Caledonia and Six Nations: Majority Opposed April 28, 2012 "Parade"

The Grand River land dispute includes 40 hectares in Caledonia.  Caledonia is located in Haldimand County, in Southern Ontario.  Henco Industries originally planned to build a residential subdivision, to be called Douglas Creek Estates (DCE), on this land.  But some aboriginals at the Six Nations reserve claimed that this land was never surrendered and started an occupation there on February 28, 2006; the occupation continues to this day.  The federal government maintains that the land was properly surrendered in 1841, and sold in 1844.  The Six Nations elected council agrees with the government's contention, but maintains there should be "fair compensation."  However, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (traditional) Council asserts that the signatories to the sale were deceived (Blatchford, p. 27).  Toby Barrett, the Haldimand-Norfolk Conservative MPP, stated in a February 29, 2012 news release that "there are a number of valid land claims along the Haldimand tract area but not on Douglas Creek Estates."  On the sixth anniversary of the standoff, Barrett announced that Haldimand County had lost 650 residents partly because of the "dismal economic conditions locally and the erosion of justice, rule of law and democractic process" that have resulted from the occupation of the former DCE.

Many of the best recommendations for improving the aboriginal situation originate with natives who recognize that changing things for the better is a two-way street.  They acknowledge that all the blame for native woes cannot be placed on non-natives' shoulders.  Tsimshian lawyer and entrepreneur, Calvin Helin's, book Dances With Dependency (2006) is filled with numerous insights that I share.  Cree Don Sandberg wrote lots of excellent articles for his former employer, the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, and continues to write ground-breaking pieces for media outlets like the Winnipeg Free Press and National Post.  Helen Miller, a Six Nations elected band councilor, has had a couple of her powerful letters published in the Brantford Expositor and Turtle Island News.

But I also believe that non-aboriginals have a role to play in recommending solutions.  In my case, I am speaking from two generations of experience dating back to the late 1950s, and as someone who worked in aboriginal organizations in different parts of Canada for about 12 years.  And Sandberg believes people like me should speak out.  In a January 2, 2011 National Post article, he was asked his opinion as to what should be done about aboriginal accountability problems.  He responded with "[t]he strongest voice aboriginal reformers have is the non-aboriginal taxpaying public, who can let their elected officials know something has got to be done.  Because we know the government itself does not listen to grassroots native people."

Fortunately, at Caledonia and Six Nations, many aboriginals and non-aboriginals found common ground in their opposition to an outrageous April 28, 2012 "parade" through Caledonia, orchestrated by a group of mostly non-natives from other parts of Southern Ontario.  One of the parade organizers was Tom Keefer who has been involved with the DCE protests since April 20, 2006.  Caledonia activist Mark Vandermaas described Keefer and his allies as a "gang of anarchists, Marxists, radical unionists, and anti-Israel groups who have been supporting the lawlessness in Caledonia since nearly the beginning."  

http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/dear-caledonia-residents-about-tom-keefer-tomorrows-takeover-of-caledonias-streets/

A media release issued by the march organizers said that participation included representatives from Six Nations as well as non-natives from eight Southern Ontario cities, and that as many as 1,000 could be expected (Day, Dunnville, April 18, 2012; Gamble, Brantford April 27, 2012).

Although local and regional news outlets in the Caledonia area paid considerable attention to the discussions before, during and after the march, it received virtually no coverage outside of those areas.  But I think it is important to draw attention to it because it is a very encouraging development.

I first learned about the march through some correspondence I received from Canadian Advocates for Charter Equality (CANACE) Executive Director Gary McHale and Caledonia Victims Project Founder Mark Vandermaas.  Both activists said their groups would not be present at the march because they did not believe in interfering with events initiated by natives.  However, McHale and Vandermaas did organize a protest the week before, on April 21, at which Vandermaas and another Caledonia activist Jeff Parkinson were arrested.  You can read about their unwarranted detainments at the following links:

http://caledoniawakeupcall.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/video-two-arrested-for-race-in-caledonia/

http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/vandermaas-email-to-opp-officer-re-april-21-dce-rally-before-two-breach-of-peace-arrests/

Haldimand County Mayor Ken Hewitt made it clear he did not agree with the April 28 "parade" in his April 3, 2012 article in the Sachem.  He said "[f]or most of us who live here, we need not be reminded of the time that has elapsed when assessing the absolute abysmal failure of government.  We do not need people coming from other regions to parade through our community in order to satisfy their personal agenda."

