Coming of age can be exceptionally difficult, even under the best circumstances. Doing it in the glare of publicity, in the spotlight of media, must make it even more uncomfortable.
A year in the life of Caledonia has played out on the international stage. Some may argue the coming of age analogy doesn't quite fit. But it's clear that, as the native occupation of the Douglas Creek Estates marks its one-year anniversary, Caledonia has undergone an intense period of maturation. There has been rapid growth, in the emotional, personal sense. Among natives and non-natives there has also been widespread politicization; people have learned how to be political in the social sense, becoming more comfortable with the politics of life, as opposed to the politics of government.
Caledonia certainly wasn't a sleepy little crossroads on the way to Port Dover before a handful of natives blocked the entrance to a construction site a year ago. It was a community in transition, growing from farm town to suburban hub. Residential and business growth was humming along, particularly at the south end of town.
Relations between Caledonia and the Six Nations reserve were generally cordial and neighbourly. The two communities had strong ties -- economically, educationally, socially -- that had developed over generations.
Haldimand County wasn't known particularly as a hotbed of political activity or activism. Certainly, municipal and provincial elections attracted local attention and, often, controversy, but there was nothing much that would make headlines on a national newscast.
That changed a year ago. Provincial and national -- even at times international -- media people found their way to Caledonia. The spotlight shining was shining on Caledonia and it wasn't a pretty sight.
Some say there is no such thing as bad publicity, but in the case of the native occupation in Caledonia, it's tough to accept that as truth. Anger on both sides bubbled over; ugly images and actions were widely broadcast. People misspoke themselves on camera and in print; media handlers and press agents are not common on the ground in Caledonia. Politicians at all levels initially failed to grasp the magnitude of what was happening;
People from outside the community -- native and non-native -- tried to stir things up, tried to reap political benefits from a situation they adopted as their own. People within the native and non-native communities had to learn to cope with a new reality, get on with life as best they could and hope things would stay calm.
Sure, there have been some stupid moves and redneck attitudes, again from within both the native and non-native communities. But there have also been some very calm voices on both sides of the issue, some successful grassroots efforts to achieve a sense of calm, fragile though it might be.
What seems to be emerging is a heightened political awareness, not just among politicians, but among community members to whom politics meant little before. This is politics in the sense of being canny, being smart, knowing when to speak and when to keep quiet. There is also the realization that when the "excitement" is over, when the media leaves for another story, the government negotiators leave for other bargaining tables, the locals -- native and non-native -- will be left to work out ways to live side by side again. Achieving that will take the maturity that comes of personal growth.
It's unfortunate a crisis was what set off this period of accelerated maturation. It didn't have to be that way.