Bill Montour, elected chief of the Six Nations, sees little chance an impending federal election will do anything to break a land-claims logjam and end the two-year occupation in
He's also pessimistic that
"He's a process guy; they're going to create a process that could go on ad infinitum," Montour told a small, mostly non-native audience at a weekend Peace and Friendship Gathering in
Montour said the Harper government "can't have this bubbling cauldron here" going into an election, but all that will happen is, "They will say we've got a process here and it will be all right with
Leroy (Jock) Hill, a sub-chief representing the traditional Six Nations Confederacy Council in the negotiations, also voiced frustration over lack of resolution of treaty disputes, saying: "It's getting to the point we can't sit back any more. They've sanctioned enough development and destruction of our property that we can't tolerate it."
Dawn Smith, one of the women who first occupied Douglas Creek Estates in
She told non-native white, black and Asian sympathizers that "it's with your government we have the fight, not you," and urged them to "write letters, walk on
Smith spoke angrily about legal action against protesters, saying, "There are still men and women with warrants out on them who can't live with their families," people "facing trial, jail time and the threat of being arrested every day. That is their reality. We've never come in with weapons, we've never instigated the fight. You have to remember that.
"Our frustrations, our anger, our hurt come from deep inside."
Both Montour and Hill said the elected and Confederacy councils have agreed to remain united in negotiations and, as Hill said, "keep
Montour said: "I'm totally committed to this, though I have councillors who are not. We cannot let