Dr. David K. Faux, a Caledonia resident whose maternal ancestry includes a Six Nations Mohawk clan mother, also raised concerns about the march.  In his April 10, 2012 letter to the Sachem, he said that the '''parade' is a euphemism for 'protest march.'"  He went on to say that the "'parade' organizers have an agenda and we (collectively known as 'settlers') are to be at the receiving end of their anti-establishment aims and aspirations.  DCE is just a matter of convenience to them."

Six Nations elected Chief William Montour was not able to get a resolution passed through his 12-member council opposing the march, but he said his feeling was that "our people are starting to get over 2006" and that the march could "create havoc" (Vo, Sachem, April 17, 2012).

The day before the march, Vandermaas sent an email to his Caledonia mailing list, in which he said:

Tomorrow the people who terrorized your town and those who support them will march in a propaganda effort to convince the victims they created to submit to their twisted logic that you are responsible for the violence against you and your town.

In this post, he also made reference to a July 14, 2009 letter that Helen Miller wrote to the Brantford Expositor, in which she said that certain groups at Six Nations, such as the Mohawk Warriors, "were not elected, appointed or authorized by the people of Six Nations to be their representatives or to speak on their behalf."

http://voiceofcanada.wordpress.com/2012/04/27/dear-caledonia-residents-about-tom-keefer-tomorrows-takeover-of-caledonias-streets/

There were other aboriginal and non-aboriginal people who spoke out against the march.  If you want to read more about it, you can refer to the bibliography below.

Although the parade organizers announced ahead of time that 1,000 people could be expected, only about 400-500, most of them non-natives, actually showed up (Wong, Spec, April 28, 2012; Pearce and Day, Dunnville, April 29, 2012; Pearce, Dunnville, April 29, 2012).

At the event, Faux carried a sign that stated in Mohawk and English "that 98 per cent of Six Nations and Caledonia want nothing to do with the march."  In his May 9, 2012 letter to the Spec, he said:

The sea of Palestinian, Black Panther, Communist Party of Canada and CUPE flags (what is my former union doing with its members' wages?) give an excellent indication as to who was at the march.  As someone with a foot in both the Caledonia and Six Nations communities, I will proposing a new approach to dealing with the problem since the folks in Ottawa seem to be a bit tardy in getting on with land claims negotiations.

I hope that Faux succeeds.  I think he will be building on the work of Caledonia activists, such as McHale, Vandermaas and Parkinson, who laboured for years, often suffering taunts and abuse, before they started to get some recognition from the media and general public.

The mixture of aboriginal and non-aboriginal opposition to the April 28, 2012 march also signals that many residents of Caledonia and Six Nations realize they need to come up with their own solutions.  I am greatly relieved to hear this.

Bibliography

Barrett, Toby.  "Occupy Caledonia will be six years February 28,"  February 28, 2012.  <tobybarrett.com>

_____.  "There is no valid claim on DCE."  February 29, 2012.  <tobybarrett.com>

Blatchford, Christie.  Helpless.  Toronto: Doubleday, 2010.

Day, Matt.  "Caledonia reacts to peace walk." Dunnville Chronicle.  April 29, 2012.  <dunnvillechronicle.com>

_____.  "No injunction for Caledonia rally organizers."  Dunnville Chronicle.  April 18, 2012.  <dunnvillechronicle.com>

_____.  "Planned Caledonia rally has Hewitt upset."  Dunnville Chronicle.  April 13, 2012.  <dunnvillechronicle.com>

_____.  "Two arrested during CANACE rally Saturday."  Dunnville Chronicle.  April 23, 2012.  <dunnvillechronicle.com>

Faux, David K.  "Caledonia march is opposed by mayor, chief" [Letter].  Hamilton Spectator.  May 9, 2012.  <thespec.com>

_____.  "'Parade' euphemism for 'protest march'" [Letter].  Sachem.  April 10, 2012.  <sachem.ca>

Foot, Richard.  "Reserves look within for fix to accountability problems."  National Post.  January 2, 2011.  <nationalpost.com>

Gamble, Susan.  "Thousands expected for Caledonia peace march."  Brantford Expositor.  April 27, 2012.  <brantfordexpositor.ca>

Helin, Calvin.  Dances With Dependency.  Vancouver: Orca Spirit, 2006.

