Six Nations want all their land back

BY KAREN BEST

Friday, November 10, 2006 - 09:00
Haldimand Review

The Council of Chiefs of the Haudenosaunee has affirmed their peoples rights in the Haldimand tract and want all their lands under their jurisdiction.

We want the land that is ours. We are not interested in approving fraudulent dispossessions of the past. We are not interested in selling land, the Six Nations Confederacy chiefs said in land rights statement issued on Nov. 4.

They said unscrupulous measures were employed to seduce our ancestors into selling the land. Six Nations always retained the right to hunt, fish and gather upon their lands, said the chiefs.

In their statement, they sought to renew their relationship with the Crown based on the Silver Covenant Chain of Peace and Friendship and the Two Row Wampum. Both symbolic treaties affirm inherent sovereignty and distinctness of our governments, said the chiefs.

In any agreements with the Crown concerning their land, the chiefs want to promote and protect a viable economy for their people. This economy will be culturally appropriate, environmentally sustainable and not injurious to our people and our neighbours, said the chiefs in their statement.

Weve sent a ripple across the world that we are here and we are not going away,said Cayuga Conderacy Chief Leroy Hill. Along with Mohawk Confederacy Chief Allen MacNaughton, he is one of the Six Nations officials working with negotiators from the Ontario and Canadian governments to resolve land claim issues in Caledonia and in the Haldimand Tract.They recently spoke to a crowd of 100 gathered for a public meeting in the Six Nations community hall.

The tract is six miles on either side of the Grand River. The 950,000-acre parcel was given to Six Nations for its alliance with the British in the American War of Independence. At the time, the British also wanted Six Nations, which had a strong army, as allies rather than foes.

At the recent public meeting, MacNaughton said the Haldimand grant was a proclamation by the British governor general, Frederick Haldimand, in 1784. The Crown representative acknowledged the land grant but this was not a treaty, he said. When Six Nations people physically moved on to it, it was a treaty, he said.

The Haudenosaunee(Six Nations) did nothing to ratify and make it binding on us,said MacNaughton.

Even though the proclamation was never agreed to, they still come and shove it down the peoples throats, he said. There are some good things in the proclamation, but theCrown says it has the right to determine if land will be sold and the Confederacy disagrees with that, said MacNaughton.

Hill said their ancestors had a good vision to let settlers clear the land and lease it for a short time and then SixNations people would move onto it.

Now people own leased land,he said.

The so-called surrender documents of 1841 were marked by chiefs with Xs and an Indian agent wrote their native names, said Hill. Because of living oral knowledge, Six Nations knows the chiefs did not understand they were selling the land, he said.

I say we have a strong stand. Its a matter of a waiting game, he said.

The government did not like the freedom Six Nations had with the land and in 1793, Lord John Graves Simcoe made another proclamation that stated the Crown would retain jurisdiction of the land, said Hill. The Simcoe patent was intended to cancel the Haldimand Grant but SixNations ancestors rejected it, he said. The Simcoe deed is not a registered document of the Crown and should be in a pile of garbage, he said.

MacNaughton said Joseph Brant threw the document at the British politicians feet and said he would not be a tenant on Crown land. During the recent public meeting, he said it was difficult to speak about the lands discussion with Ontario and Canada because then they would know the SixNations strategy.

The Confederacy chiefs have asked the governments to prove they own the land. Last week a negotiator slapped down a two-inch-thick stack of documents as proof, said MacNaughton, who said the Crown did not even follow its own laws in the surrender.

The Ontario and Canadian governments remained firm on their position that protocols were followed in legally transferring the land, he said.

While he said he is disappointed that they maintained their position, he said Six Nations can use the facts on the table to argue against them. Hill said it was the responsibility of the Crown to demonstrate the surrender occurred and to account for financial trust funds.

Hill said this land reclamation has affected everyone in Six Nations and he hopes people will persevere and maintain their commitment to issues.

Stay united,he said. If we stay united, they have to deal with it. If they splinter us, they wont.

This is especially draining for those maintaining the site, said Hill. He and MacNaughton asked them to keep a good mind because this is where strength and peace originate. Hill said people on the site have had to temper themselves. He said he is proud that 99 per cent of incidents were not provoked by Six Nations.

MacNaughton gave further arguments for unity. The Crown has pointed out what chiefs said in the late 1800s and can use the differences, he said. The Crown asks who is Six Nations and hopes the people will crawl into a crack, he said.

MacNaughton commended the men, women and children who are standing up for their customs and rights. He said it was good that people got out into Brantford to educate and hopes other places he mentioned Kitchener and Dunnville could be some of the next stops.

Some people at the meeting said they wondered why Caledonia was getting money and SixNations was not.

MacNaughton said Caledonia groups are getting money because it is in the Crowns best interest to change public perception. Ontario and Canada talk about where money would flow to if it was given to Six Nations, he said.

They dont want to give money to anyone who is not incorporated. Money is owed to us, he said.

Someone said the government did not want to reward the bad behaviour of occupation.

Its all about image. A rowdy bunch of Indians stopped development,said Hill. He advised Six Nations people to refrain from becoming cocky.

We are out for justice, not who wins, he said.

In late spring, Hill, who is a coach of a lacrosse team found the Caledonia arena closed for renovations. At that time, he said a person in Caledonia circulated an e-mail asking people to join him in barring SixNations players access to the arena. This did not happen but the arena was closed, he said. Later, Haldimand County issued a press release stating the facility was open to all members of the public.

Hill complained at the main table about the arena closure and the provincial government made $500,000 worth of repairs on the Six Nations arena floor.

With upcoming elections on the minds of provincial and federal politicians, the negotiators seem to be intent on seeing something move forward by Christmas, said MacNaughton. In particular, they want the people off the Douglas Creek land, he said. He accused politicians of playing political games and tossing around Six Nations rights to look good for the elections.