New Interactive Map! – Haldimand Tract

Haldimand Tract – LINK

This map seeks to outline the territory of the Six Nations as set out in the Haldimand Proclamation of 1784 and the recent struggles to fight off developers planning to profit on stolen land.

The map divides the Haldimand Tracts into smaller tracts based upon the history of land theft orchestrated by the colonial state. The accompanying text outlines the specific claims to that specific tract – contrary to the claims of the state. This history and the geographical boundaries are based upon the research of Phil Monture.

The geographical lines on this map are not 100% accurate and are made as general representations.

The markers indicate various specific land defense hotspots (most of which necessitated the use of direct action). Red markers indicate sites of struggles currently unfolding. Blue markers indicate sites of struggle that are slightly less active – although very much still sites of struggle.

The map has been compiled by a settler ally.

larger map includes detailed legend

Solidarity w Six Nations: Upcoming Events

Three upcoming events on Six Nations’ Grand River Territory

April 28: Walk and Gathering for Peace, Respect, and Friendship
Caledonia and Kanonhstaton, Six Nations Territory

April 29: Indigenous Sovereignty and Solidarity 101:
an introductory workshop – Waterloo, WPIRG

May 4+5: Aboriginal Land Rights and the Rule of Law: book launch
Brantford, Caledonia, Ohsweken

April 28: Walk and Gathering for Peace, Respect, and Friendship

At 2 PM on Saturday, April 28, 2012 the Six Nations [Haudenosaunee] people of the Grand River territory and their allies will be holding a walk and rally for “Peace, Respect and Friendship.” The main focus of the event is to remind the Canadian people and the Canadian government that Six Nations land rights and treaties need to be respected.

(read more)

Get on the Bus: http://april28coalition.wordpress.com/our-transportation-registration-form/

April 29: Indigenous Sovereignty & Solidarity – 101: An Introductory Workshop

Waterloo, 2-5:30pm, Math & Community Building (MC), room 2034- University of Waterloo, WPIRG

(link)

The need to recognize indigenous sovereignty, land and treaty rights, and to root all of our intersectional struggles within a framework that incorporates anti-colonial perspectives, is increasingly understood to be a central feature of contemporary social and environmental justice work.

This series of workshops will introduce participants to the basics, as well as some of the complexities of engaging in indigenous solidarity work. Trainings will be interactive and will heavily utilize various popular education techniques, as well as some formal presentation.

All workshops are free, and open to both students and community members. Snacks and bus tickets will be provided, and childcare is available upon request.

Workshops will be held in the Math & Community Building (MC), room 2034- University of Waterloo. Registration is required.

Email tammy@wpirg.org to register.

May 4 and 5: Aboriginal Rights and the Rule of Law

Brantford, May 4, 7-9pm, WLU Odeon Theatre, 50 Market Street
Caledonia, May 5, 1-3pm, Haldimand Public Library, 100 Haddington St.
Ohsweken, May 5, 7-9pm, Old Council House, Fourth Line at Chiefswood.

You are invited to a book signing and author talk with University of British Columbia law student and author, Laura DeVries.

CONFLICT IN CALEDONIA:  Aboriginal Land Rights and the Rule of Law

About the book: Most people know that in 2006 an ongoing struggle in the communities of Caledonia, Brantford and Six Nations began. This book examines the way the conflict in Caledonia was publicly portrayed by those involved in its first two years. It asks why the conflict began, explores how it is linked to broader debates about Canadian law, citizenship and history, and offers ideas as to how the crisis could perhaps have been averted and why the government and Six Nations have been unable to reach resolution.

“I used chapters from this book in my third-year Indigenous history course. The book provides a wonderful analysis of the Caledonia situation.”
-Prof. Gary Warrick – Indigenous Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Brantford Campus.

FREE ADMISSION
More Information call T.R.U.E. c/o Jim Windle at 519-732-5700

April 28th Coalition BBQ A Success: Walk for “Peace, Respect and Friendship” draws condemnation from local Caledonia politicians

from: Toronto Media Coop,
April 16

On Saturday April 7, 2012, the April 28th Coalition held a community BBQ and passed out information on the upcoming walk and celebration for “Peace, Respect and Friendship” on April 28, 2012.

