Native protesters asked to leave

By SARA ROSS Orillia Packet & Times April 26 2012

A First Nation solidarity camp on Coldwater Canadiana Heritage Museum property must be removed, museum stewards say.

Without permission, three Anishinabe men have occupied the privately owned property off Highway 12 for more than two weeks, taking a stand against the Coldwater-Narrows settlement offer.

“This has not been, to date, extremely difficult for us because we’re not open,” Patti Turnour, president of the museum, told The Packet Wednesday.

The museum typically opens in late May, but Turnour foresees a delayed start.

“Until they’re gone, nobody is coming on site,” she said.

Due to safety concerns, the museum has lost more than $1,500 in event revenue.

“We have some events people feel uncomfortable about coming to because it’s an environment they’re just not familiar with, it’s a situation they’re not familiar with,” Turnour said. “There are some concerns about the safety and security of the site.”

Memeskwaniniisi, Kaikaikons — the men’s spirit names — and Greg King have been on site since April 7, opposing the offer.

They have recently been joined by Russell Neganoshiig.

The men say the settlement offer goes against original First Nations treaties.

“We’re trying to bring awareness that our culture is being exterminated, we’re being assimilated,” Memeskwaniniisi said Wednesday.

On April 14, the Chippewa Tri- Council — Rama, Georgina Island and Beausoleil First Nations — along with the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation voted on the federal government’s offer of $307 million for their 20-year-old Coldwater- Narrows land claim.

The largest land-claim settlement offer in Canadian history has been stalled by Nawash, whose low voter turnout failed to garner the number of votes required by the federal government.

The Beausoleil First Nation men, who didn’t vote because they oppose the Indian Act and Specific Land Claims Policy, are raising awareness of the Covenant Belt made with the British Crown and 24 nations in 1764.

Memeskwaniniisi would like to see all of those First Nations consulted in the settlement.

“The chief and councils are not representing the voice that I want to speak,” he said. “They are selling this land. They are accepting an absolute surrender and that, to me, is selling my sovereignty.”

The men had been staying in a teepee, but it was removed by its owner, Beausoleil First Nation, earlier in the week. The men are now staying in two tents they’ve erected on site.

Richard Jolliffe, a director of the museum, was shocked to discover people camped out on the property.

“You could have blown me over with a feather,” he said. “We had no idea it was coming.”

At that time, he asked the men to leave.

“I wish they asked permission when they arrived, but they didn’t,” he said.

Museum officials first contacted the OPP liaison team April 13.

The museum board of directors held an emergency meeting Tuesday and is now seeking legal advice.

“Our goal from the directors’ meeting is this is private property and we’d like them off the property,” Jolliffe said. “It’s just that simple.”

On Tuesday evening, the men were told to leave by the OPP’s provincial liaison team on behalf of the museum.

They stayed.

“We had no idea what to expect,” Memeskwaniniisi said Wednesday. “We just sat here and we sang and we prayed for the direction from the spirit of our ancestors.”

Kaikaikons said they decided to handle the situation peacefully.

“We’re here in peace. We’ve been saying that since we got here,” he said. “We’re here in peace — not to disrupt the community.”

On Wednesday, with the OPP provincial liaison team on hand, Turnour and Jolliffe met with Memeskwaniniisi, Kaikaikons and Neganoshiig.

“We’re just trying to maintain the peace,” Const. Craig Houghton of the OPP provincial liasion team told The Packet. “The OPP is attempting to negotiate a resolution to this matter with the interests of all parties involved in mind.”

After a brief introduction, Kaikaikons carried a pipe around the group, asking each to touch it in a show of peace.

Standing across from one another, around a small fire, both sides calmly took turns expressing their stance for about 30 minutes.

“We apologize that this came about under the circumstance that it did, but it had to be made,” Memeskwaniniisi told the group.

Jolliffe suggested the group could spread their message by taking part in a museum event.

“Do you think you would be more effective getting your message across when there is actual people and activity on the grounds?” he asked. “That, to me, would be a perfect opportunity to express your concerns.”

The museum has a pioneer-style village on site. Memeskwaniniisi said they would like to be represented in the village.

Kaikaikons suggested they could erect a teepee and put on traditional regalia.

Despite this, the men were opposed to leaving.

“We don’t want to stay forever, just a couple of months,” Kaikaikons said.

“We’ve already sent the message out that this is where we’re gathering,” Kaikaikons said of putting a call out for other First Nations to join them. “I think it’s really (important) that we stay here.”

The Anishinabe men said they had to take the proposal back to their supporters. They plan to bring that response to the museum stewards today.

“Now we consult with the people, the people that are not here, and see what they want, what they suggest that we do,” Memeskwaniniisi said. “Hopefully, the people will give us some direction.”

Jolliffe and Turnour say they are “cautiously optimistic.”

If the men do not leave, Houghton said the OPP headquarters will have to decide their next step.

“That’s a decision that is way beyond our scope,” he said when asked what could happen if the men don’t leave. “We’re hopeful this could be resolved.”

The museum is working with Orillia lawyer Doug Lewis to discuss its options.