Feb 17, 2007
Independent Media Center
Orginial Link
A year ago kids and adults from the Six Nations (an organization of six tribes native to North America) near the town of Caledonia in Ontario, Canada, climbed over a fence and set up tents on a piece of land that was stolen from their people hundreds of years ago. Six Nations people have started living again on this land.
The land that the people of Six Nations are reclaiming represents a small piece of a large tract that was given to them by the British government in a treaty in 1784. The treaty guaranteed that the Canadian government could not develop or build on that land without permission from Six Nations people. But the government has found different ways of pushing Six Nations people to give up pieces of this land. A company called Henco bought one of those pieces in 1992.
Many people questioned whether the sale of the land to Henco was legal. The dispute delayed construction of Henco’s luxury homes until 2005. When construction began, Six Nations people blocked the construction and pushed the tractors out. Many people in Canada and the U.S. have supported their actions. However, Six Nations also faced opposition. In April 2006 the Ontario Provincial Police raided the site and arrested sixteen people, some of whom were teenagers. Since then, the people of Six Nations have been in negotiations with the Canadian government over who has the right to be on this land.
The people of Six Nations want the Canadian government to respect their rights to the land. They also want to plant and live on it. The developers had cut down the trees to build houses, but when Six Nations people arrived they planted seeds and dug ponds for the snapping turtles and fish. Now, instead of suburban homes, you can see swaying reeds and animals rebuilding their homes.
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Editoral Notes:
Wow, I have a lot of photos of DCE - many with a lot of junk (old cars etc.) on DCE but I don't have any photos of the nice ponds with fishing. I have photos of watch towers and bunkers (which the OPP claim were deer traps) but I missed the nice ponds that were built.
I live in Richmond Hill and I guess I missed something. When did all the junk get removed and the fishing started? Did the Native bring in all the fish or did they walk in on their own?
I did see the ripping down of homes and the burning of the trash from those homes - great for the environment - but I missed the trucking in of the fish & snapping Turtles. When & where did they plant all these trees they talk about?
Did anyone see this?