June 21, 2006 - Posted on Campus Conservatives
The reporting on Caledonia has been horrific. It is a sign that our media have become lazy; they have missed several important points. Point number one is that Caledonia is not the historic homeland of this tribe. Their homeland is downtown Manhattan. This is merely a splinter group that had fought with the crown during the American Revolution. To award the Natives for their loyalty they were given an allotment of land, just like all the other loyalists. The natives then sold back a part of that land in order to raise capital. Now before anyone complains that the natives had no concept of land ownership let me point out that they had been in contact with land grabbing Europeans for over two hundred years. If they didn't have that cultural concept before they certainly did by the 1770s. Furthermore it is well documented how careful the crown was in adhering to the tribal traditions and rituals for the transfer of land. The point is that of all the land claims in the country the one over Caledonia is the weakest.
Now lets look at the protesters themselves. The protesters are not the local band but a collection of Warrior Societies (you can see their flags clearly). What this means is that they are outsiders who have come to Caledonia to raise the stakes in a conflict that is really none of their business.
Also they are insane. The leadership of the Warrior Societies have made UN presentations describing how the entire history of humanity is about screwing the American aborigines. They have also attempted to claim lands in TEXAS, a place that none of their ancestors could have possibly stepped foot on. This is a group that is not controlled by the band council or the Great Mothers. They are a renegade and criminal element disrupting the town. The only reason why the local band has not disavowed them (which is what they did at first before the media even reported on the blockade) is because the Warrior Society's tactics seem to be working. That-Idiot-of-an-ex-premier promised them thousands of acres for NOTHING. In the face of free land what would you do?
This brings us to our exulted Premier. He is so crippled by a fear of another Ippawash that he is completely ignoring the fact that this is nothing like Ippawash at all. I understand his fear, I really do. He is at risk of losing his moral authority to bash Mike Harris for Ippawash. He will now be able to say that he dealt peacefully when Mike Harris would have used violence. "see how much better of a Premier I am! See how much better the Grits are to the Tories. Elect us again good suckers of Ontario!"
Nevermind that the precedence he is setting is frightening. If it works in Caledonia what is to stop it from happening again? In a place with a more legit claim even? As soon as the natives of Ontario see that peaceful negotiation is not as quick as violent or illegal protest then Ontario will witness a general uprising and destruction of civil order where ever there is a reserve.
(all opinions here are mine and not that of OPCCA or the PCPO)
Hugh MacIntyre