City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 2012 Oh Canada, Your Home on Native Land: Settlement, Development, and Conflict in Southern Ontario Shana Siegel The Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3911 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] OH CANADA, YOUR HOME ON NATIVE LAND: SETTLEMENT, DEVELOPMENT, AND CONFLICT IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO by SHANA SIEGEL A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Sociology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Sociology, The City University of New York 2012 © 2012 SHANA SIEGEL All Rights Reserved ii This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Sociology in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Sociology. _William Kornblum________________________________ _____________________ ________________________________________________ Date Chair of Examining Committee _John Torpey_____________________________________ _____________________ ________________________________________________ Date Executive Officer Barbara Katz Rothman Phil Kasinitz Barbara Alice Mann, University of Toledo Supervisory Committee THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii Abstract OH CANADA, YOUR HOME ON NATIVE LAND: SETTLEMENT, DEVELOPMENT AND CONFLICT IN SOUTHERN ONTARIO By Shana Siegel Adviser: Professor William Kornblum On February 28, 2006, members of the Haudenosaunee Six Nations reserve in southern Ontario physically occupied and halted construction on a housing development bordering their reserve. The Haudenosaunee claimed that the site was part of a larger tract of land that they had never surrendered, and they vowed to remain on the land as long as necessary prevent the planned development from taking place. When police had still not removed the Haudenosaunee protesters almost two months later, some 2,000-3,000 local non-Native residents began voicing their frustration and anger in regular anti-protest rallies. On some occasions, these rallies escalated to the point of what one local politician called “intense, irrational anger” and even “near riots.” This Sociological study examines some of the factors motivating both the 2006 protest, and the reactions to it by local non-Native residents and their federal, provincial and local government officials. Based on legal, archival and ethnographic research; media analysis; GIS mapping; and 45 interviews with residents of the town of Caledonia and the Six Nations reserve, as well as with local government officials, a few conclusions are reached. In examining the motivations for the 2006 protest, the results of the legal and archival research suggest that the Canadian government violated its own Supreme Court of Canada rulings, as well as iv its binding international legal commitments regarding the human rights of indigenous peoples. This research also suggests that these violations of the rights of indigenous peoples have long constituted the norm in Canadian society, producing a climate in which Native peoples are regularly dehumanized and dispossessed. In examining the various responses to the protest, the dissertation pays particular attention to the ways that non- Native residents and government officials constructed and acted upon various settler- colonial narratives when seeking to justify their responses to the protest. The dissertation argues that both these narratives and the legal violations can only be understood within a broader context of problematic patterns of thought and behavior that have long been inherent in –and even foundational to—Western society and the Western cultural worldview. v This dissertation is dedicated to: Dehatkadons Arnie General My dearest friend, thank you for all of the support, encouragement and friendship that you have provided. Also dedicated to: Sakowenionkwas Tom Porter and the late Sotsisowah John Mohawk Chapter Two is additionally dedicated to John Trudell. The words and teachings of all of these magnificent individuals have influenced, guided, and inspired my studies in too many ways to mention, and I am forever grateful. Niawenko:wa. Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to thank all of the people of the Caledonia and Six Nations communities, who let me into their homes and shared their stories. I cannot name you all by name, in part because some of you have chosen to remain anonymous, but I am forever grateful for your generosity and sharing. Though many of the interviews conducted in 2009 have not found their way into this dissertation, these stories will be given their full voice in future works. I would also like to thank all those who have read portions of the dissertation and offered feedback, including Bruno Gulli, Judy Warner, Adrian Jacobs, and Arnie General. Thank you also to Tom Keefer and his family. Tom not only offered feedback on some aspects of the dissertation, but also gave me a place to stay when I was doing research at the Archives of Ontario. Valerie Bourne also shared her space with me during my time at the Archives of Ontario. Thank you also to the staff at the Archives of Ontario, as well as the staff at Library Archives Canada, particularly Daniel Somers, Patricia Kennedy and Katherine Lagrandeur for making possible a viewing of the some of the original treaty documents of interest in this dissertation. Further thanks goes to Phil Monture, Native Lands, Inc., Marcie Hill and those at the Six Nations Lands and Resources office for providing me with feedback on parts of the written dissertation (Phil) as well as on the maps used in it (everyone). Thank you also to Sue Jacobs at the Haudenosaunee Resource Center for all of your help, and to Pat Skye at the Haudenosaunee Confederacy’s land research office for meeting with me and allowing me to view your maps. Jim Windle, Randell Hill and everyone else at the Tekawennake, thank you for allowing me to go through and photograph old issues of the paper. Thank you also to those at the Regional News who allowed me to do the same there. A big special thanks also goes to Andrea Ades Vásquez, Aaron Knoll, Steve Brier, and all others at the City University of New York New Media Lab. The very existence of this space gave me inspiration and encouragement to complete the mapping portion of this dissertation, but each of you also helped and inspired me on the project in your own ways. In addition, Aaron further provided endless bits of technical advice in the construction of the online interactive maps, as did Jean Boulet of the Graduate Center’s vi Information Technology Training and Development program. Thank you Jean for all of your help! Other City University of New York programs, places and people that deserve special thanks include the Graduate Center’s Writing Fellows program, Anne Johnson for all of the help she provides to students in this area, and Andrea McArdle, Susan Markus and the City University of New York Law School’s Writing Center. I learned a good amount about legal research during my time as a Writing Fellow at the Law School’s Writing Center. Thank you Andrea and Susan for all of your help, guidance and support. Thank you also to my committee members for putting up with me, and to the past and present faculty, students and administrators at the Sociology Department at the City University of New York Graduate Center for doing the same. And thank you Kay Powell for all of your help over the years with my IRB/ human subjects paperwork. I also would like to thank Tom, Alice, Ida Mae and the entire Kanatsiohare:ke community, including everyone who lives at, visits, and supports the community but who are too numerous to mention. A special thanks goes as well to Marie Jones and Emily Tarbell, who were both working at the community when I first visited, and to Flora Colao, who first brought me there. Thank you Tiokasin Ghosthorse for the CDs and information passed on over the years in conversations and through your radio show, First Voices Indigenous Radio. And thank you to Kamala Ceasar and Lotus Music & Dance for bringing people together in NYC every year at your Drums Along the Hudson event, and to the National Museum of the American Indian and its Film and Video Center for the film festivals and other music and educational events that are free and open to the public and provide important opportunities for learning and exchange. I also owe a great deal to all of those people whose work I have read in preparation for this dissertation, including the work that I have cited and quoted throughout. I am grateful to these people for the work they have done, and am also grateful to all of the people who have helped me along the way, who are too numerous to mention individually. In addition to all of these people I have thanked, I would like to thank the earth for providing us with all we need to survive, the waters for their life giving force; the fish for cleansing and purifying the waters and feeding us with their flesh; all of the various types of food and medicinal plants that cleanse the air and provide us with sustenance and medicine; the animals that share this earth with us, bring joy to our lives, and provide food for our tables; the trees that cleanse the air, creating the oxygen we need to breathe and providing us with fruits, nuts, syrups, and many useful materials; the birds for their songs; the four winds and the thunderers for bringing the rains that renew life; the sun for lighting our days and helping all things to grow; the moon for lighting the night and the stars that help her; the enlightened teachers; and whatever form of Mystery, Creator, God or other life force that exists for those who read this dissertation.