Vincent J. Curtis
25 Aug 22
RE: Creek dredging ‘paused’ amid dispute. Teviah Moro The Hamilton Spectator 25 Aug 22.
The Six Nation ‘Haudenosaunee’ are tying Hamilton on for size. Those who follow these things will have observed that Indians in general, and Iroquois in particular, have been playing the land ownership shell game for over 325 years. It’s your if you give them money, then it’s not. (But for more money it can be yours again, for a while.) A second point is that a large number of Indians are content with, and feel entitled to, “taking the white man’s money.”
In the dredging dustup, both games are in play.
When asked, HDI representatives (note: not ‘Six Nations’ representative) said the land was “ours.” Except it isn’t. When asked how it was theirs, we got mumbling about unwritten intra-Indian agreements, including “Dish with one spoon.” The purchase agreement with the Mississaugas of 1792. which got mentioned, is why Hamilton is not Indian land any more, not Mississauga and certainly not Iroquis. The one thing that wasn’t mentioned was the Peace of Paris of 1763, which is why Hamiltonians largely speak English instead of French. It also means that sovereignty over Hamilton belongs to the Canadian Crown, not the French or anyone else.
The problematic “Nanfan Treaty” did not get mentioned by the HDI representative.
The “just take the white man’s money”
aspect appears in the demand that the city pay a sidewalk supervisor $150 per
hour to watch the clean-up proceed. The
individual to be paid is not a P.Eng, has no practical experience in the work,
and has no authority of any kind. He’s
just there to be paid and act as a totem of HDI dominance of the white man.
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The Haudenosaunee rely on intimidation to
maintain their status within the Six Nations community. They are not above violence. HDI is taking a risk here, and so they must
think they understand their quarry. If they
get embarrassed, they could lose some status on the reserve.
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