[IPSM] Tyendinaga: Mohawks block off disputed quarry

[stef at tao.ca]

Mohawks block off disputed quarry
Group wants gravel pit’s operations stopped, land claim settled

http://www.thewhig.com/webapp/sitepages/search/results.asp?contentID=456099&catname=Local%20News&type=search&search1=mohawk

Friday, March 23, 2007 @ 00:00

By Jeremy Ashley

DESERONTO/Osprey News Network

Clad in camouflaged apparel and hauling camping gear, more than 125
members of the mohawks of the Bay of Quinte community seized control of a
gravel quarry on a disputed tract of land located along the northeastern
outskirts of Deseronto last night.

Shortly before 5 p.m., the winding access road leading to the Thurlow
Aggregates gravel pit off of Deseronto Road was blocked off by mohawk
protesters in several vehicles, including two school buses and an number
of all-terrain vehicles.

Protesters and members of the mohawks of the Bay of Quinte (MBQ) band
council say the move is to reinforce an earlier request to have the
quarry’s operation stopped.

Flanked by members of his council, MBQ Chief R. Donald Maracle said the
event was to “basically send a message to Canada that it is unacceptable
to continue to develop land that is unsettled.”

The demonstrators say they are reclaiming a small part of 925 acres known
as the Culbertson Land Tract, a parcel of land that they claim was
illegally taken from the MBQ in 1832.

Maracle said the occupation wasn’t formally supported by the MBQ band
council.

“The intervention that is occurring today is not officially sanctioned by
the mohawk council, but the mohawk council certainly understands the
frustration that young people have in achieving a resolution that’s in the
best interest of future generations.

“I’m here basically to point out that the government is not dealing fairly
with our people and helping us settle these claims amicably.”

Shawn Brant, a well-known mohawk activist, said the occupation of the
quarry is expected to go on for quite some time.

“Let me put it to you this way – once we’re dug in, it will take an air
strike to get us out,” the 42-year-old said.

“The quarry is something that strikes at the heart of the issue – it’s
very difficult to have negotiations at a time when they’re taking out
10,000 truckloads of our land [per year]. It’s an affront to our process.”

Establishing camps inside the quarry earlier in the evening, as many as
150 people acted as a “set-up crew,” Brant said.

Native communities throughout the province have “been put on notice” about
the group’s actions, and “all are waiting and it is our intention to draw
up support as it’s needed.”

Brant said it was his group’s intention “to close the quarry” but admitted
the group “was a little reluctant about a long-term campaign 
 what we
want to do is suspend his [quarry] licence until the land claim is
resolved.”

After a federal negotiator was appointed earlier this year, protesters
turned their attention to the quarry, claiming the operation would be
contributing material to the development of a new $30-million housing
development in Deseronto and pledged to shut down the site.

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