Angry in the Great White North

The Calwells band of the Chippewa have lived spread across southern Ontario and across North America for over two hundred years, though the largest community was in the Point Pelee region:

The Caldwell First Nation, with its present population of about 255 people, is a Chippewa community that historically has been known as the Chippewas of Point Pelee and Pelee Island. Its permanent home was Point Pelee and its hunting grounds included a substantial area around the Point. When the land south of the Thames River was given to the Crown by a treaty at Detroit in 1790, Chief Quenesis Caldwell of the Chippewas of Point Pelee was not there. While other participants in that treaty kept reserve lands for themselves, the Caldwells continued to live at Point Pelee and to hunt, fish, trap and gather in the surrounding area without any treaty protection - and without having surrendered their aboriginal title. In the latter part of the nineteenth century, the Caldwells were removed from Point Pelee and the Caldwells' rights were not protected by the Crown. Because of these facts, the Government of Canada recognized a lawful obligation and agreed to negotiate a settlement agreement.

The negotiations culimated in 1998 with an Agreement in Principle. The Agreement stipulated that the federal government would give the Caldwell Band $23.4 million. Of this, $15 million would be used to buy land. The land would be designated reserve land. No land would be expropriated. The band could purchase up to 4,500 acres. There was a time limit: the land would have to be acquired within 25 years.

Access and drainage would be maintained, that is, if your neighbours sold to the band but you did not, the Caldwells would promise that your access to your property would not be restricted. Although the Caldwells would be restoring wetlands on farmlands they purchased, they promised that drainage for neighbouring agricultural acreage would not be affected.

According to the Agreement, the Caldwells would be allowed to purchase lands in the Chatham-Kent area. Well, when the local communities learned that 255 people would come with $15 million to buy up land to create a reserve, things got ugly. The band members complained of verbal abuse, but they were going to hold to the deal.

First, though, the had to hold a referendum to ratify the Agreement. But it could not be held right away because of signficant opposition to the deal and to the leadership of Chief Larry Johnson.

Why? As far as the deal was concerned, a lot of band members would have prefered a no-strings cash-only settlement on an individual bases. Basically, take the $23.4 million and divide it among the band members to do with as they wished.

But Johnson and his allies wanted a reserve. This caused a major split:

Several members of the Caldwell FN have served notice that they are not interested in a land settlement offer. They have been litigating against the Chief and Council since the 1998 AIP was signed.

Two dissident groups formed and tried to litigate against Chief Johnson.

...an election was called last June [2001] by band custom. Chief Johnson was re-elected. On his Council, he has one councillor who supported the AIP and two Councillors who supported financial compensation.

This has created an impasse, which is preventing band business from being conducted.

Though details are sketchy, by 2003 Chief Johnson had succeeded in finally getting his referendum. The vote was held on August 9.

And the Agreement was rejected.

By six votes.

There were lots of reasons for the close finish. Obviously there was real opposition to the deal. Others were looking for revenge:

But Chief Johnson also cited an example for Turtle Island Native Network, of the challenges he and Council faced, "We had people go against the land claim, like our own band members, and sometimes it was just for personal reasons. Several years ago we had to push a dope dealer out of our community and he became enraged and told his family not to support the land claim, so we lost a few votes that way. . . it gets down to some down and dirty stuff."

And then there were allegations of cheating:

Johnson claims there was corruption in the vote with mail-in ballots having been delivered by hand on Aug. 9 instead of being received by mail before the vote deadline. This prompted an improper voting procedure complaint to the Chatham-Kent Police Department.

He also said that alleged "anonymous hate mail opposing the vote" circulated prior to voting day is now in the hands of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He said there were claims made that if the Ratification Vote upheld the Crown's offer, the chief and council would benefit monetarily. He said there is no truth to any of the allegations.

Opponents of the Agreement among the non-Natives in Chatham-Kent were very pleased:

The results were being hailed as a "triumph" by MP Jerry Pickard (Liberal-Chatham-Kent-Essex).

Jack Rigby, spokesman for the CKCN [Chatham-Kent Citizen's Network] insists, "Right has triumphed. I feel happy for the farmers, I'm sure they're all rejoicing over this."

If the Agreement had been accepted, things would have gotten ugly. "Not for sale" signs appeared on farms surrounding the band office for miles around. Had the crisis been averted?

No, just delayed. Three years after the Agreement was rejected, Chief Johnson won his fight to hold a new vote. The ruling just came down three weeks ago -- August 18 to be exact:

Chief Larry Johnson told Turtle Island Native Network he feels vindicated. The Caldwell First Nation (Chippewas of Point Pelee and Pelee Island) has won its long and hard-fought battle to have another community ratification vote on its $23.4 Million specific land claim settlement agreement. It has taken Indian Affairs three years to get back to Chief Johnson on the review of the August 9th, 2003 ratification vote that saw the agreement rejected by only six votes.

The Chief and Council of the 250 member southwestern Ontario first nation appealed because of significant voting irregularities, and now Indian Affairs has agreed that a new vote can take place. A letter from Indian Affairs Minister Jim Prentice informed Chief Johnson that the results of the 2003 ratification vote have been nullified.

So what happens next? A new vote, and I think we can expect this time it will pass. Are the local farmers, the people to whom offers will be made to purchase their land, any more likely to sell now?

Well, Chief Johnson has tried to assure people that the Caldwells would be good neighbours:

If and when the land claim settlement agreement takes effect, by way of comment I suggest to people who have stood in the way of the Caldwells, that they carefully read the following words of Chief Johnson, included here from a letter he wrote to the local municipality seven years ago.

"We have been neighbours for more than two centuries. When the first European settlers arrived in this part of the world, our ancestors were already here. We have treaty relations with the Crown going back to the 1760's -- treaties that provide for a clear and respectful political relationship based on peace and mutual respect and assistance. Pursuant to those treaties, our men fought in every war the Crown asked us to -- from the American Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 to the two World Wars, and the Korean War."

Whatever progress was made was destroyed this year. That is the first of Caledonia's two legacies to us -- the affect on the present. The Caledonia occupation simply confirmed the worst fears that had driven the initial opposition to the plan to purchase lands. If and when the Agreement is finally ratified by the band, Chief Johnson can expect the forces originally arrayed against him to be revitalized, and likely to be factor today and for a long time to come.

And that leads to the second legacy of Caledonia: the future. Twenty-five years is a long time. What will happen if the Agreement fails to produce a viable reserve in the face of local opposition? Is it unreasonable to wonder if in fifteen or twenty years, with time running out, there will be natives, either from within the band or from other reserves, who will wonder if the Caledonia experience is the template for success? Make life so intolerable until people feel like they have no choice but to sell?

It will be too bad if that's the way it plays out. Chief Johnson seems sincere when he insists he wants to be a good neighbour. Thanks to Caledonia, though, it's not likely anyone will believe that.

Who could blame them?