In the 20 August 2014 online issue of "Two Row Times" is an article entitled, The Kanonhstaton barricade is gone ............... kinda as seen here.
The barricade is getting a face lift -
What has happened is that,
The barricade in front of the former Douglas Creek Estates site near Caledonia, has been removed … kinda. Maybe the better word would be that it has been repurposed.
“We took the old hydro tower apart piece by piece and gave it to Bear Iron Welding, of Six Nations, and they have refitted that material into the new front gate,” said Six Nations land protector Jeff Henhawk.
The up-rights for the new gate were installed Monday and the front gates will be fitted soon. From the uprights at edge or the roadway into the site, more chain-link fencing will be going in along Argyle Street as soon as the front gate is completed, according to the Six Nations welder, who did not want his name published.
So, basically, the HDI are playing games, knowing that the barricade is a "barrier" in many sense of the word. It has become a sore point not only between the "land protectors" (HDI terrorists) and the citizens of Caledonia. The former have spent weeks with one or more vehicles near a wood fire at the entrance was to Surrey Street on the west side of the gnarled and twisted remnants of the Hydro One tower which was stolen and dragged to that spot - to guard against the County of Haldimand following through on its plans to remove the barricade. It seems that the whole matter may become a "non - issue" now that the ugly old eyesore will be gone. However in its place will be a "artistically rendered" version of the same thing. So in a brilliant move by HDI, they have managed to deflect some criticism away from them - although they are still thieves occupying stolen land, which can only be changed by their forcible removal.
We do know the name of the firm of iron workers who are welding up the new apparition, and hopefully Caledonia residents and those from far and wide will be looking and thinking - "do we really want to give our business to those who are part and parcel of the pain that this whole situation has caused?" Note though that the "Six Nations welder" did not want his name published - clearly he was aware that there was potential for repercussions.
Errors and possible lies -
Then we find the usual array of "errors" of fact, that give the spin that the activists would have you believe on faith. For example the author, in reviewing the history of the property states, land the developers knew was under registered land claim and was never surrendered for sale. That is untrue since the developers, Henco, owned the land via a title deed registered in the Ontario Land Registry at Cayuga, and they knew that on 18 December 1844, 47 Six Nations Chiefs in Council surrendered this property to the Crown.
There are more factual errors that permeate this particular article, which is grossly insulting to those of us who live here and know what the true facts are (in my case also via 35 years of researching Indian Affairs RG10 Series records at the Library and Archives Canada in Ottawa).
For example, in describing the situation at the "front lines" in 2006, the author states, Caledonia citizens set up their own blockade after Six Nations had removed theirs from the highway on the Victoria Day weekend. An incident resulted in one of the leaders on the Six Nations side was punched in the face by a Caledonia citizen, which prompted the tower to be dragged across the street again as tempers flared into a near riot. Perchance is the writer speaking of the well known picture of Gary McHale, the bane of the existence of those "land protectors", who was supporting the Caledonia side and for his troubles was punched in the face and left with a very bloodied head. I don't recall any Six Nations person receiving wounds during this fracas. Interesting twist on things though.
Another absolutely ridiculous and untrue assertion in relation to those early days is, But other provocations by certain Caledonia residents backed up by high profile white supremacists who were invited to Caledonia by agitator Gary McHale, caused Six Nations to keep the hydro tower close by just in case it might be needed again. I am familiar with the situation, I live there, and I have never seen any "high profile white supremacists" or any white supremacists of any description. Unless the author can back up this unsupported claim it must be seen for what it is, a bald faced lie. Gary McHale was later accused of being a "white supremacist" and when it was shown that the opposite was the case, his accuser was forced to offer a written apology for the lies he had spoken. So the same lies are still being recycled for political gain.
The author ends by trying to paint the Hereditary Chiefs (who may be learning this for the first time in the newspaper article) as kindly concerned members of the community whose only desire is for peace. Specifically it is stated that, The Chiefs also authorized the removal of the hydro tower, but it was to be replaced with the installation of a gate across the entrance to the site. Someone came up with the idea of repurposing the hydro tower to continue to serve as a protective barrier, but in a new, more aesthetically pleasing reincarnation.
"Turtle Island News" includes a similar article of 20 August 2014 (p.4), entitled, Kanonhstaton is changing: New gate being designed. The same take on things is expressed, but there are some statements that warrant closer scrutiny. After describing how the two large Hydro One towers are being employed because, "People didn't want the hydro towers to go so we decided to use them to build the gate", according to J.H. the security and project manager overseeing the installations for the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council. Well it is of course all well and dandy to use stolen property to construct a gate which will remind those of us in Caledonia of the pain at the hands of these self - described "land defenders" aka terrorist thugs. So will Ontario step forward to claim the stolen property, and charge the people involved in both the theft and the "repurposing"?
Some articles are so warped and distorted that they make someone who is aware of the facts of the matter want to toss their cookies - this is one of those articles.
The future -
Since the article notes that there will be chain link fence joining the barricade to the fence along Thistlemore Drive, thus paralleling Argyle Street. It is a set up for confrontation since the Province of Ontario stated that it wants no unilateral action (without consultation with the County of Haldimand and the Elected Council - the only legitimate governing body at Six Nations) in terms of constructing a fence. The HDI and Confederacy Chiefs continue to defy the Province and the question becomes - what will the Provincial Government do, since they own the land (which was surrendered 170 years ago this 18 December)? The ball is in their court.
DeYo.
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