Caledonia Native stand off

The Americans reading this will have to do some background searching to catch themselves up on this issue. This is ridiculous. It's gone on far too long. I would like to be able to sympathize with the natives but I can't. I'm sorry, I just can't. They waited until developers built homes on this property and then said
"No, you can't have the land it is ours".
As far as I understood, they signed off rights to the land a century or two ago. It is cruel to say this but they were a people conquered. The British and the French before them invaded and won this country. The native people lost it. It's horrible and unfair. They put them through hell but right or wrong...they got beat. We have made concessions to them. We've given them the right to self govern without taking away federal benefits like welfare, free health care and education. It may not seem like much but it is more than any other government in any other country has done. I think if they want the land then the developers shouldn't give them the houses they built there. Those should be removed. I think that they shouldn't have access to welfare, healthcare or public education either. If they feel that they are above our laws then they should be above our help as well. You can't have it both ways. The rest of the country can't afford it anymore. I am seldom this callous about something but I am just tired of this in the news. Their own leaders meet with officials and they still say they will not leave. They don't really want to negotiate or work out a compromise they simply want the people there to just pack up and leave. That isn't fair to the owners either. I am sick of this. They aren't being treated fairly or given respect they say. Well...try doing the same for the opposing side!


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Comments

me said…
Wow, hot issue and I can't help but put myself in both positions, you wrote this article and back ground info very well. From what you have written, yes, I can see your side of the issue, they should compromise. You can't go around uprooting entire families, the spirit of that land, will be tarnished, a compromise is needed. I agree. Very good read Rue.
kersplebedeb said…
The reclamation of the site occurred before the houses were completed - so no "families have to be uprooted".
As for Canada "doing more" than any other country in the world for indigenous people living here, i guess that's why the South African government was inspired by Canada to set up its old apartheid system, huh?
Rue said…
Actually,kersplebedeb, The protest started AFTER many of the homes were built. There are alot of people who will loose theier hard earned money if they can't continue with the developement. It isn't THEIR fault either! Also the blockades are interferring with the lives of people in the area.
AND>>>
Where the hell do you get off comparing our system in dealing with natives to apartheid!!?? Native people here have as much freedoms and rights ( and in some cases more)as non natives!!! It took a while to give them the right to vote...I'll give you that but it has NEVER been as bad as apartheid! NEVER! YOU insult South Africans by that comparison...did we ever need a heroe like Nelson Mandela to free the natives?
I used the word 'conquer' in my post but in actual fact in most cases we signed treaties with the natives rather than have more blood shed. That is MUCH more than any other country ever did.
I think your comparison to apartheid is not only historically inaccurate but absolutely dispictable. Stay off my blog until you can be more factual.
kersplebedeb said…
Rue, if i had wanted to say that Canada today was just like apartheid South Africa, then that's what i would have written. But that's not what i wrote...
Instead, i wrote that Canada was an inspiration for the apartheid system. As Olive Patricia Dickason notes, "In 1902, a delegation from South Africa came to study the Canadian pass system as a method of social control." (Canada's First Nations: A History of Founding Peoples from Earliest Times, McClelland & Stewart, 1992)

You want to hold on to the fact that Canada or the US in 1980 were less viciously racist than South Africa in 1980, fine, you'll get no argument from me. (Though remember South Africa in 1980 was being supported by governments in Ottawa and Washington DC at the time!) But you want to white-wash Canadian reality and history and act like colonialism here was/is a benign phenomenon unrelated to colonialism anywhere else, well... it just ain't true, y'know...
Anonymous said…
"a people conquered"

as too are the quebecois. nice deal they have. how bout the original peoples?
Rue said…
This is 2006...we are talking about today and the rights they have now.
I have read the book you mentioned and your translation of the facts seems somewhat bias
Rue said…
I didn't say you said this system is "just like" apartheid. I said you "compared" them. Not the same thing
me said…
This is very interesting, I am learning a lot about Canada and her history. Thank you. What a sad and sticky situation for all. Rue, your suggestion to a compromise is wonderful. A compromise means for both sides to win something, which I am sure you meant Rue, correct me if I am wrong. But when one side is not willing to compromise, what is the solution? I will be the first to say, I have no idea. Seems to me, that the land should now be divided, or a way to compensate the people who have spent their hard earned money should be afforded, if all the land is returned to the Indians. Both sides MUST give up something if unfortunate errors were made. Unless the land was stolen, intentionally. Equal amounts of people, (delegated individuals from both camps) need to come together to vote on the compromise. Open suggestions from all should be heard and voted on...equally. This may be fantasy too, I'm really not that well educated on Canadian issues, but simple logic of solutions, prompted me to offer this one. Forgive me if it is not at all obtainable.

Have a beautiful day Rue!
: )
me said…
I meant to just say, "this may be fantasy" I did not at all mean to sound as though your suggestion, Rue was fantasy. I am just stating that mine might be. Wanted to clarify that.
: )
Rue said…
That's really what I would like to see also Pink. It seems the Natives aren't willing to do that. The Government may have made a serious mistake but it is a parlimental mistake and not the developers and home owners mistake.
Rue said…
kersplebedeb, Insulting comments are not allowed. Putting words in my mouth and misquoting me isn't allowed.
Don't come back
Dr. Deb said…
WOw, this is some story.
Rue said…
kersplebedeb, not playing and I will not be goaded.
*sigh*
Some mother's children
Anonymous said…
Thank you for posting about our situation.

If you read closely the reports, you will notice that this is NOT just about a small land claim.

The actual claim is a million acres of land, from one end of the Grand River Ontario Canada to the other, ten km either side.

It sits complete with cities and towns along it, and the natives have practically overthrown their own current government (band council) with a traditional system that was abandonded a long time ago that smacks of an imperial system.

