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HaidaBucks Cafe's Logo

HaidaBucks, a small, indigenous-owned café on Haida Gwaii received an outpouring of support in the week following news reports, (April 16), that it was being sued by Starbucks® for trademark infringement. Initial concerns about the cost of mounting a legal challenge were put to rest when thousands of people called and emailed to offer help and donations for a legal defense fund. Among the first callers was prominent barrister Joseph Arvay of Arvay and Finlay Barristers.

This is not the first time Mr. Arvay has worked with Canada's indigenous peoples. He represented Delgamuukw before the Supreme Court of Canada and is now counsel for the Haida Nation in their aboriginal title claim. CO-owner Darin Swanson is ecstatic about the shop's good fortune. "No one's better for this case than Joseph Arvay," Darin said. "He knows the law in this case extremely well, and knows the Haida people intimately. This is better than we ever hoped for."

HaidaBucks also announced their new web site - http://www.haidabuckscafe.com - created by someone they'd never met before making the news. What began as one of many calls to offer moral support quickly, turned into a discussion about a web site to call attention to the café's plight, Swanson said. "I'd never met the man on the other end of the phone, but two days later, he had a web site written, designed and published on the Internet for us. It's really helped spread the news. In the first five days, we received over twenty thousand visitors." Swanson added that they intend to update the site regularly to keep supporters informed of the latest activity.

HaidaBucks was founded in May, 1999, by four members of the Haida Nation. Located in the village of Masset (on Haida Gwaii in the Queen Charlotte Islands off the North coast of British Columbia), the café serves salads, soups, and a variety of sandwiches and subs in addition to its line of hot and cold beverages.