The walk is a commemoration of both the 6th year anniversary of the reclamation of Kanonhstaton (former Douglas Creek Estates) of February 28, 2006, and the Ontario Provincial Police armed raid with automatic weapons, pepper spray, and tasers against people from Six Nations who were peacefully reclaiming disputed land near the town of Caledonia, Ontario, on  April 20, 2006. The land claim remains unresolved.

The community BBQ at Kinsmen Park was a fitting place along the Grand River to hold the BBQ and it was busy with families and others taking walks, people fishing, and those just enjoying the beautiful spring day. “We spoke to hundreds of people enjoying a beautiful long weekend along a beautiful river. Everyone was polite and attentive,” said Eugene Jonathan from Six Nations. “We had to buy more hot dogs and photocopy more flyers to give out. The day was a success.”

Two days before the BBQ, officials from Haldimand County emailed the April 28th Coalition urging the group to cancel the BBQ for “important public health and liability considerations”. The day of the BBQ, a Caledonia city councilor voiced his displeasure with the BBQ taking place in his Ward and the O.P.P. even showed up to see what was happening. The officer left after he was given some information about the event.

The walk has been the focus of many rumours and organizers of the April 28th Coalition handed out flyers promoting the public info night on Thursday April 19 at the Caledonia Public Library. “The Coalition is working hard to inform Caledonians about what we are planning for the walk,” said Laura Lepper, organizer with the Coalition. “One of the most important parts of our outreach work includes one-on-one conversations with Caledonians’ about the issues and the 28th event. This successful work has shown that we can’t underestimate the power of this method of grassroots organizing.”

The walk itself has caused stirrings in town as Mayor Ken Hewitt has urged Coalition members to cancel the walk, referring to the current situation as a “quagmire”. Mayor Hewitt told the Dunnville Chronicle on April 3, 2012 that he could “appreciate the intent” of the April 28th organizers, but that “I believe taking this into the heart of the community is not the right way to do it.” As the date for the walk gets closer, Hewitt’s condemnation grows sharper. On April 13, 2012, Hewitt told the Chronicle:

“They have no idea what they are doing or could possibly do to the relationships that are just starting to come together … They don’t care. They’re so entrenched and selfishly absorbed in their own agenda that nothing else matters. At what point does the desire to stand up for their rights infringe on our right? I believe they’ve crossed it and as I’ve said to them before, stay out of my community. You’re not welcome.”

Luke Stewart, an organizer with the April 28th Coalition and lifelong settler on the Grand River, has stated into response to Hewitt’s claims that outsiders are not welcome:

“What happens in one region along the Grand River watershed impacts and influences the whole watershed. I can think of no other group of people to organize for Six Nations land rights and to build relationships with than those whose traditional territory we inhabit and those who have settled on the Grand River. Incidentally, none of this will matter if our grandchildren, native and non-native, cannot drink the water, breath the air, or grow their own food because of politicians with short-term solutions and unrestrained land developments. We need to organize our communities around our watersheds and the health of those watersheds – not for the profits of land developers.”

The Coalition has said that it is not asking for anything more than the treaties and agreements with Six Nations be respected and that the solution to the “Caledonia crisis” can be found within those treaties.

For more information, visit: www.april28.net

“We are not the criminals”

Dick Hill and Gene Johns on being found “guilty” of mischief

April 2, 2012

Dick Hill and Gene Johns, Rotiskenekete of Six Nations of the Grand River, were charged with mischief in relation to housing developments protected by an injunction granted to the City of Brantford. They were both arrested and released by the Brantford Police on conditions preventing them from going within 1.5 kilometers of any “land claim protest.” Through a year long Charter challenge, they fought that condition and Justice K.G. Lenz reduced the zone to 100m. In a criminal justice system that would silence Onkwehonwe (native) voices, these are their words.

Today, we are telling the court that – yes, we attended at development sites and caused a delay in construction.  We appreciate that a judge will find us “guilty” of mischief under Canadian law.  At the end of this long court process, we are affirmed that there is no justice.

