Grand River land dispute: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 02:30, 28 April 2006
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
The current Caledonia Land Dispute began with a demonstration on February 28, 2006 to bring to attention to First Nation land claims in Ontario. Soon thereafter, the demonstrators took over the land that they had disputed.
The protestors claim the 200-year-old (1784) claim over 380,000-hectare Haldimand Tract was granted to the Six Nations of the Grand River was never made official. The current land was purchased by Henco Industries, developer of Douglas Creek Estates. Six Nations re-introduced the claim in 1999.
The position of the government is that Natives relinquished their claim to the land in 1841 to build a highway.
The province has remained low-key and directed the need for the federal government to take action to resolve the federal matter.
On April 20, 2006 at 4.30 a.m., members of the Ontario Provincial Police arrested and removed 16 protesters occupying the housing development in Caledonia in contravention of a court order issued by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on March 3, 2006. The site was secured, but an hour later re-enforcements arrived and beat back the police with makeshift weapons. [citation needed]
Later on April 20, the protesters started a tire fire on Argyle street. Gravel was dumped on the road as a barricade.
On April 25, 2006, approximatley 500 non-native residents of Caledonia gathered infront of the native blockade. They demanded the blockade be removed, and the road re opened. Following the local uprising, Mayor Marie Trainer gave an interview to the CBC, where her comments were interpreted as stereotyping the majority of Six Nations residents as recipients of state welfare. The municipal council acted quickly to distance itself from Ms. Trainer's comments.
This conflict is often compared to the Ipperwash Crisis of 1995, where the provincial government of the time has been accused of intervening to encourage the OPP to force natives out of their occupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park, in which they killed protester Dudley George.
Caledonia, Ontario is located in Haldimand County, and is roughly 20 kilometres southwest of Hamilton.
See also
- First Nations in Ontario
- Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council
- Iroquois
- List of First Nations peoples
- Assembly of First Nations
- Six Nations 40, Ontario
External links
- Six Nations of the Grand River Territory
- Gathering Place First Nations News
- Native protesters expect police will evict them, cbc.ca, March 23, 2006
- Mood calm at occupation Friday, The Globe and Mail, April 21, 2006
- Six Nations Caledonia Resource Page, Autonomy & Solidarity.
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