OSHWEKEN, ONT. -- A one-day protest that shut down construction at a Brantford development site yesterday was a defiant reply to Ontario's declaration that the Six Nations Confederacy has no right to levy special charges on developers on disputed lands in the south of the province.
On Wednesday, provincial negotiator Murray Coolican told Confederacy representatives that it is illegal for the recently created Haudenosaunee Development Institute to extract concessions or payments from private landowners.
Six Nations established the institute to deal with development within the Haldimand Tract while negotiations continue with Ottawa and the province on claims that lands granted to them in 1784 were sold without their consent and funds were mismanaged or stolen.
While the institute is a way to further dialogue, "consultation does not mean a veto over development," Mr. Coolican said, adding that Ontario stands by its land title system and does not dispossess property owners to settle claims.
Mr. Coolican's statements "go right to the very core of our existence - our land," protest spokeswoman Hazel Hill said yesterday. "They say it is not their policy to displace their citizens. Well, it's not our policy to be displaced, especially not due to criminal acts by the Crown."
Haldimand Mayor Marie Trainer said Mr. Coolican's statement signalled an increased resolve by the province to deal with a chill on development since the dispute with Six Nations.
"I just hope some action goes with it," she said yesterday. "We have all these developments ready to go. I hope if there were to be protests, there would be swift action by the OPP."
But that didn't seem to be happening at the Brantford protest, noted developer Michael Corrado, who has residential projects on hold in Caledonia, Cayuga and the village of York.
Mr. Corrado called the Coolican statement "encouraging," but said he would have preferred it to come from Premier Dalton McGuinty or Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay. "We'll see if they put their money where their mouth is and they defend land titles."
The institute has notified banks and mortgage companies that titles on some Haldimand Tract properties may be in question and pointed out that native land claims are routinely excluded from title insurance. The tract stretches 16 kilometres on either side of the Grand River, from Dundalk in the north, through Kitchener-Waterloo and down to Dunnville on Lake Erie.
"We're not going after people's properties," said lawyer Aaron Detlor, a spokesman for the institute. "We're trying to set up a system where people can have certainty in their lives and go forward with regard to their investments."
He said the institute, which has laid down a protocol and criteria for approval that stress environmental considerations, is dealing with 25 to 50 developers with commercial, industrial and wind farm projects.
Mr. Corrado questioned whether Six Nations can offer certainty, noting that a protest last month at the Stirling Woods development in Caledonia proceeded against the wishes of the Confederacy leadership.
Nine people were arrested, including Skyler Williams, who faces assault and mischief charges and was refused bail because of previous charges. Mr. Williams, 24, said that progress is being made because he and others are prepared to take a stand.
"My father wishes he had done what I'm doing so I wouldn't have to," Mr. Williams, the father of two, said in an interview in jail."
Builder Sam Gualtieri suffered serious head injuries in a confrontation at Stirling Woods with different protesters a week before Mr. Williams was arrested. Three Six Nations people are charged in the assault.
Mr. Gualtieri is on the mend, his brother Joe said in an interview, but has problems with concentration and dizziness. Joe Gualitieri said he has talked to David Crombie, federal liaison with non-native residents, about ways to end the standoff - including more transparency in negotiations.
Despite Six Nations anger over Mr. Coolican's statement, the negotiations, which started 19 months ago, continue. A $125-million federal offer to settle four claims has been on the table since June.
Federal negotiator Ron Doering maintains he has conclusive proof that lands adjoining Plank Road, now Highway 6 - which would include the Caledonia building site that has been occupied since February, 2006 - were surrendered for sale.
Six Nations researcher Bill Monture disagrees. He cites an 1835 letter in which an Indian Agent explains: "The Indians will not surrender to us in perpetuity," and an 1844 document signed by 41 chiefs that states their wish that the Plank Road lands "be leased and not sold."