Neil Young is staging four charity concerts next year to raise money for a Native Canadian community’s anti-tar sands law suit.

Funds from the Canadian singer-songwriter’s January gigs will go towards the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation’s legal challenge to Shell.

The singer who penned “Harvest Moon” and “Cinnamon Girl” appears to be a vocal critic of his homeland for the tar sands operations, apparently writing on his website: “Canada seems to have lost its conscience.”

Known as People of the Land of the Willow, the community of 879 people stakes its claim on land by the Lake Athabasca and the river delta in the province of Alberta.

The group claims Shell is breaking a century-old agreement by expanding its neighbouring Jackpine Mine site.

The British oil giant says it is working with locals, stating on its website: “We work with our aboriginal neighbours to understand and seek to address their concerns… meeting many hundreds of times over the past decade and investing more than $1.25 billion with aboriginal contractors since 2006”.

Neil Young is one of many musicians who have used their public profile to campaign against energy sources including Kraftwerk and Super Furry Animals’ lead singer.

Image copyright: Kim Erlandsen, NRK