Stores near Caledonia protest advised to close early

CBC News
http://www.cbc.ca/news
Last Updated Fri, 28 Apr 2006 13:28:41 EDT

[SISIS note: The following mainstream news article is provided for reference only, as an example of how mainstream media treats indigenous resistance to genocide. Mainstream media often presents biased and distorted information, lacking pertinent facts and/or context. Inclusion of this article on our site should not be considered an endorsement by SISIS.]

A uneasy calm hung over a native land standoff in Caledonia, Ont. on Friday, with store owners in the area being advised by police to close early.

In issuing the advisory, police stressed they had no official confirmation that any kind of trouble may be brewing.

However, Ontario Provincial Police Const. Paula Wright told the Canadian Press that there had been "heresay and rumours of rallies."

Protesters from the Six Nations reserve have occupied the property, about an hour southwest of Toronto, since Feb. 28. They argue that the land belongs to them.

The developer, Henco Industries, intends to build 250 homes on the 40-hectare site.

Police take action

On April 20, OPP officers attempted to break up the protest, but failed when hundreds of people from the reserve arrived to bolster the blockade.

Sixteen people were arrested and later released on bail. The blockade was not removed.

On Monday, there was a noisy confrontation at the barricades that led to the arrest of one person.

About 500 residents headed to the site after a rally, at which they called on authorities to end the demonstration.

The province says native people gave up the land in 1841 to make way for a new highway, an agreement a Six Nations spokesperson said was only meant to be a lease.

The Six Nations group filed a land-claim suit over the area in 1999.

Meanwhile, provincial government officials told CBC News on Friday that negotiations to end the standoff were expected to run into the weekend.

The office of Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay said negotiators had broken off into working groups and would continue meeting on Saturday.