At the inaugural meeting of the recently elected council for Tsi Tkanatahere, individuals peacefully assembled to speak about homelessness. At the same time, others also gathered to challenge the sale of precious Green Space.
The Kanatso:ronon are members of the Kanienkehaka Nation, whose traditional territory includes, and is not limited to, the geographical region of Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Quebec.
The Kanienkehaka of Kana:tso have obtained archaeological evidence, as well as documented records of past events and times that support the assertion of Indigenous, property, and civil rights.
Woodland Pottery Shards: Yakowennahskats
Before written history, legal and living memory, the Kanatso:ronon hunted and harvested on their inherited geographical hunting grounds. The Kanienkehaka of Kana:tso were an organized society of Indigenous families who inhabited and controlled their Indian village.
The Kana:tso village is recorded historically and furnished medical supplies by the Department of the Secretary of State, “Indian Branch.” The historical rights bearing village precedes and followed petitioned Indian Reserves, a creation of the Crown under the Indian Act.
The Kana:tso habitation was last recorded on the north shore of the Ottawa River, south of Laurier Ave, adjacent to their ancestral burial ground in Gatineau, Quebec. The village burial ground was unearthed and desecrated in 1843, slighting its spiritual significance to nation members.
Disbanded?
Canadian law stripped the community of identity through disbandment to support advancing European settlement. The Provincial Court set an eviction date for Apr 15, 1903.
The Crown of England was entrusted with the fiduciary responsibility to protect the nation’s rights, interests, and inherited land at Kana:tso. Unsurprisingly, the Crown failed to protect the vested interest of these Mohawks.
After disbanding, the community struggled to continue culturally and spiritually and have their fundamental rights acknowledged. Subsequently, certain afflicted Kanatso:ronon moved blocks away in the Township of Hull, while others remained adjacent to the Ottawa River on the property of the Kana:tso village.
Hidden in Plain Sight
The historical habitation of Kanatso:ronon now supports Jaques Cartier Park and the Museum of History and is presently controlled by the National Capital Commission. The historical hunting grounds of the Kanatso:ronon now supports the present-day cities of Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Quebec.
Photo provided
Joseph Cole, pictured above, was an identified Kana:tso community member who was born in the Indigenous village circa 1872, following an exceedingly severe epidemic of Smallpox, just a few years after that confederation.
Cole was raised by kin Kanatso:ronon in Hull and learned much about his traditional lands. After the nations disbanding in 1903, Joseph Cole, his wife, and his offspring continued to live at his residence south of Laurier Ave, adjacent to the Ottawa River.
We’re Still Here
Cole shared a collective inherited right through the traditional customs of his ancestors, including culture, righteousness, and land at Kana:tso.
Jason Arbour
My name is Jason (Rotisken’rakehte) Arbour, Appointed Chief and Legal Representative of Kana:tso Kaniengehaga First Nation. In 1903 my family/band was disbanded from our Indian reserve and place of origin at Gatineau, Quebec. To date, I have been chosen to raise awareness and respectfully represent our community’s legal interest to re-establish our historical rights to our traditional territory at the Chaudiere Falls. I am indigenous to the Ottawa-Hull region of Canada. I was born and raised in Ottawa and happily married with five boys and two grandaughters.
There are only some relationships that fuse perfectly without deliquescing. The mingling of traditional Onkwehonwe cuisine and culture of Art Napolean with Dan Hayes British fare and flair is the foundation of the brilliant television series Moosemeat and Marmalade.
The Art of Visiting
So when the duo visited local culinary jewels Yawekon and Dixieland Grill, It caught no one by surprise that a visit to 1492 Landback Lane was also on their agenda.
Moosemeat and Marmalade joined Skyler Williams to talk about the current situation and the unrelenting attempts by the developer to criminalize the actual title holders. Highlighting the Failure of Developers to approach the provincial or federal government, who are responsible for the fraudulent land sales.
What Sustains Us
The relationship between Our Sustenance and Our Land is intertwined with the efforts to push back against land sales. The encroachment itself is endangering the ecosystems along the Grand River Watershed, while the current agricultural practices are doing their fair part in the great lakes and their watershed contamination.
Still, It’s not often that a cooking show wants to do a segment at a land reclamation site; all participants acknowledged the concept of landback having everything to do with restoring Onkwehonweneha that undoubtedly requires our land for sustenance.
“I am always impressed with the level of the commitment to maintain; many people show up when the media is there, but who’s there when all of that is gone? It’s those guys.” ~Art Napoleon
In a thick and right proper British accent, Hayes supportively said, “I second what Art says, and it is a big sacrifice.”
On Set Atmosphere
The set was all business, but we know that guests cannot visit our beloved territory without getting pulled into the jokes and tasting our good old-fashioned Sense Of Humour.
Williams, who boasts no claims to his cooking skills but is a natural in front of the camera, said of the experience, “It’s always nice to be around good people doing solid, cool work!”
The Lieutenant Governor has directed me to inform the deputations of chiefs from the Grand River that he has maturely considered their speech to him and particularly that important part of it which relates to the occupation of their lands by white people without authority.
The Lieutenant Governor is of opinion that very great difficulties will be found in any medium course between the expulsion of all intruders or non-interference, as experience has shown that with all the anxiety to do justice, and with all the care exercised to prevent injury to Indian interest, the interference of the Indians themselves, continually, has created new difficulties, to which there seems to be no end, and yet the Government is expected to compromise its own character by judging what is right and wisely recommended by the Indians, or what, on the other hand, maybe capriciously or corruptly counselled by them.
The Lieutenant Governor is of opinion that there can be no remedy found for the continuance of this unsatisfactory and embarrassing state of affairs while the lands remain general property under circumstances in which it is no reproach to the Indians to say they cannot manage the estate for the general interests of the tribes.
