Samantha Craggs
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Belleville Intelligencer
In Lisa Maracle's cramped office with book shelves and filing cabinets stacked floor to ceiling, the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory land claims process begins.
Shelves hold bound volumes that include the Simcoe papers and a collection of Indian treaties. Maps folded like scrolls reach the ceiling. Filing cabinets are stacked one after the other, from the doorway to the tiny window, where an old-fashioned air conditioner whirs.
For Maracle, the Culbertson Tract claim that has dominated headlines for the past few months is old news. She is researching three future land claims that encompass all of Tyendinaga Township, starting with a block north of the reserve that spans 33,280 acres, or 52 square miles.
The story of the tract of land is still unfolding, one piece of research at a time. The land was taken through "forced alienation" to build a road to Toronto, which was then known as York, said Brant Bardy, a former researcher who is now communications manager for the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (MBQ).
It took eight years to compile the research for the Culbertson Tract, a 923.5-acre stretch of land currently under land claim negotiations between the federal government and Maracle's employer, the MBQ. Research for the 33,280 acres has been ongoing for about that long.
After that will be a claim for the northwest corner of Tyendinaga Township, 27,857 acres dating back to 1835, and the northeast corner, 32,000 acres dating back to 1843.
One day, these claims will materialize into headlines and discussion, anxiety and, possibly, blockades. But right now, they are years away.
See 'Aboriginal' on page 4.
On June 29, aboriginal communities will rise in a National Day of Action.
For some, such as Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte band council, the action will take on an educational format. For others, such as local Mohawk protester Shawn Brant, it means blockades and economic disruption.
But First Nations have been clear - the action is about more than land claims.
It is about drinking water issues in reserves, including Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, where 55 per cent of wells have undrinkable water, and the rest are drinkable because of expensive water filtration systems.
It is about what First Nations call conditions of poverty and marginalization, which they say comes from inadequate funding and the reserve system itself.
"It's about all issues across the country affecting aboriginal communities, rolled into one movement," said Brant Bardy, spokesman for the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.
Over the next four editions, The Intelligencer will examine the local impact of some of those issues, and what form the day of action may take for Belleville and its Mohawk neighbours.