The occupiers are demanding that work on a massive multi-million dollar housing development by Henco Industries, under construction on land they claim belongs to the Six Nations, be frozen while their land claim is resolved. The road into the development has been blocked and all construction has stopped since the occupation began on February 28.

As the March 22 deadline for police enforcement of the court injunction neared, more than 100 native women, including clan mothers leading the occupation, locked arms to form a human chain at the entrance to what Henco Industries calls the Douglas Creek Estates.

They were backed by hundreds of supporters from the community and Natives from other parts of Canada and the United States who had responded to a call for help. The threat by the police to carry out arrests never materialized.

The clan mothers from the Six Nations Confederacy released a statement to the press, which was addressed to the developer of the subdivision, provincial and federal authorities, and “Her Majesty the Queen.” It commanded “the agents, representatives and officers of the said British corporation to be at peace and refrain from any acts of violence to spill blood or interfere with the rights of the Onkwe’hon:we (the aboriginal people).”

“We’re here for the coming faces [generations]. We felt we had to take a stand for them,” Ilene, one of the protesters at the property entrance, told the Militant.

“The old people used to say this isn’t our land, we’re just keepers for the next seven generations,” said Kahehti:Io.

The confederacy chiefs represent the traditional government of the Six Nations as opposed to the band council chief elected under the authority of the hated federal Indian Act. The chiefs state that in 1784 the Six Nations were granted the 360,000-hectare Haldimand tract—a 32-kilometer strip of land, which is 9.6 kilometers wide on either side of the Grand River, in recognition of support by the Six Nations to the British side during the American war of independence. (1 hectare = 2.5 acres; 1 kilometer = .62 miles).

Ontario government authorities maintain the Six Nations surrendered the land for sale in 1841. According to protesters, the 16,000 members of the Six Nations community now live on about 18,000 hectares.

Near the entrance to the property, tents have been erected along with a kitchen. A permanent wooden cookhouse, which also can be used for meetings, has now been built on the site. Many people from the area have indicated their support for the action by honking horns in solidarity, giving thumbs up, and dropping by with coffee and donuts. At the same time, about 250 people rallied outside the Ontario provincial police office April 5, demanding the court injunction be enforced.

Annette Kouri contributed to this article.  
 
 
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