The Lieutenant Governor, therefore, considers that it would be very much the benefit of the interests of the Indians if they surrendered into the hands of the Government the whole tract with the exception of such part of it as they may choose to occupy as a concentrated body, so that the same may be disposed of by Government; and the Lieutenant Governor therefore strongly recommends that this course be adopted by them, that they immediately select a tract of sufficient extent to give each head of a family or grown-up man a farm of 100 or 200 acres, for cultivation in the most eligible situation on the river, together with a further quantity to be reserved for firewood and other contingencies; that the Indians then remove to this track and live together as a concentrated body upon the farms assigned to them, and that the residue of the track be surrendered to be disposed of for the exclusive benefit of the Indians.
The Lieutenant Governor is also of opinion that when the Indians are to settle together there will be no difficulty in keeping away intruders or similar punishing them should they persevere in committing trespass on their attractive land.
The Lieutenant Governor feels confident that the proceeds of the sale of the residue of the land and the timber growing upon it will retrieve the affairs of the six nations Indians, as well as confer on the section of the province a lasting benefit, by bringing into cultivation a large tract of the finest description of land, which at present is not only unproductive to the Indians, but absolutely useless to them in every point of view, and which is considered by the public a bar to the improvement and prosperity of the districts in which it is situated, and in fact, a nuisance which the public have the right to call upon Government to abate.
It is a necessary for the Lieutenant Governor again to express the great anxiety felt by the Queen’s Government to promote the interest of the Indians and to carry out such a system in the management of their affairs as may conduce to this end, and the Lieutenant Governor, therefore, trusts that I remember of the community of the Six Nations Indians will believe him when he states that if he were not firmly convinced that the plan proposed in this communication was the most proper for their adoption he would not have recommended it.
Surrender of Residual Lands, 1841
Samuel P Jarvis to a delegation of Mohawk Chiefs on behalf of acting Lieutenant-Governor Sir George Arthur
Great Britain treaties, Indian treaties and surrenders, one, 119-120
(No correction for Grammer or spelling made)
If you believe this one, Have I got a deal for you!!
The protective nature of municipalities like Caledonia or Brantford may have some believing that it’s pride or love for the land. But that appears to be the furthest thing from the truth.
Municipal employees such as Mayors, Councillors and even Municipal police contribute to the Ontario Municiple Employee Retirement fund. They are banking on their investor’s choices to keep them comfortable in their golden years.
The drive for development becomes much clearer when we understand that municipalities and municipal organizations directly benefit from these strategies. While simultaneously laying claim to land through squatters’ rights.
“Toronto-based Teranet, which has exclusive rights to offer electronic land registration services in Ontario and Manitoba, collects a fee every time a home in Canada’s most populous province and its Western neighbour changes hands or is registered.”
The insidious nature of this tactic paints a wildly different picture than the one that Marc Miller has painted with his performative statement “It’s Time To Give Land Back” made in October of 2021.
On the world forum, this is tantamount to United Nations Convention on the Prevention and punishment of Genocide. The greatest barrier is the departure from rationale thought that death does not have to be swift for it to be Death; One can start slowly and torture can span many generations piece by piece.
Death does not have to be swift for it to be Death; One can start slowly and torture can span many generations piece by piece
The Superior Court of Ontario tore a page directly from the colonial playbook and granted yet another injunction in a local Land back case. The Injunction was granted midmonth against Onkwehonwe, asserting the land defence responsibility within their territory.
This Injunction also included several key members of various Friends of Arrowdale support groups who were notified via email. The members have been pivotal in speaking out against the development with the 14-million dollar proceeds going towards the remaining approximately 100-million dollars needed to actually build affordable housing in a mystery location.
Historically this approach had proven to be an effective recourse for cities attempting to sell off what they erroneously perceive as their assets.
Just stopping short of a race-based anti-protest Bylaw, The City of Brantford successfully secured a permanent injunction against Haudenosaunee and Haudenosaunee Development Institute. Granted to prevent intentional interferance or causing irreparable harm to the growth and development of the City.
A 2014 ruling gave developers the confidence to ignore buyer beware warnings on Onkwehonwe land. It has supported Ontario’s Places to Grow Act plan and relased the federal government from having to stop the provincial development before a land claim potentially requires return of unused land parcels.
It is only one way to manipulate the legal system when Onkwehonwe remind the Corporation of the City of Brantford’s attempts to overlook past due accounts.
Brantford has been openly critical of Onkwehonwe actions to halt the unsustainable developments sprawl outright. Yet to turn that critical eye towards themselves other than performative actions like hiring an Indigenous Affairs Officer has been elusive.
Injunctions are granted without representation of any of the named individuals present. Certainly without any legal representation of the accused.-A huge issue within the legal system allows one party’s allegations to effectively silence another party. Potentially even making very public and charatcher damagaing announcments on megaphones like what happened at Arrowdale one source confirmed.
It has an almost arbitrary authority to empower law enforcement to contain and criminalize people by securing vague geographical boundaries and broad powers of removal, often indefinitely.
Mr and Ms Doe of these blanket orders allow anyone to be swept into the parameters of the injunction, thus methodically removing any possible interference in development plans. Its completely favourable for the Municipality and its stakeholders.
Change?
It’s a tactic that has worked in the past but times are changing. Just last week, a judge found in favour of Skyler Williams of 1492 land back lane and dismissed the permanent injunction granted by a judge…. who made it clear that Williams was persona non grata in his courtroom.
The appalling misuse of the legal tools for a country and province that prides itself on the rule of law. Despite bending the same law for financial benefits is the real problem here.
Who will be delivering the customary wampum that will put an end to this madnesss to these renegades municipalities?