This is not a land claim, it is a reclamation. They are going in and taking disputed lands by force, and claim they will continue to do this. Any resistance is labelled racism and colonialism, and arresting them is called attacking them and taking them hostage.

Please read what you can about what is going on.

I live in the area and we are all very frightened at the inaction of the government to deal with it.
Anonymous said…
Anyone who wants to comment on this issue really needs to make sure they know what the hell they are talking about before they do so. And believe me, you wont get the full story from the mainstream news. The governments want nothing more than the majority of canadians to not really know what is going on here. Meanwhile the people of caledonia have been living in a land of lawlesness and terror for months. Innocent people guilty of nothing other than living in this town wake up to spotlights shining into there bedroom windows at all hours of the night. ATVs rip through there backyards and nothing is done. It is COMPLETELY lawless. Hell, CH News RECORDED several natives attacking one of there reporters while the OPP sat on there fat asses and watched.

The whole thing is a damn disgrace.

And all you idiots talking about racism - well - lets talk about racism. I challenge any non-native reading this, to go out into the streets and dig up the road with a backhoe, causing thousands of dollars of damage. Drive a stolen car into a transformer station and knock hydro out to thousands and thousands of customers. See if the police do nothing about it. Walk into a burger king and declare I OWN THIS LAND. Watch how fast you will have your face to the ground and a cops billy stick in the back of your neck. Unless of course, you are Native.

The other problem is Caledonia to most politicians is dick all. ITs 1 seat in the house. Big Deal. Id like to see the natives try and occupy Union Station. THat would last all of 30 minutes, if that.

As far as I am concerned, send in the millitary. Full force. Army tanks and everything.

ONE RULE OF LAW FOR **ALL** PEOPLE

And all levels of government - shame on you.
Anonymous said…
I'd just like to say a few things on this matter. I disagree with the comments posted here. I am quite appalled that in Canada people have such benevolence for its native people. As for the comment of the natives being a conquered people, I feel that though this may be true, we as Canadians should act the way we try to present ourselves to the world, as forward thinking, peaceful, citizens of the world. If we were to treat other conquered peoples in Canada this way then we wouldn't be a bilingual country and the English would have squashed out French Canada centuries ago.

Although there methods may be disagreeable sometimes action is the only method in which change can happen. If they didn't protest what attention would they receive from the government or the media. The simple fact that there actions has shed the light of day on matters such as this is in someways applaudable.

In closing I'd just like to say that what ever suffering the people living in this area endured hails in comparison to the suffering Native Americans endured at the hands (and guns) of the white man. I don't imagine any of the people writing here detracting the native protests know what its like to grow up in the residential school system. The simple fact of the matter is that these people, despite getting seemingly decent treatment from our government do have less opportunity in our country than white people, although not helpless to change there plight in life they do get moved to the "backburner" when it comes to matters like education, road and community maintenance and social programs. And if your fellow countrymen treated you in this fashion for centuries and still spoke of your situation with such disdain how trusting would you be?
Rue said…
Ah but here's the thing...I mispoke a little when I said "conquered". There were treaties signed (those same ones that we are having trouble with today). for the most part..lands were not taken by force. So no "gun point" here in this country. We didn't kill them off like they did in the states.
Anonymous said…
I wish to speak further on this topic, and the point made at the end of your synopsis. The simple fact of the matter is that if it weren't for these peoples ancestors, including Joseph Brant, then Canada would be a different country.

During the American War of Independence, Britain, our sovereign nation was unable to send reinforcements to defend Canada against the colonial rebels. As War raged in America, The Crown reached out to the Six Nations and other Native American tribes to help defend there territories. The Six Nations offered there warriors and braves to the cause. Although England lost the War, they still retained Canada, due much to the assistance of the Natives. As payment for there service King George III gave the land that adjoins to Caledonia to the Six Nations.

If it wasn't for the ancestors of the people you deplore for showing defiance in the face of an injustice that has been prevalent centuries than we could be the 52nd State. There role in our country has been pivotal to the formation of the nation we live in.

The truth is that white man has been ever present in swindling the Native man out of his land and home since they landed here. The irony that exists is the fact that when we look at it in our history books we can be subjective about the entire situation. The truth of the matter is that these people didn't go away, they're still here, beleaguered by centuries of abuse over what is and isn't there land, and the sad fact of the matter is that government still views the world with dollar signs, and continue to exacerbate these problems.

Simply put, the Natives actually did agree in the 1840s to lease the land in question to the government for development. The government in turn viewed the lease as a bill of sale. They promptly sold the land to third parties.

Although a great lapse of time has passed since then to our present situation, it wasn't until 2006 that developers moved in to capitalize on their acquisition. Although you may say that they had centuries to react to these land claims it wasn't until recently that the ever engulfing machine of development bared it's teeth on the Six Nations. To say there reaction is extreme is to say that any person of any walk of life or faith should just bow down to an invading force threatening lands that their forebears walked, and that was promised to them by forces both temporal and spiritual for time immemorial!
Rue said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rue said…
"it wasn't until recently that the ever engulfing machine of development bared it's teeth on the Six Nations."

Seriously? Get over yourself!

"invading force threatening lands that their forebears walked, and that was promised to them by forces both temporal and spiritual for time immemorial!"

~~~which they will sell to the highest bidder or rent at an exreem rate. OR turn it into a bloody casino...pppplease! Sacred my ass!
Anonymous said…
A Casino, not to shabby an idea.
Anonymous said…
first nations is a terrorist organization. don't think so come and see the fear they are causing, the destruction, both economically and physically, they are causing along with the double standard of law that allows these terrorists to operate without police or military intervention. the people tried to hold a protest and were all arrested. another man was arrested for flying the canadian flag on HIS property. canada should be ashamed of itself.

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