By Daniel Nolan
The Hamilton Spectator
Mar 10, 2007
Six Nations Chief David General says he will not attend tonight's meeting called by Confederacy chiefs to address his participation in talks to end the Caledonia standoff.
"They are calling it an emergency community meeting and are summoning me to explain my conduct and all that," General said last night.
"I'm not going to go to a meeting that they call. I'll talk at the table. That's where I need to participate."
Asked what he'll do if there's direction for him to stay out of the talks, he said, "I need to know what segment of the community they represent. It can't come out of a community meeting like that. It's got to have a little more structure to it than just an emergency meeting."
The 7 p.m. meeting at Six Nations Polytechnic was called by the Confederacy, who are handling negotiations with Canada and Ontario over the year-long occupation of a housing site, after the two governments broke off talks following an incident between General and native community members outside the negotiation room.
General, head of the elected band council, which handed negotiations to the traditional government, says he was accosted by five young men who barred him from entering the talks Wednesday and told him they were instructed by Confederacy chiefs not to let him in. He has reported the incident to Six Nations police.
The Confederacy, through a spokesperson last night, said it did not tell anyone to bar General from the talks. Mohawk Chief Allen MacNaughton says in a release he deeply regrets the incident, but believes it was understandable because "community members have been upset and concerned about Mr. General's actions for some time."
The Confederacy claims he's said he doesn't support the talks. "I've always supported the negotiations," General said. "I've made no bones I did not support the occupation ... Let's get back to talking. Goodness gracious."
Canada and Ontario say they won't return to the table until Six Nations straightens out its internal differences, though it has set meetings for March 21 and 22.
Six Nations says it never surrendered the land in dispute, but Canada says it was surrendered in 1844.
General said he was thrown into a staircase, but wasn't hurt. He said he has gotten many supportive calls in the last few days from people alarmed by the incident.
"I think I'm a fairly easy person to work with," he added.