Samantha Craggs
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Belleville Intelligencer
All of Tyendinaga Township could be included in land claims filed by the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte in the coming years.
Tyendinaga Mohawks have only 18 per cent of their original land and they want the rest back because it was never properly surrendered, said spokesman Brant Bardy.
The original grant given in 1793 included all of Tyendinaga Township and Deseronto. In the coming years, the Mohawks will file three land claims that encompass the entire township. Research is still ongoing, and not much is known about the claims yet.
Currently being researched is a stretch of land that spans the width of Tyendinaga Township. It starts at the northern border of Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory and spans northward to the upper one-third of the township, covering 33,280 acres or 52 square miles. This tract of land, Bardy believes, was alienated in 1820 when the government built a road to Toronto through the area.
Research is also starting on two tracts of land to the north that encompass the rest of the township.
The Tyendinaga Mohawks and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada are currently negotiating 923.5 acres known as the Culbertson Tract, which includes 60 per cent of Deseronto and a portion of Tyendinaga Township.