FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2007
Statement: Chief Allen MacNaughton
Six Nations Confederacy Council negotiating team
SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER TERRITORY - Six Nations, through its negotiating team, has tabled documentation with the federal government of Canada and Province of Ontario, on lands not only at the former Douglas Creek Estates housing development on the outskirts of the town of Caledonia, but on Plank Road,, (Highway 6) itself. That documentation has been tabled as part of the now almost one year old Six Nations/federal/Ontario negotiations dealing with Six Nations land rights up and down the Grand River.
Mohawk Chief Allan MacNaughton said the Six Nations Haudenosaunee are confident, that Canada, in right of the Crown, does not have any documentation that supports the transfer, sale or surrender of Plank Road, and has not filed any documentation to support any position that is contrary to documents filed by the Haudenosaunee Land Rights negotiating team outlining Haudenosaunee rights over those lands.
As a result, the recent move by Ontario Provincial Police to charge a Six Nations man in connection with the digging up of a small portion of Plank Road (Highway 6) during a volatile weekend in May that saw Caledonia residents assault Six Nations people, has placed the OPP not only outside their jurisdiction, but embroiled them in a political issue that is outside their mandate as a police force.
Ownership and title to the road belongs to the Haudenosaunee. Any decisions affecting either the road, the incident outlined by OPP or the Six Nations man involved, fall under the authority and jurisdiction of the Six Nations Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council.
The Six Nations Confederacy Council Hodiyenehsoh (Chiefs) have been working for almost a year towards a peaceful resolution of the Reclamation of the Douglas Creek lands at Caledonia and Six Nations land rights.
Chief MacNaughton said the move by the OPP is "an intrusion into an area of jurisdiction that is outside the authority of a police force. This clearly, is a political matter, not a criminal activity."
Chief MacNaughton said "it is these kinds of antics by the province, the federal government and its police forces that are causing delays at the negotiating tableand continues to place Six Nations lives at risk."
The Hodiyenehsoh are dedicated to finding a peaceful resolution to the Douglas Creek reclamation and working with the crown, as represented by both it's federal and provincial governments, towards a long term plan aimed at finding a resolution of Six Nations land rights issues.
But Chief MacNaughton said "we will soon be celebrating another anniversary, this time of the Reclamation. We will be marking one year at the table with little progress as the federal and provincial governments continue to engage in these kind of stalling tactics." Six Nations land issues are the oldest in the country. The Hodiyenehsoh have been waiting over 200 years for answers from the federal crown over what happened to Six Nations lands and trust funds. Chief MacNaughton said, "we will soon have been waiting over 201 years."
Allen MacNaughton
Mohawk Chief