Bullying Haudenosaunee

Vincent J. Curtis

19 Aug 22

RE: City asked to delay Chedoke dredging.  By Matthew Van Dongen, The Hamilton Spectator 19 Aug 22.  Caption to the accompanying photograph reads in part: Spokesperson Aaron Detlor said the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council is responsible for asserting treaty rights in Hamilton, and deserves to be involved in “meaningful consultation” on the project…(of dredging Chedoke Creek.)

If civics and geography were taught at day school at the Mohawk Institute, they were wasted on Haudenosaunee.  Let’s start with geography.  No part of Hamilton, including the head waters of the Red Hill Creek lie within the Haldimand Tract.  The land around Hamilton was purchased separately from the Mississaugas in 1792 to accommodate the rising tide of UELs pouring in from the United States.  So, if any tribe wants to assert Seigniorial oversight of Hamilton’s development, it would be Mississaugas, not Mohawks.

(Historical fact: The Haldimand Tract was purchased in 1784 from the Mississaugas in order to accommodate Six Nations in British territory.  The purchase of the land on which Hamilton is was purchased separately.  The Six Nations on their reserve and the City of Hamilton exist on the same basis: land purchase from the Mississaugas, who were the tribe found “in possession” of the land when the British arrived.  In addition, there are no “treaty rights” to be asserted or observed between the Crown and Six Nations in respect of Hamilton.  If so, they should name the treaty.)

The legally recognized governing body of Six Nations is the elected band council.  The “Confederacy Chiefs Council” is archaic.  There is a pretender to the French Throne and numerous titled members of the French nobility, but they are of no legal or political consequence because monarchial government is abolished and archaic in France.

I understand that people of Six Nations are intimidated by those asserting hereditary rights, for they employ violence and threats of violence in backing their claims.  But we don’t have to put up with their bullying and pretentions, and should not.

Haudenosaunee have no historical or legal claim to any part of Hamilton.  Their assertion of Seigniorial oversight of Hamilton is nothing but bullying and attempts to intimidate without a smattering of legal or historical basis.  The self-appointed “hereditary chiefs” have no more rights over Hamilton than the King of France.

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The King of France signed over New France to Britain in the Peace of Paris of 1763, and that territory included the nascent Southern Ontario and Hamilton.