A pristine lake is threatened by toxic mine waste. A large mining company proposes turning this graceful wilderness in British Columbia into a dump for mine tailings. Not only will the natural beauty be lost, but the Tsilhqot’in people, indigenous to this remote region of western Canada, will lose a sacred resource. For generations they’ve used this lake, called Teztan Biny (or Fish Lake), for food and water, and to perform traditional ceremonies.
In early 2010, the government of British Columbia approved the mining proposal. The Tsilhqot’in people united to challenge this threat to their health and their culture, but a simple written or verbal explanation of what was at stake could not convey the deep value of this precious lake. They needed to illustrate the true cost of the mining project, as told by the people whose ancestors fished from its waters and drank from its banks. Susan Smitten, an activist who assists First Nations struggling to save their traditional ways of life, used a small grant from Global Greengrants Fund to create a film to do just that.
In Blue Gold: The Tsilhqot’in Fight for Teztan Biny, Smitten and her organization, R.A.V.E.N., captured Tsilhqot’in testimony on behalf of their lake and their lands. The film was shown at an independent federal environmental review in April 2010, and contributed to the ultimate dismissal of the mining proposal by the federal government in November of that same year. It was an enormous victory.
Today, the film is up for review once again, this time as part of the Culture Unplugged Green Film Festival. The online festival celebrates using new media to allow “conscious storytellers, culture explorers and world citizens to reflect on issues and life experiences in contemporary world.”
You can check out Blue Gold and vote for the film >>
Read more about the story of Fish Lake and how Blue Gold helped change its future >>