[Bloquez l'empire!] Barricade à Deseronto :: Deseronto quarry blocked by Mohawk protes t

[aaron at resist.ca]

http://www.radio-canada.ca/regions/Ontario/2007/01/10/004-barricades-deseronto.shtml

Revendications autochtones
Barricade à Deseronto

Une trentaine d'autochtones ont érigé des barrières devant une entreprise
de construction de Deseronto, près de Belleville.

Des policiers surveillent de près la manifestation.

Les membres de la communauté mohawk de la Baie de Quinte manifestent
contre la construction de 136 logements condominiums sur un terrain qu'ils
revendiquent. Selon eux, Ottawa a donné ces terres à Deseronto sans leur
consentement, il y a plus d'un siècle.

Le fédéral a récemment nommé un négociateur dans l'espoir de trouver une
solution à la dispute qui ressemble beaucoup à celle qui se déroule à
Caledonia au sud de Hamilton.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/ottawa/story/2007/01/10/deseronto.html

Deseronto quarry blocked by Mohawk protest

Aboriginal protesters blocked access to a quarry in Deseronto, Ont., on
Wednesday and handed out pamphlets to passing motorists during a peaceful
protest over disputed land.

Shawn Brant, a spokesman for the approximately 20 Mohawk protesters, said
the group erected the barricades after hearing a Kingston, Ont., developer
would begin construction of a house on land claimed by the Mohawks of the
nearby Tyendinaga Territory on Wednesday.

Brant said the protest would likely continue into the afternoon and would
remain peaceful unless the developer tried to begin work at the site, in
which case protesters would physically remove him.

The protest was not sanctioned by Tyendinaga Territory Chief Don Maracle,
who said it was premature considering that a federal negotiator has been
appointed to settle the land dispute.

The barricades blocked country road off Highway 2, but protesters allowed
residents to pass through and only barred access to the Thurlow Aggregates
quarry, which was closed Wednesday on recommendation of police supervising
the protest.

The quarry, which is also on disputed land, normally opens two days each
week, and has been operating since 1990.

Continue Article

The Tyendinaga Mohawks have expressed opposition to the quarry in the
past, but have never before taken action against it.

Brant said his group now wants to shut down the quarry permanently, as its
stone would be used in housing construction on the disputed land.

The land in question is called the Culbertson Land Tract, and consists of
about 400 hectares that the Tyendinaga Mohawks say they never properly
surrendered.

During the fall, the same Kingston, Ont., developer said he would begin
construction on a housing subdivision on the land, sparking protests from
the same aboriginal group.

That raised fears that the situation could escalate into a long, bitter
dispute similar to the one that continues in Caledonia, Ont.

The Deseronto, Ont., protests ended in November after the Mohawks took
control of the land and construction was suspended indefinitely when
negotiations began with the federal government in November.