tar sands, indigenous activists like Crystal are stepping up to the plate armed with treaty rights. She’s been a powerful spokesperson and treaty coordinator for the 900-strong Beaver Lake Cree. The zealous indigenous group has set a historical precedent as the first First Nations community to be granted a trial “in relation to the cumulative impacts [the oil and gas] industry has had on [their] inherent Treaty rights.” Crystal has written for the Guardian, was spotlighted by the Nobel Women’s Initiative, and continues to be a strong voice for the protection of First Nations rights and sacred lands.
With years to go before the case heads to court, Crystal and her community are in it for the long haul. But given that they could halt a third of proposed drilling in the region, we should stay tuned.
