Suzanne Bourret
The Hamilton Spectator
(Jul 13, 2007)
Ron Curley is a caring, gentle man whose strong spirit is running low these days. He's in a tough spot -- trying to draw customers to his new restaurant in Ohsweken -- a place many associate with protesters since disputes about aboriginal land claims over a former Caledonia subdivision escalated last summer.
Tourism has plummeted -- about 65 per cent from two years ago, says Janelle Sandy, assistant manager of Six Nations Tourism. "We've been hit hard," she says, adding that higher gas prices and the Canadian dollar are also keeping Canadian and American tourists away. Last year, there were eight or nine tour buses booked for Six Nations attractions from one tourism partner. This year there's none from that operator, she says.
Ron attributes much of his failing business to negative press. "A lot of businesses are really suffering so much. People are afraid to come here," he says. He estimates his art business has fallen by 75 per cent since last summer. Ron says businesses were compensated by about 10 per cent by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, but it wasn't nearly enough.
"This year is worse. No one comes out to hear our story except for European travellers. Some are lured by the troubles. They want to see what's happening," he says. "I believe they care about us more than many Ontarians. Right now they think we're a pain in the arse. Anyone listening to the biased reports thinks we're bad people. They think all we do is protest," he says.
It's disheartening, says his assistant manager and niece, Andrea Curley, about the trouble in Caledonia. Racism came out so fast, she says.
Ron is a bone and stone carver who sells a lot of his work to Ninavik Native Arts in Jordan. His beliefs are reflected in his restaurant, Stone 'n' Bone Gallery Steak House on 4th Line. His philosophy is, and always has been, about peace. The tasteful, pine-clad, 70-seat restaurant, with its wide plank floors, is also filled with Mohawk artwork and crafts that signify peace.
Ron carved the tree of peace symbol into three of his pine tables; he has wampum and Hiawatha belts, both symbols of peace -- and his cosy and inviting lodgelike dining room has a tranquil atmosphere.
"It's a place where you shouldn't rush," he says. "Some people come and stay for hours. They just sit back and talk," he says.
It took him three years to remodel his former arts and crafts gallery into a restaurant. He made all the tables, added white tail deer antler for the outside door handle and a fallow deer antler for the inside handle. His collection of antlers is displayed along one wall, and some are used for customers to hang their coats. Ron crafted bifold french doors that separate a portion of the dining room for meetings and special occasions. His artist friend, Gabriel Beaulieu from Sandy Bay, Man., painted ceiling murals laid out like a longhouse where the Mohawk tribe is the keeper of the eastern door and the Seneca tribe is the keeper of the western door.
The full lunch and dinner menu includes cedar plank salmon, steaks, ribs, venison, corn soup with scones and Indian tacos, all made from scratch. The food is down-home and tasty. Prices are reasonable and portions are generous. Chef Phil Powless has cooked in Alberta, Vancouver and California. The sauce he cooks into the beef ribs is good -- so good that women don't care if it gets on their white pants, says Ron.
But his bills are mounting. He did all the financing for his new restaurant three years ago. He put $160,000 into the renovations he did himself with the assistance of Aboriginal Business Canada and Two Rivers Community Development Centre.
"I opened the restaurant because I had too many asking where they could get native food, even a bowl of corn soup. I had to send them around the corner to the Chinese restaurant."
Ron had a busy lunch hour the day The Talk visited. But he says every week is a struggle. He's hoping the old iron horseshoes he has hung on a wall will bring him luck. And he's hoping tourists will drop in during the Six Nations Pow Wow, July 28 and 29 at Chiefswood Park. For information, call 519-751-3908.
Stone 'n' Bone Gallery Steak House is open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and from 5 to 9 p.m. Weekends it's open from 4 to 11 p.m. Call 519-445-4454
Chiefswood National Historic Site is featuring a new event: Wildcat! Canoe & Historic House Tour provides storytelling by a local Mohawk elder as you paddle along the Grand River assisted by Six Nation's Aka: we Canoe Club. Afterward, you can tour Chiefswood. Cost is $20 a person. It's available July 21 and Aug. 18.
You can also take part in a personal harvest, At Husking Time, on Sept. 15, at a women's conference that will explore healing and wellness from an Iroquoian perspective. For both Chiefswood events, call 519-752-5005. Website: chiefswood.com.