When a Canadian judge recognizes that there is development happening on treaty land and there has been no negotiation or consultation prior to shovels in the ground, we are the criminals for attending at the site and demanding pause to allow for some discussion to occur with Six Nations?  This is not justice.  This is more of the same.  This is the reason why Onkwehonwe people cannot trust the police, the courts or the Canadian governments.

Our experience shows us that we cannot trust the words offered to Onkwehone people.  Stephen Harper’s Apology on behalf of Canadians for the Indian Residential Schools system, Canada’s commitment to United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples – these are recent examples of words that fly in the face of how the government is actually treating our people.

We hear these words spoken in court – that the “honour of the Crown” is always at stake when dealing with Onkwehonwe people.  Treaties were made because the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations) chose to be Allies with the Crown.  The City of Brantford, the Province and Canada behave like these treaties never happened.  In our case, the judge recognized that no negotiations or consultations have occurred on any of the sites listed in the City of Brantford’s injunction.  Every one of these sites has been recognized by the federal government as part of a legitimate “land claim” and the jurisdiction, ownership and interests in the land is unsettled.  No reconciliation, no benefit or consideration whatsoever to Six Nations – only arrest, jail and the appalling experience of being prosecuted in a criminal court.  Where is the honour in this?

We know directly from City officials, including former councillor James Calnan and sitting Mayor Chris Friel, that the City of Brantford has a strategy to use criminal law to stop any Onkwehonwe protests.  That strategy, developed with the direct participation of the Brantford Police Service, came to a head with bail conditions preventing anyone who was arrested from coming within 1.5 kilometres of any “land development site…in which a land claim protest is taking place”.  You forced us to go into a Canadian court to have this condition challenged knowing that your side is chewing up the land with no regard for treaties, no good faith efforts at negotiations and consultation, and no options for us but to sit back and watch the land destroyed.

When Canada and Ontario play games instead of negotiate in good faith, when our land and our future is bargained away without the slightest courtesy to our inherent rights – what options are we left with?

In our lifetimes, we have seen the size of Brantford double and Caledonia grow from a bunch of houses on the river.  Despite the fact of our treaties, this development goes ahead without any involvement from Six Nations.  Canadian law says that there must be negotiation to settle the long-standing issues and consultation before anything.  Who holds Canada accountable for failing to live up to their legal promises? No one.

There is no justice for us in any Canadian court, only towers of lawyers and bottomless pockets ready to use the club of Canadian law to continue your assumed jurisdiction over our land and our people.

We have no voice in the Canadian criminal justice system; we could sit in court talking until we are blue in the face but no one is listening because the Onkwehonwe voice does not fit into Canadian law.  Growing up native is about looking over your shoulder because a justice system says “we are going to getcha”.

We are not against development, we are against the all out attack on our children and the future of our people as we get more and more land-locked on the “reserve”.  As Haudenosaunee men, we live by our responsibilities under the Kaianereh’ko:wa (Great Law of Peace) and we understand what needs to be done.  We will protect this land until such time that the sun does not shine, the rivers do not flow and the grass grows no longer.  There is no judge, no court that will ever stop us from doing our duty to our people and the Creator.

Six Nations of The Grand River

For more information or to arrange for an interview, contact:

Sarah Dover
Counsel to Dick Hill & Gene Johns
(519) 751-4789
sarahdover@sympatico.ca

Call for Action: Anti-Native journalist from The Globe and Mail, Christie Blatchford, is soon coming to Your Community!!!

The First Nations Solidarity Working Group (FNSWG) of Toronto is issuing
a call for communities to organize and respond to Christie Blatchford as
she makes her way across Canada promoting her new book, /Helpless;
Caledonia’s Nightmare of Fear and Anarchy, and How the Law Failed All of
Us/ releasing on October 26th 2010.
(http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385670395)

