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Six Nations valley standoff brews
Red Hill Creek Expressway deal needs tri-party nod: Band councillor
Meredith Macleod, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday, April 8, 2004A symbolic standoff may be brewing over who has the right to represent native interests in the Red Hill Valley.
For months, representatives of traditional chiefs of the Iroquois Confederacy have been meeting with officials from the City of Hamilton to develop an agreement over the Red Hill Creek Expressway. The chiefs, who are respected spiritual and cultural leaders, ratified a deal in January, although there has been no officially signing.
But now members of the Six Nations elected band council say they are unhappy with elements of the agreement and that negotiations should continue.
"It is a very sensitive issue who is the governing body," said Councillor Dave General, who oversees land and resources issues for the council.
But he pointed out that the Supreme Court in 1977 recognized elected band councils as governing authorities, rather than traditional chiefs.
"Our elected council would have to sign an agreement with Hamilton," General said.
It's believed to be the first time that a member of the band council has taken a clear stand on who holds the legal right to sign the agreement.
General has concerns with economic and heritage aspects of the deal but adds that he had "no opportunity to comment on it before ratification."
General said the deal uses "exclusionary language" by not recognizing there should be three parties to the deal, namely the traditional chiefs, the band council and the city.
"Where do we go from here? Back to negotiations. That's the only way to resolve this," General said.
General also said that although the band council is opposed to the expressway, it recognizes that Hamilton has jurisdiction over the land.
Chief Roberta Jamieson, who heads the band council, repeatedly said that the elected officials signed no agreements over the expressway, except an initial deal to begin talks over native treaty rights over the land.
"We can't answer any of your questions about the deal because it's not our deal," she told the 50 people gathered. Many of them were protesters who camped out in the Red Hill Valley.
She said she was disappointed that no Confederacy representatives or negotiators accepted an invitation to come to the meeting. Jamieson said her council had taken "great pains" to work with the Confederacy in recognition of the fact that traditional chiefs signed original land treaties more than 300 years ago.
Representatives of the city of Hamilton, including expressway project manager Chris Murray, were grilled by those in attendance. A number said the city doesn't have the authority to go ahead with the four-lane expressway without the consent of native leaders.
"We are getting absolutely nothing in this agreement, not even trinkets and beads," said Jan Longboat. "
The deal -- which includes a joint valley stewardship body and the promise of jobs and contracts for Six Nations people -- is to be voted on soon by the city public works committee.