Hewitt, Ken.  "Hewitt: DCE a quagmire."  Sachem.  April 3, 2012.  <sachem.ca>

 _____.  "What's April 28 march really about?"  Sachem.  April 17, 2012.  <sachem.ca>

Miller, Helen.  "Only elected council can speak for Six Nations" [Letter].  Brantford Expositor.  July 14, 2009.  <brantfordexpositor.ca>

Parkinson, Jeff.  "Video--Two arrested for race in Caledonia."  April 24, 2012.  <caledoniawakeupcall.wordpress.com>

Pearce, Daniel R.  "Hundreds take part in Caledonia peace march."  Simcoe Reformer.  April 29, 2012.   <simcoereformer.ca>

Pearce, Daniel and Matt Day.  "Caledonia reacts to peace walk."  Dunnville Chronicle.  April 29, 2012.  <dunnvillechronicle.com>

Vandermaas, Mark.  "Dear Caledonia residents--about Tom Keefer. . ."  April 27, 2012.  <voiceofcanada.ca>

_____.  "Email to OPP officer re April 21 DCE rally before two 'breach of peace' arrests."  April 27, 2012.  <voiceofcanada.ca>

Vo, Jennifer.  "Coalition planning April parade in Caledonia."  Sachem.  April 3, 2012.  <sachem.ca>

_____.  "Parade rubbing salt in old wounds says Chief Montour."  Sachem.  April 17, 2012.  <sachem.ca>

Wong, Danielle.  "Friendship walk peaceful, but Caledonia residents fear wounds reopened."    Hamilton Spectator.  April 28, 2012.  <thespec.com>

Aboriginal Issues During the "Culpability Era"

The definition for "cultural relativism" is "the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture" (Wikipedia, August 13, 2011).

The "critical race theory" definition for "white privilege" is "a way of conceptualizing racial inequalities that focuses as much on the advantages that white people accrue from society as on the disadvantages that non-white people experience" (Wiktionary, June 17, 2010).

The definition for "culpability" is "the degree of one's blameworthiness in the commission of a crime or offense" (Wiktionary, August 23, 2011).

People often ask me how I got involved with aboriginal issues in the first place. The truth is that aboriginals and their supporters recruited me to work for them. To make a long story short, some of my family's involvement with native issues (dating back to the 1950s) probably made the recruiters think I was a good candidate to help them with their "cause." In fact, a couple of recruiters actually showed up at one of my former places of employment (in a mainstream institution) and urged me to work for them. Bear in mind, though, that this was back in the 1970s, when there were not as many aboriginals with skill sets that the native organizations needed. I also suspect that, in order to get certain funding, the people in charge had to show that they had qualified people to do the work, so my college diploma and related experience fit the bill for that. In addition, the recruiters wanted me to train native people--something I did a lot of when I worked in this area.

However, I am an opinionated individual, and that fact, combined with my white skin, did not always fit in with the collectivist mindset that operated in these places. In retrospect, I should have left at the first sign of trouble, but two major factors kept me involved. The first was that an aboriginal woman very likely contributed to saving my life in the early 1970s. She died in the early 1980s--far too young and under tragic circumstances. Second, a family member who was very much involved with the aboriginal scene passed away when I was working in the organizations. Both these factors made me feel that I had an obligation to support the aboriginal cause, and this obligation propelled me through about 12 years in the organizations. I now realize that I should have got involved because I was truly motivated, not because I felt I had to.

Up until the late 1980s, I assumed that my problems in this area were because I was an opinionated white who just did not "get it." But the extensive reading and reflection I have done since then have made me understand that the explanation is much more complicated than that. I now realize I was involved in what I will refer to as the Cultural Relativism Era. The proponents of the cultural relativist movement I was part of believed that aboriginal woes could be resolved if natives returned to their traditional ways. I see this era as beginning after the release of the Trudeau government's 1969 White Paper and the aboriginal response: the Red Paper. From the 1970s onwards, aboriginal groups repeatedly asked for and often got more government funding.

The main point of establishing the organizations was to help aboriginals gain greater self-determination, e.g., in relation to land rights and governance. And to a certain extent, greater self-determination has been the result. For instance, I am pleased that the training I did with some aboriginals helped them to further their education and work prospects.

But natives had a lot of cards stacked against them before they even got started setting up their agencies in Canada. I believe many of the resultant problems were based on the rocky relationship that had existed between the races for more than 300 years. One prominent example of this is the , which is still in effect today. Until 1985, Status Indian men could marry non-aboriginal women and the women would gain status, but the same did not hold true for Status aboriginal women marrying non-aboriginals or non-Status Indians. I believe this provision has done a lot of damage to relations between the sexes, both aboriginal and non-aboriginal. When I was working in the organizations, I did not fully understand how the Indian Act system worked, but now that I have had a chance to examine it in more depth, I realize it was very detrimental, particularly to aboriginal/non-aboriginal female relations.

I know from working for many years in mainstream institutions that office politics play a role in workplace dynamics. Let's face it: whenever more than two people get together in a work setting, there are bound to be differences from time to time. But I found the possibilities for conflict were greatly intensified with the race card thrown into the mix.

