Politics
A centuries-old battle Six Nations community in new struggle to prevent development on disputed land by Ben Powless
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ix Nations community members have occupied land near their reserve that’s slated to become a housing development since July 19.
Since then, dozens of supporters have been arrested as community members have turned it into a camp that has symbolize to represent generations of frustration over territorial dispossession. Protesters claim the land – dubbed “1492 Land Back Lane” by occupiers – belongs to the community. Hundreds of protesters gathered at the Ontario Ministry of Indigenous Affairs September 12 to demand an end to police violence and criminalization of community members and supporters. Part of that disputed land is where Foxgate Developments is planning to build 218 homes on 25 acres of land in Caledonia, next to the Six Nations community about an hour southwest of Toronto. “The main demand of this protest is for the OPP [Ontario Provincial Police] to stop arresting land defenders who are supporting the camp at 1492 Land Back Lane,” said one supporter, Subhanya Sivajothy, in a press release. “Community members are engaged in a traditional decision-making process, but the threat of violent police enforcement prevents them from solving this as a community.”
“The main demand of this protest is for the OPP [Ontario Provincial Police] to stop arresting land defenders who are supporting the camp at 1492 Land Back Lane - Subhanya Sivajothy
The dispute goes back to 1784, when British colonial authorities granted a large tract of land known as the Haldimand Tract to the Six Nations as compensation for allying with Britain during the American War of Independence. Since then, the Canadian government is alleged to have sold the land illegally to private parties starting in 1853. In an August 20 social-media post, camp spokesperson Skyler Williams said that individuals at the camp “are here because we are committed to upholding our sacred responsibility to the land and future
26 the Nation September 25, 2020 www.nationnews.ca
generations. Every day our community makes progress in our discussions and our healing from the generations of oppression we have experienced.” The camp also received the support of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs, a group that is distinct from the elected chief and council of the community. “The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council is opposed to this development and as the holder of collective rights for the Haudenosaunee people has not granted any type of consent which would allow this development to pro-
ceed,” a statement from the chiefs read. Court documents have since revealed that the chief and council of Six Nations had originally agreed to the land development in return for 42 acres of land and $325,000. Since then, however, the elected chief, Mark Hill, released a video posted to the community’s website expressing a desire for unity while rejecting violence. “I encourage everyone in Ontario and across Canada to listen to the concerns of the land defenders and learn why the land in dispute holds so much cultural and emotional sig-
