[Mb-civic] Land dispute clouded by history

[Barbara Siomos]

http://cnews.canoe.ca/

Land dispute clouded by history

By GILLIAN LIVINGSTON
April 21, 2006


TORONTO (CP) - The history of the disputed land at the heart of the ongoing
native occupation in the town of Caledonia,
Ont., began more than two centuries ago
when a band of Six Nations natives aligned
with the British Empire in its war against
the United States.
 
Ever since, some form of dispute over the
land has existed between the government
and the Six Nations, began living on the
property in the late 1700s.
 
Although much of the history of the land's
ownership is meticulously documented in
libraries in Ottawa, the truth has been 
clouded by years of abandoned promises
and decisions by leaders long dead, experts
say.
 
"I don't think it's clear cut," said Darlene
Johnston, a University of Toronto law
professor with experience in native land
claims and a member of the research
advisory committee at the ongoing inquiry
into the deadly 1995 clash at Ipperwash
Provincial Park.
 
"I think the fact there's been land claims
research done for 30 years, and a case filed
in the court more than a decade ago, 
shows it's not frivolous."
 
Sam George, whose brother Dudley was
killed by a sniper when police clad in riot
gear marched on protesters at Ipperwash,
said the latest occupation highlights a 
similar dispute.
 
"Every piece of land has a story about its
history," George said Friday. "Sometimes
we forget that story."
 
George said aboriginal communities in
Canada have for years endured the same
experience: parcels of land that were 
promised to First Nations in writing, 
complete with a guarantee of ownership in
perpetuity, "are unfairly taken away."
 
The land claims process doesn't always get
them back, he added.
 
The story of the Caledonia lands began
when the British were beaten in the
American War of Independence in 1783
and Six Nations natives who supported the
Brits were kicked out of the United States.
 
In return for their allegiance, the British
government bought up nearly 400,000
hectares of land to give to the displaced Six
Nations people in 1784. The eight- 
kilometre-wide parcel snakes down from
north of Orangeville, about 75 kilometres
northwest of Toronto, some 150 kilometres
down to the shores of Lake Erie.
 
"On the strength of British promises that 
they would always have this land, they
moved from the States up into Ontario,"
Johnston said.
 
"And now they're left with just a little
postage stamp."
 
The first debate arises early on as to
whether the British gave the Six Nations
the land outright, which was always the 
belief of the natives, or held it in trust for
them, as was the government's view.
 
Another issue arose in the 1830s when the
Crown wanted to develop the lands on
either side of what's called Plank Road, a
major road running through the lands
south from Hamilton. The Six Nations
people agreed to lease out the land, but
not to sell it.

It was sold nonetheless, and the Six 
Nations protesters say they never 
consented. They also say the government
didn't account properly for any ensuing
proceeds. 

Ontario Native Affairs Minister David 
Ramsay called the dispute an "accounting
claim" focused on whether the Six Nations
got all the proceeds they were entitled to
when the land to which they were initially
entitled was sold off.

Talks about how to resolve the claim have
been going on for the past two years, 
Ramsay said.
 
In 1992, Henco Industries bought the
property where it was building the Douglas
Creek Estate housing development when 
the natives moved in nearly two months
ago.
 
The developer argues the parcel of land
was surrendered in 1841; the protesters
disagree.
 
The Six Nations filed a lawsuit in 1995
against both the federal and provincial
governments over the land.
 
Janie Jamieson, a spokeswoman for the
protesters, has said Six Nations members
dismiss the developer's claim, since the 
land was never to be sold in the first place.
 
"If we're not going to sell our land, why on
earth would we ever give it away?" she said. 

--
Copyright C 2006, Canoe Inc. 



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