After I stopped working in the organizations in the late 1980s, I planned to return to the mainstream. But just as I was embarking on my new life path, some politicos dragged me back into the aboriginal fray by publicly spreading false accusations about me. As a result, I was viciously harassed and subjected to the devastating effects of bad medicine--I was used as a sacrificial lamb.

When the worst of the harassment was over, I tried to convince myself that the sacrificial lamb period was behind me. I was also hopeful that people sympathetic to my plight would assist me on my road to healing and reconciliation. But I discovered, after many years of trying, that even aboriginals and their supporters who had been closely associated with me for decades only paid lip service to my desire for justice. I concluded that the doctrine of white privilege was often strictly adhered to in aboriginal country. But it was even more upsetting for me to learn that this doctrine was also firmly ensconced in many academic, religious, and political institutions that I had to deal with for one reason or another. Even though it was usually not expressed in such blatant terms, the underlying message I got was "healing is for aboriginals; white people are just supposed to take it."

The Caledonia crisis, which started in February 2006, and which still reverberates to this day, made me realize that white privilege was not only affecting me, but also other non-aboriginals. I have already covered this topic in my "David Peterson and the Caledonia Crisis" post. I am also alarmed by the fact that the Ontario government's Ipperwash Inquiry Report (2007) paid almost no attention to the concerns of the non-native residents, even though some of these residents made presentations to the inquiry. I think taxpayers deserved more bang for their buck than they got with the $27+ million Ipperwash Inquiry.

I believe the Caledonia crisis (and other native occupations and problems, such as contraband tobacco smuggling) made many members of the public recognize that the governments' appeasement strategies were not working very well. And I contend that this growing awareness signaled the dawn of a new era in 2006, which I will call the Culpability Era.

Tsimshian lawyer and entrepreneur, Calvin Helin's, book Dances With Dependency, was also released in 2006; I believe his book substantially contributed to the move into the Culpability Era. Helin argues that aboriginal welfare dependency should be replaced by "self-reliance." He strongly believes in aboriginal cultural preservation, but he asserts that aboriginals should not be dependent on government funding to make this happen; they should develop alternative sources of revenue, e.g., from natural resources.

Helin believes that certain provisions of the Indian Act give far too much power to the chiefs and council. For example, only the chiefs can elect the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) national chief. Although there have been attempts by some aboriginal spokespeople to change the AFN rules so that voting rights are extended from just the chiefs to band members, (in fact, some have lobbied for voting to be extended to urban aboriginals), none of these attempts have been successful. In the last AFN election in July 2009, John Beaucage ran on a universal voting platform and only received 15 per cent of the vote on the first ballot.

Don Sandberg, a Cree who is president of Nistanan, "Canada's first aboriginal policy think tank," says that aboriginals need more leaders with "education, drive and imagination." He feels the reason why chiefs often vote against necessary reforms is because they are afraid to take risks. I agree with Sandberg's assessment, and I hope a greater number of aboriginals heed his advice.

Although many non-aboriginal Canadians are concerned about the native situation for one reason or another, they often prefer to stick their heads in the sand in the hopes that the situation will improve on its own. And it likely will get better as long as people like Helin and Sandberg continue to speak out. But it will improve a lot more quickly if non-aboriginals, particularly federal, provincial and municipal leaders, start to look at how their own views are contributing to the problem. Citizens can help improve government policies by making their concerns known to their elected representatives.

The outmoded cultural relativism and white privilege doctrines contribute to appeasement strategies that ultimately do not help either side of the equation. If culpability is first established, then constructive solutions are more likely to follow.

Notes

• Both Helin and Sandberg have addressed the fact that intimidation and harassment are sometimes used by aboriginals in positions of power in order to maintain their power base. 

• A colleague recently made me aware of the writings of some aboriginal women who state they have been rebuked by aboriginal males and females if they deviate from the standard positions held by some aboriginal elites.  They have been accused of being sellouts, and have sometimes suffered professionally.

• The above factors could explain why some natives refused to side publicly with me, although I can't be sure. 

For Further Information

Aboriginal Reserve Governance

• Curry, Bill. "Big Influences, Tiny Reserves," Globe and Mail, August 13, 2009 <www.globeandmail.com>

Caledonia Crisis

• Caledonia Victims Project
• Caledonia Wake Up Call
• International Free Press Society-Canada
• Jeff Parkinson
• Voice of Canada

Helin, Calvin

• Dances With Dependency. Vancouver: Orca Spirit, 2006.

Ipperwash Situation

• Voice of Canada's "Caledonia and Ipperwash Resources"

Sandberg, Don

• "Wanted: Productive Native Reserves," National Post, October 7, 2010 <www.nationalpost.com>