Mohawks stage protest over housing project

KATE HARRIES

From Thursday's
Globe and Mail
Jan 11, 2007

DESERONTO — A native protest that blocked access to a gravel quarry near the town of Deseronto on land claimed by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte ended peacefully after a few hours yesterday.

The protest was not sanctioned by the band council, said Chief Don Maracle, who questioned the motives of a developer whose statements prompted the blockade by a group of about 30 natives upset by plans to build housing on the property.

On Tuesday, federal Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice appointed consultant Sean Kennedy to negotiate a settlement of the claim to 330 hectares (827 acres) of land known as the Culbertson tract that the Mohawks say was never surrendered and was improperly occupied in 1873. The claim was accepted by the government in 2003.

One of the protesters turned up at town hall and made threatening statements, said Deseronto Mayor Norm Clark. He added that he is worried about what publicity about the protest will do to business in the town, located about 30 kilometres west of Kingston.

Mr. Clark said a "Mohawk warrior" in camouflage fatigues told staff that he would "take care of us by way of shutting us down . . . and made references to coming to my residence, which I reported to police." Mr. Clark, elected mayor in November, said he recognized the man who is in his 40s and from the Tyendinaga reserve.

"It's unsettling," he said, adding that the majority of Mohawks, living on or off the reserve, are law abiding and do not support the protest. He said he sees no likelihood of a blockade like the one in Caledonia, south of Hamilton.

It is the second time that a group of approximately 30 protesters have held up traffic over the land-claim issue, after developer Tim Letch of Intergroup Finance AG in Kingston was quoted in local media saying that work on a house would start yesterday.

"Why is this all happening?" Chief Maracle asked. "What we want to focus on is sit down with the negotiator and develop a land-reclamation model on a willing-seller, willing-buyer basis."

Yesterday's protest blocked entry to a quarry in Tyendinaga Township that is on part of the disputed land. A protest in mid-November closed down a section of Highway 2 near a six-hectare (15-acre) Deseronto waterfront property on which Mr. Letch apparently proposes to build a townhouse and condo development. He could not be reached yesterday.

Local real estate agent Emile Nibourg said the sale of the property to Mr. Letch has not been completed.

Mr. Clark said Mr. Letch has not approached the town for approval of any development plans. He added that the Mohawk claim also includes about 70 per cent of the town, almost all of the business section.