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I had a lovely weekend...I visited a parish in Caledonia, at the western end of the Niagara Peninsula. The parish is very welcoming, very friendly, and the couple who put me up for the night couldn't have been more gracious. They showed me around the town, made a lovely meal and offered what I'd have to call a suite for my use. A sweet suite, actually! Part of seeing the town was seeing the disputed land, currently occupied by protesters from the nearby Six Nations Reserve. If you're not familiar with the story, over a year ago a group of protesters took possession of a field that was in the beginning stages of subdivision construction. You know how those places look...a big, muddy field with one or two half-finished houses. The protesters blockaded the roads leading past the land and burned a huge pile of tires. They probably also burned a bridge down, dragged power line towers across the road and destroyed a power station (cutting power to the town for three days). I say probably because, as with most such situations, there have been a lot of things done by people only marginally associated with the actual protest. Besides, nobody is taking credit. The protesters have a legitimate beef, though perhaps not a legal claim. The land in question (and, indeed, all the land for miles around) was once part of a grant from the British crown to the Iroquois as thanks for their support in the American Revolution. At the time it probably sounded like a good "no-skin-off-the-royal-nose" idea. Six miles on either side of a river nobody in England had ever seen, in a country so big it boggles the British imagination? Sure thing, old boy. Go crazy. That land, however, is now right alongside the most densely populated part of this vast country. Oops. The land has been chipped away over the years. Bits have been sold off here and there, mostly above board. The land in question (a mere smudge of 40 hectares) was apparently surrendered long ago. The protester's legal claim holds little water. The moral claim, however, is serious. Legal or not, European settlers have hardly been entirely upright in their dealings with the native population. Like the young Muslim protesters in France, the people on the nearby reserve had reached a point of frustration and anger. NOTE: A cynic would also ask why they chose to act once ground broke, rather than claiming the land when it was still a fallow field...sort of like someone wanted the developers to quietly pay them off. There's no question that a lot of the protesters are legitimately and rightly angry, but someone's timing was awfully careful in whipping that anger into action. Anyhow, like the French Muslim protesters, the anger has been unleashed on the wrong people. Whatever the crimes of the citizens of Caledonia, they're not the ones who took the continent a few hundred years back. They're decent, good people just going about their business. They love their town, of which they're justifiably proud, and most just want to live a peaceful life. (There are certainly troublemakers among the non-native population, and they don't even have the experience of oppression to justify it.) The problem is with the federal government...far away in Ottawa and historically not so interested in land disputes until someone throws up a barricade. Now a virtual demilitarized zone has landed in Caledonia's back yard (literally in back yards, in many cases) and people's lives have been shaken by chaos. Rocks are thrown at the houses that abut the disputed land, children are harassed and threatened through backyard fences (most kids are kept inside now) and rashes of vandalism hit neighbourhoods all over the town. People are threatened by baseball bat wielding teens (who probably, like other teens, just see an excuse for bad behaviour) and provincial police sit parked near the barricaded entrances to the field. It's surreal, really. A sign at one of the looming barricades reads, "Welcome to Mohawk Land." I don't think that welcome is what that sign means to convey. Listening to the stories, I had the distinct impression that some of the protesters are capitalizing on white people's perceived fear of "wild, rampaging Indians." Reading some less than rational comments on internet message boards, some people seem all too ready to believe it. In the midst of all this, the parish is quietly doing ministry. When the power was cut, and people's food was going bad and their homes were dark, the parishioners dragged out a huge barbecue and cooked meals for anyone who needed it - no matter their stand. Grocery stores heard what was happening and donated food. (Good idea, since the burgers and hot dogs and whatnot would have gone bad anyhow.) A local business donated flashlights, which the church distributed, and bottled water appeared from somewhere. Members of the congregation say it was like the feeding of the 5,000 - food just appeared as needed! And in the congregation there are both non-natives and natives. Some people from both sides of the issue (which breaks along lines more subtle than race) have left, presumably because the church didn't take a strong stand for or against the protest. The parish, though, isn't interested in taking a position...other than in the middle of the pain, being church in the only way they know how. I'm normally a stickler for liturgical correctness. Famous for it, really. But I entirely understood when the rector told me that the parish had eschewed the traditional penitential mood of Lent. That town has had enough sorrow this past year. They really need some Easter. |
