MacNoughton: 15 people at the site could quickly become 2,000

Six Nations accuses feds of stalling Caledonia negotiations

On the one-year anniversary of the Douglas Creek occupation, chiefs and demonstrators demand a settlement

By Martin Lukacs
The McGill Daily
March 1, 2007

Marking the one-year anniversary of the indigenous land reclamation near Caledonia, Ontario yesterday, Six Nations representatives are accusing the federal and Ontario governments of stalling negotiations over the disputed area.

In a press conference Wednesday morning, Six Nations Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs questioned whether federal negotiators are really willing to reach a settlement, or are stalling in the hope that the natives will pack up and leave the site.

“We believe we are on the threshold of a just resolution of this case, if Canada’s political will is there,” said Confederacy Chief Allan MacNoughton.

In an interview with The Daily, MacNoughton added that he is disappointed with how federal negotiators have dealt with the situation.

“We are suspicious that they may have no mandate, and they are just there to listen to us talk,” MacNoughton said.

But Deirdra McCracker, press secretary for Federal Minister of Indian Affairs Jim Prentice, denied that the federal government is stalling.“It is not fair to say this. We’ve been there all along,” she said. “At the end of the day, [negotiation] has led to progress.”

McCracker also insisted that the government has the political will to resolve the dispute.

“The province and the federal government are on the same page. On all sides there is a willingness to discuss,” she said.

On Wednesday, demonstrations in support of the land occupation were held in cities across Canada, including Montreal, and as far away as Mexico City and London, England.

“We’re calling for people to put pressure on the government to stop its stalling tactics and recognize Six Nations title to the land once and for all,” said Fiona Becker, an organizer of the Montreal demonstration.

The land occupation began last February, when Six Nations community members set up camp at the 40-hectare Douglas Creek Estates outside Caledonia.

Slated for housing development by Henco Industries, the land is part of a tract of 350,000 hectares granted to the Six Nations in 1784 and allegedly surrendered in the 1840s. However, Six Nations protestors insist that the land was never legitimately given up.

In the summer of 2006, the provincial government paid Henco $15.8-million for the Douglas Creek Estates and put it into trust until the dispute is resolved.

MacNoughton said that even the 40 hectares at the heart of the dispute are still in limbo, arguing that negotiations have so far proven fruitless.

“They’ve offered us beans,” he said frankly.

Six Nations representatives are not the only ones unhappy with the federal government – Ontario has also criticized Ottawa’s handling of the situation. Anne-Marie Flanagan, the press secretary for Provincial Minister of National Resources David Ramsey, said that the onus is on the Canadian government to propose a solution to the dispute.

“Everyone is waiting for the federal proposal,” she said. “They’re the only ones who can resolve...land claims.”

At the moment, a few Six Nations campers are maintaining a symbolic presence at the site over the winter. But Chief MacNoughton said that if talks continue to go nowhere, more people would come.

“If we’re ignored, the people of Six Nations will not stand by. The 15 people at the site could quickly become 2,000,” he said. “The land will be held.”