Caldwell W.A.R. treks 100 km

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Caldwell First Nation completed its 100-kilometre Walk Against Racism (W.A.R.) April 27, from the N'Amerind Friendship Centre in London, Ont. to the Caldwell territory near Blenheim, Ont. to raise awareness of the racism and intolerance First Nations people face in South Chatham-Kent municipality.

Caldwell members were joined by supporters from the Canadian Auto Workers, the Ipperwash Coalition, other First Nations, Turtle Island Support Group, the Centre for Indigenous Sovereignty, students and the Christian Peacemakers Team, as well as Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Regional Chief for Ontario Charles Fox, and Mary Eberts, renowned Canadian human rights lawyer.

On their way through Chatham, the walkers presented themselves at City Hall, and on the last day, they paused in downtown Blenheim while women's drum groups from around the region joined together to sing an honor song for the Caldwell Nation in front of the Chatham-Kent Community Network (CKCN) office. CKCN represents concerned citizens of the surrounding municipality who oppose the creation of a First Nation reserve in the area and have initiated legal proceedings against the Caldwell nation.

In December 1998, news spread through Chatham-Kent that the Caldwell First Nation had reached an agreement-in-principle with Ottawa to settle its 211-year-old land and treaty rights issue. "Not for sale" signs, directed at the Caldwell band, can be seen all over the district in which the band plans to purchase land under the proposed agreement to create a reserve. The settlement offer of $23.4 million gives the Caldwell people 25 years to buy up to 1,800 hectares of land as it comes up for sale.

"As we walked from London to Blenheim, residents from each town either stopped by, or drove by, honking their horns in support of our W.A.R.," Chief Larry Johnson proudly exclaimed. "Many stories about experiences with racism were shared along the way," he added. "We had walkers from eight neighboring First Nations, plus two from northern Russia, and another from Labrador and Sweden. On the last day we had women join us for the Gathering The Voices women's conference on racism ...One would think a whole village was on the move as we made our way along Highway 2 between London and Chatham."

At a victory celebration held on Caldwell territory, Chief Johnson spoke about the racial backlash that has been directed at his community for the past 28 months.

"We're hoping that with continued hard work and a lot of patience, things will settle down...I think we'll get there."

Chief Johnson said the Department of Indian Affairs still has not scheduled a ratification vote on the settlement offer for the membership.

"With respect to the cases that are before the courts, I don't know if the government wants to wait until those are defeated once and for all, or if they still plan on calling a vote.

"Last Dec. 2, we held a ratification vote in which 95 per cent of the Caldwell people who voted were in favor of the land settlement and the trust agreement, which is a good show of strength from our people," he said. "Indian Affairs has tried to downplay the vote, but later, if we have to take legal action against the federal government, the documentation from our own ratification vote may help us in court."