Caldwell walks against racism

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The Caldwell First Nation has declared WAR - a Walk Against Racism. The 120-km walk will begin on April 23 at the N'Amerind Friendship Centre in London, Ont. and finish April 27 at the Caldwell First Nation band office in Blenheim, Ont.

"Anti-Native sentiment," said Caldwell Chief Larry Johnson, "is being encouraged by local politicians" and the walk is to inform the public of the actions that some of the non-Native community is taking in their opposition to Caldwell First Nation plans to create a land base in the Blenheim area.

Vandalism and graffiti has occurred and has led to more frequent patrols by police in the Caldwell community. Some members of the Caldwell Nation have been stalked by non-Native neighbor, the chief said. The chief's wife was shot with paintballs outside her home, prompting the Johnson family to move their granddaughter to a nearby reserve where it is safer. Police have investigated these incidents, but have no leads.

And while the chief is battling opposition from without, he has problems coming from inside his own community as well.

The Caldwell Nation held a vote Dec. 2 and accepted the offer of $23.4 million from the Department of Indian Affairs (DIAND) to establish a reserve. But Kevin Ross, a lawyer for a group of Caldwell members, contends the vote was not legitimate, because it was not sanctioned by the federal government.

Steve Outhouse, DIAND spokesman, said ratification requires that the Caldwell First Nation remit to the minister a band council resolution calling for a vote, after which the minister appoints a ratification officer to oversee the vote. Outhouse said the Dec. 2 vote was done "solely by the First Nation" and "did not happen in conjunction with the federal government. [It] was not consistent with our settlement agreement, and therefore, we will not recognize the results."

(DIAND) is committed to resolving this claim, he said, "so we'll need to talk about setting up a new vote."

On another front, there is confusion concerning litigation between the federal government and the municipality of Chatham-Kent and a Mr. Jack Rigby, a farmer in the area who is head of the Chatham Kent Community Network. CKCN is a citizen's group that was formed after the settlement offer between the Crown and the Caldwells was made public in December l998.

Caldwell lawyer Jim Mays said the government asked the court to reject without a hearing the application of CKCN and the Chatham Kent municipality, which were asking for a judicial review of the land claim agreement, believing that the Caldwells have no right to the land in Chatham Kent. The application insists the land the Caldwells should be considering for a reserve is in their traditional territory at Point Peelee National Park near Learnington.

At issue, according to Charlotte Bell, Crown lawyer, "is the matter of settling land claims, which is a matter between the Crown and the First Nations and that the courts ought not to interfere in that process."

Government contends the court challenge is frivolous and without merit, but the court disagreed, saying the request was a long shot, but was not so frivolous that it should be struck without a hearing.

"The government was looking for a quick victory and did not get it", said Mays.

Federal Justice Pinard ruled last June 20 that the case brought by CKCN and the Chatham-Kent municipality against the federal government can go to trial. The Crown appealed this decision and lost, so the hearing will proceed. The Caldwell Nation are observers to this litigation and are not involved in the court proceedings.