Media Release :
Communiqué:
For Immediate Release
Sept.,25, 2007
GRAND RIVER TERRITORY OF THE SIX NATIONS- The Six Nations Haudenoniso (Confederacy Council) will be launching an information campaign along the Haldimand Proclamation lands warning prospective home buyers, retailers and industry, any property they may be buying within six miles of the Grand River is in dispute and subject to Haudensaunee land rights.
The move comes after Caledonia developers, Venture Homes, owners Mr. Kragten and Mr VanElslander turn their backs on an agreement with the Haudenoniso, aimed at bringing peace and order to a volatile situation in Caledonia, while protecting Six Nations interests in the lands under dispute, by refusing to recognize the jurisdiction of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council over its lands along the Grand River, including those being developed by the two men at Stirling Street.
Haudenosaunee Development Institute (HDI) representative, Aaron Detlor said a tentative agreement had been reached with Mr. Kragten and Mr. VanElslander that would have seen the developers follow the Confederacy consultation process and recognize the jurisdiction of the HCCC over its Grand River Lands.
Mr. Detlor said,” we find it disingenuous that Mr Kragten and Mr. VanElslander would make the offer to provide payment of a development fee to the HCCC but refuse to recognize the jurisdiction of the HCCC.”
Mr. Detlor said as a result of the about face tactic, developers along the Grand River have left Six Nations with no other
alternative but to pursue options open to them to protect their land rights including making sure any perspective purchasers of properties, homes or businesses along the Grand River are aware that land rights are asserted over the properties in question. Mr. Detlor said any development proceeding without Haudenosaunee approval is proceeding in an unlawful manner. (See attachments) Six Nations has been in negotiations with federal and provincial representatives for 19 months over its more than 200 year old land rights to lands under the Haldimand Proclamation.
Mohawk Chief Allen MacNaughton , Ontario and Canada need to remember, Six Nations people have been engaged in peaceful protests of developments that continue to proceed on disputed Six Nations lands, without Six Nations approval or consultation. “That kind of action by developers, with the approval of Ontario and the federal government through their
land registry system, is causing our people to counter with direct action of their own,” he said.
In similar negotiations in other provinces, development on disputed lands has stopped until negotiations are concluded.
Chief MacNaughton said Six Nations Haudenosaunee will continue to move forward to address their outstanding land rights issues with tools such as the HDI. The H.D.I. is a process created by the Confederacy to work with developers who are caught in a void being created by the Crown’s, in right of Canada and Ontario’s, failure to resolve Six Nations land rights. The Haudenosaunee fully expect, Municipalities of Ontario to work with the H.D.I., in accordance with their own laws of Canada, in right of the crown, which requires them to fully consult with the Haudenosaunee of
the Six Nations prior to the issuance of permits for any development on our unceded territory.
The Six Nations Haudenoniso (Confederacy Council) continues to work towards a peaceful, fair resolution of its more than 200 year old land rights issues throughout Southern Ontario.
Allen MacNaughton
Mohawk Chief
For further information, interviews or comments contact:
Media Liaison Lynda Powless
(519)445-0868 or lynda@theturtleislandnews.com
Supreme Court of Canada rulings can be found at:
Delgamuukw
http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/1997/1997canlii302/1997canlii302.html
Mikisew
http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/2005/2005scc69/2005scc69.html
Haida
http://www.canlii.org/en/bc/bcsc/doc/2004/2004bcsc1243/2004bcsc1243.html
Taku
http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/scc/doc/2004/2004scc74/2004scc74.html
Ka'a'gee
http://www.canlii.org/en/ca/fct/doc/2007/2007fc763/2007fc763.html
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