Aboriginal land-claim list lengthy

THE CANADIAN PRESS
Windsor Star
Dec 26, 2006

Observers say the aboriginal anger in Caledonia, Ont., could spread next year across Canada, where there are more than 1,000 unresolved land-claim disputes.

Here’s a look at some of the largest in Ontario alone:

• Algonquin Formally submitted in 1983, the claim covers a territory of 36,000 square kilometres that includes most of Algonquin Provincial Park, as well as the Canadian military base in Petawawa and the National Capital Region, including Parliament Hill.

• Fort William First Nation Boundary The claim disputes the reserve’s boundaries which were drawn up in 1853.

Formally submitted in 1985, the claim covers portions of land just outside the town of Thunder Bay.

• Pays Plat and Michipicoten First Nation Both the Pays Plat First Nation and Michipicoten First Nation have been negotiating to expand their existing reserves on Lake Superior since 1991 and 2000 respectively.

• Six Nations Since February, Six Nations protesters have occupied a former housing development in the southwestern Ontario town of Caledonia. They say the land was taken illegally from them over 200 years ago and they are negotiating with the federal and provincial governments.

• Temagami The claim was sparked after a 1991 Supreme Court ruling regarding land around Lake Temagami. Ontario has been negotiating with the Temagami First Nation ever since.

• Tyendinaga Mohawk The eastern Ontario town of Deseronto is the site of a planned 140-home subdivision but the Mohawks say the land is theirs. They formally filed a claim in 1995 and are currently negotiating with the federal government.

• Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation The Ojibway Nation has been formally negotiating since 2004, seeking compensation from the flooding of its shoreline reserve lands in 1897 which cost the aboriginals 2,318 acres.