| « on: September 05, 2008, 06:57:56 AM » |
Posted By KAREN BEST CHRONICLE STAFF WRITER
Posted 1 hour ago
Negotiations of Six Nations land issues are expected to resume with provincial and federal representatives on Sept. 11.
During a Labour Day street blockade involving Six Nations and Caledonia residents, Clyde Powless said his people's fight is not with Caledonia.
"Our fight is with the government and will resume at the negotiating table," he said.
Earlier in August, Cayuga Sub- Chief Leroy Hill, who is a Confederacy negotiator, said he was eager to get back to the table to see what Canada has uncovered about the Plank Road claim through Caledonia. He said the federal government has not yet proven that chiefs wanted to sell the 10,000 acres in the Haldimand Tract along the road way between Hamilton and Port Dover.
According to Six Nations records, chiefs only agreed to lease the land, he stated. For awhile, 21-year leases were paid and then the Crown unilaterally decided to sell land, said Hill. No payments to his people were documented, he added. As well, chiefs protested establishment of Caledonia, he noted.
Consultation is also a point of contention. Three Six Nations options for this process were presented at the negotiating table, including the Haudenosaunee Development Institute, established by the Confederacy council to deal with planning issues in the Haldimand Tract, said interim HDI director Hazel Hill.
She said disputes over development in Brantford are a direct result of the Crown stalling for two years on its duty to consult.
In June, chiefs backed away from negotiations so the Crown could think about Brantford's injunction and bylaws directed at Six Nations people who are protecting land, said Hazel Hill.
"The Haudenosaunee are ready to stand in defence of our people," she added.
One section of an injunction document indicated that Six Nations did not have any land in Brantford. In 1995, Six Nations band council sued the Canadian and provincial government for financial restitution for 29 claims including several in Brantford.
http://www.dunnvillechronicle.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1186142
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