Someone Else's Treasure - Guatemala

In the Department of San Marcos, in the western highlands of Guatemala, the Marlin Mine is located along the border between the municipalities of San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipakapa. The Marlin Mine, which has both open-pit and underground operations, is fully owned by Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc., one of the worlds biggest gold companies. The mine is operated by Montana Exploradora, a subsidiary fully owned by Goldcorp.

Someone Elses Treasure is an ongoing multimedia project which brings to light some of the experiences of people around the world whose lives have been impacted by the global mining industry including communities in the Philippines, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Chile, Canada, and now Guatemala.

Read the photo essay for more information:

Someone Else’s Treasure - Guatemala

The sights and sounds from the streets of Copenhagen during the COP15 Climate Conference. As broad frustration grew with the direction of the COP15 negotiations, international networks of people’s movements, civil society groups, indigenous peoples organizations and grassroots activists united to expose the COP process as undemocratic, unjust, and inadequate to deal with the scale [...]

Within the Department of San Marcos, in the western highlands of Guatemala, the Marlin Mine is located along the border between the municipalities of San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipakapa. These communities are largely composed of Indigenous Mayans who speak their traditional languages in addition to Spanish. 85% of the mine is located in San Miguel Ixtahacán, where [...]

As the COP 15 climate talks entered their final days and world leaders converged on Copenhagen, thousands demonstrated in the streets of Copenhagen as part of the “Reclaim Power” movement.  As broad frustration grew with the content and direction of the climate negotiations, two international networks of people’s movements, civil society groups, Indigenous Peoples Organizations [...]

From the Reclaim Power Protest in Copenhagen, Denmark, outside the COP15 Climate Conference on Wednesday 16 December.  (more to come)

Tar Sands protest outside Canadian Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the COP15 Climate Conference.
The protest was led by the Indigenous Environmental Network.
Speakers: Mother & daughter Susan and Eriel Deranger from the Athabasca Chipewan First Nation, just downriver from the Tar Sands oil projects in Alberta, Canada.

Nearly a hundred people gathered outside the Canadian Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark, to demand climate justice for indigenous communities that are being impacted by the tar sands.
Besides these photos, I also video recorded the speeches made by the speakers at the protest.  Some of the speakers included Francois Paulette of Fort Smith First Nation, Naomi Kline [...]

Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Copenhagen, Denmark, towards the COP15 United Nations Climate Conference to demand that the leaders sign a fair, ambitious, and binding agreement.
Organizers estimated that there may have been as many as 100,000 people taking part in the march; police estimates put the figure at 40,000. So [...]

The Marlin Mine is a large scale gold mine located in the Department of San Marcos, in the western highlands of Guatemala. Operated by Montana Exploradora, a subsidiary of the Canadian corporation Goldcorp Inc.
But Montana doesn’t seem very popular in the area, as suggested by the elaborate permanent mural paintings displayed along the walls outside [...]

I’m almost finished my work here in Guatemala, now I have to start editing and captioning and putting together the newest photo essay for Someone Else’s Treasure.  The Marlin Gold Mine in San Marcos, Guatemala, is owned by Canadian mining company Goldcorp Inc. Here are some photos of the mine itself.  More on how the Marlin [...]

One of the Guatemala’s most important holidays, All Saints Day (sometimes called Day of the Dead) is marked by festivals mixing Mayan and Catholic traditions. Most activities take place in the cemeteries, where people decorate gravesites and celebrate their dead.  Celebrated on November 1st, here are some photos of the celebrations in San Miguel Ixtahuacan.

I’ve just arrived in Guatemala. I’ll be here for a month continuing work on Someone Else’s Treasure.  Here are a few pictures from my first day here taken during the long drive from Guatemala City to San Marcos in the western highlands near the Mexican border. These were all taken out the window of a [...]

I’ve been working on a project for a while now that I haven’t shown anyone just yet because it’s nowhere close to being ready, I haven’t even decided on a title yet. But in light of Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s recent statement at the G-20 summit in Pittsburgh, claiming that Canada has no history [...]

These are three posters that I designed recently for the Global Day of Action Against Open Pit Mining.

September 21st was the 37th anniversary of former Philippine dictator Marcos introduced a state of martial law in 1972.
A memorial was organized by BAYAN Canada to honour the memories of the thousands of victims who were disappeared, detained, tortured and killed during the Marcos dictatorship. The memorial was also used to remember over 1000 people [...]

My photo essay on the Toronto Housing Crisis has been published in the current issue of The Dominion.  Check it out HERE
You can also see more on the Toronto Housing Crisis HERE

I was in Mankayan, in the Philippines, about a year and a half ago and one of the issues I reported on was the sinking and ground subsistence in the area as a result of irrisponsible underground mining practices. I recently recieved a message from the Cordillera People’s Alliance reporting that:
“Residents of Brgy* Aurora in [...]

Toronto, ON – May 26, 2009 – Forget Ironman. Forget the Amazing Race. Meet Oxfam Trailwalker, the world’s toughest team challenge. Making its North American debut in Ontario
the weekend of July 24th – 26th, 2009, Trailwalker is considered one of the most demanding outdoor physical challenges on Earth.

Starting at the historic Fort Willow Depot in [...]

The Polaris Institute and the Sierra Youth Coalition organized a tri-city toxic tour to track the tar sands oil, visiting communities surrounded by oil refineries in Sarnia, Detriot, and Windsor. According to TarSandsWatch, refineries pose a serious concern for human and ecosystem health causing increases in toxic air emissions, acid rain, and greenhouse gas emissions. [...]

Rainforest Action Network (RAN) organized a die-in outside two Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) branches to protest the bank’s involvement in the tar sands. The following text is from a press release put out by RAN:
Group Stages Mock Death Outside RBC Branches in Protest of Bank’s Involvement in Dirty Oil
Feigned Collapses Represent Real Impacts of Tar [...]