The Indian Situation
We are having problems with our aboriginals here in Canada. Being ever the politically incorrect one, I will refer to them as Indians from here on in.
The problems have only surfaced recently, when the Indians decided that the white man has substantially increased the worth of the land they once ‘owned’. First off, I’ve never heard an Indian say they ‘owned’ the land. They were merely tenants of what Mother Earth gave them. But now, suddenly, they ‘own’ it. I guess they got that concept from the white man.
I don’t object to them protecting their burial grounds. A cemetery is sacred ground no matter who is buried there. Build around the thing if you must, but leave the grounds intact. And no, this doesn’t go for one body found in the wilderness. It can be removed to a proper cemetery, and let the developer get on with his/her business.
Oka and Ipperwash were one thing. Claiming the Toronto Harbourfront, now that it is full of highrises and trendy shops is another. The latest nonsense is the standoff in Caledonia. A developer wants to put up houses on what the natives claim is their land. This will all have to be sorted out in a court of law, of course, but the Indians have taken the high ground and seemingly refuse to abide by a court order. This makes them law breakers and they should be dealt with as such.
As a bit of background, here are some facts: In 1784, General Sir Frederick Haldimand, promised the “Mohawk nation and such other of the Six Nations Indians” lands “six mile deep” on either side of the Grand River, “from its mouth to its head,” from Lake Erie north through present-day Brantford, Cambridge and Kitchener all the way to Grey County south of Georgian Bay; in all, nearly 1 million acres. It fell upon John Graves Simcoe, Upper Canada’s first lieutenant governor, to make good the pledge nine years later. However the Simcoe Patent contained a third less land than the Haldimand Proclamation. By 1847, all but 5% of the original Haldimand parcel had been sold or leased to settlers by the colonial government. As for the land currently under dispute in a Caledonia subdivision, it was surrendered by the Six Nations to the Crown in 1841 in return for a promise that proceeds from its sale would be used to benefit the residents of the Six Nations reserve. What is at issue in the present standoff – and nearly 30 other land claims filed by Six Nations since 1970 – is whether native leaders nearly 200 years ago transferred title willingly or under duress, and whether their bands ever received the money they were promised.
It is not acceptable that the protestors’ defy a court injunction ordering them off the construction site because, they insist, Canadian courts have no jurisdiction over them. “Sewatis,” a protestor who has been camped out on the worksite since the dispute began said “I cannot follow your orders because I’m not Canadian. I’m Haudenosaunee.” Last month, Jim Prentice, the federal Indian Affairs Minister asked Michael Coyle, a University of Western Ontario law professor and leading mediator of land claims settlements, to meet protestors. But protestors decided Mr. Coyle was not senior enough for “nation- to-nation” negotiations. This grand delusion has been fed by politically correct politicians, special interest groups and even the Supreme Court of Canada. The court, among other stretches of legal reasoning, granted aboriginal oral traditions equal legal footing with land titles records and historical research, and created unrestricted treaty rights to hunting and fishing even though evidence showed the original treaties never intended such rights and native signatories understood that. Canada cannot be interspersed with 600 sovereign First Nations just because “progressive” politicians, academics and judges have for four decades fed natives a steady diet of sovereignty myths they have come to believe. Then they must disabuse themselves of the notion that self-government equals independent nation status.
Through all this nonsense comes some humour though. “I want $5,000 cash,” a middle-aged, female protester suddenly yells at nearby media. “You take my picture, I want money. Call your editors now. Get me money.” “You make millions off pictures of us – I want some of that money,” the woman continues in her rage. Grabbing a large Mohawk flag – which, except for the OPP insignia, is the most popular symbol in these parts – the woman adds: “Everything is for sale. This flag is for sale.” A line of police cruisers creates a sieve of a yellow-tape police line – which protesters casually walk over and under to get to the nearby Tim Hortons (Gotta have that TIMMIES! I guess the beer stores weren’t open yet)
It is interesting to note that in an action of their own, a rebel group – largely led by native women and culturally powerful clan mothers who do not recognize the authority of the band council – took over the small, half-finished subdivision in February. I guess the menfolk aren’t all that powerful after all. Just behind her are self-proclaimed warriors with bandanas covering faces wielding axe handles. In truth, most of the strength has come, not from these toughs who have dominated newspaper fronts, but rather from women clan elders.
At the blockade, protester Clyde Powless – a tall, lean, calm leader stands circled by media, trying to convey a message of peace. “We’re not looking to evict no one,” he says. Taking the double negative, they are apparently looking to evict some one. “Put yourself in my moccasins,” he continues. Well, I would if the damn things weren’t so expensive. The point you’re missing, Mr. Powless, is that if you are indeed a sovereign nation as you and your followers claim and not Canadians who don’t have to obey our laws, stop taking the billions of dollars we give you every year to maintain your life styles.
