On Wednesday August 5th 2020 Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) moved to enforce a court injunction (illegal raid) to the Six Nations of Grand River Reservation. They used rubber bullets and tazers on unarmed Haudenosaunee land defenders. They are a sovereign people and have the right and responsibility to occupy and defend their lands as they see fit. Demonstrators were occupying a residential development near Caledonia Ontario. Members of the Six Nations have occupied the site since July 19, 2020.

Police reported to have arrested "under 10 people". Some background knowledge: Mackenzie Meadows is a residential development that has been taking place on originally Six Nations' land. Since 2013, the developmental site has been planning to build 218 detached homes and townhouses on land that does not belong to them.

The citizens of the reserve have been fighting against Mackenzie Meadows, and the companies creating the site; Ballantry Homes and Losani Homes ever since they've announced the plan. In the wake of the police action, Six Nations demonstrators set up a blockade on Argyle Street south of the Town of Caledonia and on the Highway 6 bypass. Around 2 weeks ago, the Six Nations protesters took over the Mackenzie Meadows site, dubbing it "1492 Land Back Lane". They also created a Facebook page with the same name.

On the page the protesters wrote "Mackenzie Meadows is one of several housing developments within the area that are directly violating the sovereignty of the Haudenosaunee. [The Haudenosaunee - a group that includes the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora First Nations - are also known as the Iroquois or the Six Nations] Collectively we remain firm in our stance that action must be taken to stop the ongoing development of our lands." (You can find more information and even videos on the fb page.)

CBC News reported: "on July 24 the council said Ballantry Homes, which is one of the companies developing Mckenzie Meadows along with Losani Homes, transferred 42.3 acres to Six Nations in 2016. The builder also transferred $325,000 to the elected council, which was put into a land banking account for future purchases in 2019". Ballantry Homes, as a third party owner of the land, has no legal obligation to accommodate Six Nations but it did anyway because it is aware of the Claims by Six Nations against Crown Canada and Crown Ontario.

Most of the land in Oneida Township went out of Six Nations possession in the 1850s, 60s and 70s. So really since the 19th Century the Six Nations Peoples have been fighting for their right to own their land again. "'The remedy for lands and money that were unlawfully taken back in the 1800's is against Crown Canada and Crown Ontario," reads the release, adding the claim is that the Crowns breached their fiduciary duty by unlawfully dispossessing Six Nations of all its land and money." - CBC News.

When asked about this subject, representatives for Ballantry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However William Liske, vice-president and chief legal officer for Losani, wrote the following in an email to CBC News: "'Our only comment is that today's events allow us to re-commence construction activities, and deliver our products to the 180 families patiently waiting for their homes,'".

Basically as of right now, the company does not care about the feelings of the Indigenous peoples, they don't care how they are hurting us by stealing our land and doing whatever with it. We're Done!!

Please join me and sign this petition. Think of something in your life that you treasure and value the most, then imagine that being stolen from you. Now imagine fighting to get that thing back for centuries, that burden is what we as Aboriginal people feel every single day. Knowing that the government can just take our land and do whatever they want with it, and we can't get it back because of racial injustice!