Six Nations Land Defenders in Caledonia reveal hypocrisy of Canada’s land acknowledgements
This summer, Land Defenders from Six Nations occupied a disputed tract of land in Caledonia, an hour south of Toronto. The dispute about a proposed real estate development escalated to a standoff between the government and the Six Nations Land Defenders. The Ontario Provincial Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the Land Defenders.
Six Nations people, however, say they need the land for their own growing population. They have renamed the tract “1492 Land Back Lane.” They say the band council does not represent them. The land is part of an ongoing dispute, which is complex and builds on 500 years of colonization.
Land rights and land acknowledgements
Everyone in Canada has heard or said a land acknowledgement at some point. Many institutions say a land acknowledgement at the opening of their event: from schools to sports leagues to the office of the prime minister of Canada. And they are becoming increasingly widespread in the United States.
What is the point of Canadians saying land acknowledgements ad infinitum if Indigenous Peoples’ land is still being taken from them?
They are everywhere, but don’t mean anything. Read the rest of the article here.