In her book Blatchford chronicles the events starting in 2006 at
“Douglas Creek Estates” in Caledonia where the Haudenosaunee (Six
Nations) people of the Grand River reclaimed land that has been in
“dispute” for over 150 years.  In the years, months and days leading up
to the reclamation, and for more than a century, Six Nations people have
educated, warned and entreated governments and residents to resolve the
unlawful development of their land. Drawing upon some centuries-old
colonial and racist tropes, Blatchford portrays Six Nations people, who
were compelled to respond to the continual corporate development and
theft of their land, as “criminals.” Ignoring the rampant anti-Native
rallies that became weekly occurrences in the early part of the
“crisis”, where police were often stretched to their limits controlling
the crowds who chanted around barrels of fire “burn natives burn”,
Blatchford champions white Caledonia residents as hero-victims, rendered
helpless and traumatized by “native lawlessness.”  Christie Blatchford
does not speak for Caledonia.  The residents of Caledonia hold a variety
of diverse opinions, and certainly not all of them asked to be portrayed
as “Helpless” by an irresponsible journalist.  Blatchford is in close
contact with leading anti-Native organizers in south-western Ontario and
her coverage of the “Caledonia Crisis” has been compared to “a zombie
movie. The Six Nations get to be the undead.”

Blatchford conveniently and very actively erases the fact that between
1951 and 2006, Six Nations has filed 29 land claims recognized as
legitimate by the Canadian government, and out of which, only one
claim,  has been resolved. Equally important, Blatchford ignores the
colonial context of the violences of residential schools (behind the
former Mohawk Institute in Brantford,  Six Nations children who did not
survive the violences, were buried) , the massive incarceration of
Aboriginal peoples, deaths in police custody, the Indian Act, over 800
missing and murdered Aboriginal women, and other outside-imposed
governance structures under which Six Nations peoples have been living
and surviving for centuries.  Today, the current Six Nations land base
represents only 5% of the 950,00 acres outlined in the Haldimand
Proclamation of 1784 as their sovereign territory.  Blatchford says her
book is not about “aboriginal land claims”, but “the failure of
government to govern and to protect all its citizens equally.”
Blatchford is thus reproducing the colonial logic of erasing the
histories and present context of violence done to Indigenous nations and
peoples.  This erasure does not belong to Blatchford alone, mainstream
media accounts of the reclamation have been largely distorted with
sensationalistic accounts that portray Caledonia as an ongoing warzone.

When the root of the “Caledonia Crisis” is the ongoing land-theft of Six
Nations territory, we need to ask Blatchford what she means by stating
that her book is not about land claims. We need to show people reading
or listening to her , how the erasure of land claims decontextualizes
the very root of the issue, and works to portray Indigenous land
defenders as “thugs” bent on chaos and anarchy.  We need to go out in
our communities to underline that in order to uphold the “rule of law” ,
Treaties – the foundation of Canadian law – must be upheld and respected.

Christie Blatchford is taking her book on a tour across Canada and will
be selling her book at your local bookstores and/or be making an
appearance in your community.  We must not allow Blatchford’s account of
the events at Caledonia to go unchallenged.  We are calling on you to
respond to Blatchford’s appearance in your community and educate others
about the context of Six Nations reclamation, land-claims, and colonialism.

Let us also show Blatchford that she does not speak for all Canadians
and that we will not let her speak in our name. Organize and respond to
Blatchford’s presence in your community at bookstores and everywhere she
is making speaking appearances.

For questions, information, resources or to share ideas with other group
who are organizing responses please contact info@6nsolidarity.ca
<mailto:info@6nsolidarity.ca&gt;

For more background information and context please go to:
https://6nsolidarity.wordpress.com/

Here is a list of Blatchford’s currently advertised Book Tour appearances:

McNally Robinson, WINNIPEG. Grant Park in the Atrium. Nov 3, 2010. 7pm
Chedoke Presbyterian church, HAMILTON. 865 Mohawk Road West. Nov 6,
2010. 7pm
Aurora Public Library, AURORA. Nov 9 2010, 7pm
University of Waterloo, WATERLOO. Humanities Theatre, Hagey Hall. Nov
12, 2010, 7pm
Ramsay Breakfast, George Restaurant, Verity Women’s Club, TORONTO. 111C
Queen Street East, November 17th, 7:30 am.
Books & Breakfast series,  Le Centre Sheraton Hotel, MONTREAL. 1201 Rene
Levesque Blvd. W. Nov 28, 10 am
UofT – Wordsworth College, TORONTO. March 14th 2011, 6pm