A letter from the Six Nations asserting jurisdiction all along the
The Haudenosaunee Development Institute, which handles economic development issues for Six Nations, sent a letter last September asserting aboriginal title over much of the land adjacent to the river, all the way from
Carl Zehr, the mayor of
"I didn't take it as a particular threat, it was obviously stating a strong position and that goes into our memory bank, in terms of how we deal with the issue in the future," said Zehr.
Zehr has vivid memories of what happened in
"Clearly," said Zehr, "no municipality, no neighbourhood, would want that kind of confrontation."
Zehr said he and regional councillors in the Kitchener-Waterloo area are willing to talk with the Six Nations. A delegation has met with them already.
"We are going to go out, and identify specific areas where it's clear there's been no surrender and no payment, and go and advise people, this is not your land. There's no more of this sweeping it under the rug. It's not OK to steal land anymore and we're going to make people aware of that," he said.
Six Nations members have written to municipalities, reminding them of the massive land grant of 1784 that gave the Confederacy rights to 10 kilometres of land on either side of the river.
Later this month, the four-month-old Haudenosaunee Development Institute plans to send out flyers and start radio and newspaper ads asserting jurisdiction.
Detlor said that demanding a say in developments on disputed land is not an act of provocation. He said it should have the opposite effect, and avoid conflict.
"This assertion of jurisdiction could easily be portrayed as something that's going to raise the temperature, so to speak. But really what it's going to do is set a long-term temperature we can all live with," he said.
Detlor said municipal leaders should press the federal and provincial governments to find a global solution to Six Nations claims so each municipality won't have to forge its own development agreement.