znatives
by Brent Dowdall
Charlatan Staff
FIRST NATIONS GROUP MAKES TREK TO PARLIAMENT
"We walked 700 kilometres for our home."
Clifford George was referring to the arrival on Parliament Hill of
about 50 members of the Stoney Point First Nations band, some of
whom walked 729 km from the shores of Lake Huron to demand their
reservation back.
The three-square-mile reservation was taken from them by the
Department of National Defence in 1942 under the War Measures Act
and never returned. The band was uprooted and forced to join the
Kettle Island reservation, two miles away.
On May 5, 1993, the band re-occupied the reservation and in August
there was an incident where shots were fired at a Canadian Forces
helicopter. The incident is still under investigation.
"On May 5, we walked into our home to stay," said George. "We don't
care about the money. We want our land."
The marchers walked up to the Parliament Buildings around 2 p.m.
Several people then spoke, hugs were exchanged and the band put on
a demonstration of Native drumbeats.
George was in Britain fighting for Canada in 1942 when the Canadian
military first took over the land because the War Measures Act gave
it the power to seize property. He said he received a letter from
his father saying the army had taken over the land but the band
would get it back when the war was over.
"The government tries to divide and conquer the people," said band
councillor Glen George. "We went to war so the people could be
free. But we found out the government was the real enemy because
they took our homes."
Stoney Point band elder Rose Manning said she was 10 when she and
her family was forcefully evicted from their reservation.
"I'm back at our old home, 50 years later."
Band Chief Carl George said the walk was undertaken to force the
government to answer the band's demands for the return of its land.
"The public has a right to know if the government will respond," he
said.
Defence minister Tom Siddon said in a letter to NDP Aboriginal
affairs critic Robert Skelly in August that the military was still
using the land and would return it when they are finished.
Carleton elder-in-residence Wilfred Peltier said he helped cook
food and took it out to the walkers Sept. 29 when they were staying
at the Nepean Tent and Trailer Park.
Peltier said there was little support from Native groups such as
the Native Council of Canada and the Assembly of First Nations. He
also said the timing of the march was bad.
"It was very bad timing, with the election going on and they didn't
get any press attention," he said.
Murray Angus, communications co-ordinator for the Native Council of
Canada, confirmed there was no involvement by the organization and
it was not represented on the Hill.
"We were occupied on other fronts. Our energies were spent
elsewhere," he said.
Angus said the council was involved in preparing criticisms of the
federal parties for ignoring Native issues during the campaign and
the leaders' debates.
While waiting for a government response, the band plans to return
to its land and continue occupying the reserve.
With files from Doug Johnson.