Ardoch Algonquin First Nation
The Ardoch or Ardoch Algonquin First Nation are one of the Canadian First Nations in the Province of Ontario . However, they are not recognized by the government. They represent an Anishnabek group. They inhabit the drainage area of Madawaska , Mississippi and Rideau .
Their language belongs to the Algonquian language family .
history
- s. a. Ontario history
Where Madawaska , Rideau and Mississippi meet, the Ardoch find their original home. They participated in trading across the Ottawa River .
With the advance of the settlers, scattered Indian groups , also from the Mississippi, came to the Ardoch, who around 1850 could no longer visit their summer areas (Kanasatake) in the south.
The first land reserved for Algonquin groups in 1844 was on Bob's Lake in the traditional Ardoch area. Some Ardoch families had previously obtained permits to purchase 2,000 acres , but during the 1850s they were driven away by unauthorized logging. The Irish settlers who followed them burned the wood to make potash . Numerous sawmills, farms and also mines shaped the picture, as everywhere on the south bank of the Ottawa.
The Ardoch hired themselves out on farms around Kingston and Amherstview . Many of them tried to find a way out of the misery and open racism during the First World War . Those left behind ran small farms, trapped and led tourists.
In the 1930s, the Algonquins of Golden Lake reservation was recognized as an Indian reservation . Canada bought the land from Ontario in 1874 for the settlement of five Algonkin families. But this led to complicated conflicts, because the province had set up the Algonquin Provincial Park , in which the Indians were no longer allowed to hunt. On the other hand, the destitute Indians were largely dependent on help from Ontario. In doing so, government protection provided benefits that communities like Mattawa, Whitney, Lake St. Peter, Calabogie, and so on did not enjoy. Nevertheless, new settlers displaced the Ardoch at Bob's Lake.
Battle for Traditional Wild Rice (1981)
In 1981 the Ardoch teamed up with the communities of Alderville, Tyendinaga, Curve Lake and Hiawatha for a 27-day stand-off to substantiate their claim to wild rice (manomin), which grows at Ardoch. It has been one of the most important traditional dishes here for a long time. The Ardoch had shared the right to collect with other collectors from Alderville and Curve Lake since around 1850. The construction of the Trent Canal had already partially destroyed their habitat. On August 30, 1981, the Canadian police entered the area claimed by the Ardoch with boats and helicopters and several hundred police officers in order to escort a boat to Mud Lake.
The next day, the Ardochs occupied their traditional territory for 27 days. Their leader was the then elder (Elder) and now honorary chief of the Ardoch. After all, he managed to get the government to admit that the matter had gone unlawful in court. The rice areas have been protected since then. Many Ardochs believe that this surprising legal success and the long perseverance at the Ardoch stand-off were only possible with the help of their ancestors. For the first time they had achieved some kind of victory, which raised the self-confidence of many Ardochs, so that many of the families at Sharbot Lake, Bob's Lake, Fall River, Eel and Eagle Lake, Big Rideau Lake, Tay River, Mattawachen , Calabogie and Ottawa were among them.
Self-organization of the non-status Indians, tribal rights
By 1991, Harold Perry and Bob Lovelace endeavored to bring the families together and reconstruct history and family trees. That year they came to a national meeting of non-status Indians, and in June of the following year they formed the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation and Allies
In 1991, the group at Golden Lake entered into a hunting agreement with Ontario that weakened their claim to the park area. So the Ardoch withdrew from the negotiations for land claims in 1994, but wanted to support any Ardoch who insisted on his hunting rights. In 1996, the government failed in the Ontario Appellate Court when it tried to revoke the Ardoch's rights.
In 1998, the Ardoch took Ontario to the Supreme Court for being illegally cut off from Rama Casino revenues . As an unrecognized tribe, they were able to enforce tribal rights for the first time. They also enforced individual rights in the Ontario Municipal Boards and the Environmental Review Tribunals .
Relations with the Pikwakanagan (Golden Lake) are now very good. But the tribe's image has been damaged by attempts by individuals to get rich by bypassing the assembly of heads of families. In one case, the Sharbot Lake Area Committee emerged from the corresponding agreement , later Sharbot Mishigaming Anishinbeg First Nation . Another case is the group that calls itself Ardoch Algonquins , which also sits on the Algonquin Nation Tribal Council (ANTC). These disputes have so far created irreconcilable differences.
In April 2007 the tribe announced they would build the Manomin Heritage Center on Pine Lake, northwest of Sharbot Lake.
Current situation
Uranium prospectors are now looking for the increasingly expensive metal around the world. Frontenac Ventures is searching for uranium in the area 100 km west of Ottawa near Crotch Lake ( Robertsville ) . The area is around 12,000 hectares and includes crown land as well as private property. Ontario law permits the search for natural resources where there is private property. After that, the owners acquire the land, but not the minerals underneath. In principle, every raw material company can start building roads, clearing forests and laying supply lines. As a result, the settlers affected increasingly joined the protest.
In court, however, the company was right, and the renewed blockade of the site in January - the site was already occupied from June to October 2007 - did not help the Ardoch and their allied Shabot Obaadiwan-Algonquin . On the contrary, the Ardoch chief was arrested on February 15, 2008 and sentenced to a fine of $ 25,000 and half a year in prison. Paula Sherman, co-chief, was released from prison, but she too was supposed to pay $ 15,000. In addition, the mother of three children had to promise not to protest against the uranium mining anymore.
According to the rulings of the Supreme Court, each province is required to consult when interfering with traditional First Nations territories. Cam Clark, the Ontario provincial negotiator, apparently insisted that drilling can begin during negotiations. As this was unacceptable to the Ardoch, they decided in early February to block the drilling site. When Chief Bob Lovelace and several other blockers were arrested, hundreds protested outside the Napanee prison. On February 21, he was transferred to the Central East Correctional Center in Lindsay .
Members of the Canadian Green Party and Amnesty International are now campaigning for the prisoner, who is currently unable to continue teaching at Queen's University or Sir Sandford Fleming College . His four children are looked after by his wife Stephanie. The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs now supports his demands. The criticism is directed against the government of the province of Ontario.
The Toronto Star also criticized the government's behavior, not the verdict. Above all, the criticism was directed against Prime Minister Dalton McGuinty , who had failed to comply with the case law of the Supreme Court, which makes consultations mandatory. While exploration in Ontario has been subject to special legislation since 1878, that right cannot break Canadian law. This would have to clarify this question first. It is right if the prime minister would stop drilling until this issue has been clarified.
On April 20, 2008, 400 people gathered to protest the provincial government's policies and detentions, including Phil Fontaine , Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations .
See also
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ CBC News reports: Algonquian co-chief to stop her uranium protest to avoid jail .
- ↑ In the meantime, newspapers in Germany are also reporting on the events. B. the Weser-Kurier of March 1st, 2008: Indian protest against uranium mining. Resistance to search for nuclear fuel escalates / Chief Lovelace has to go to jail after being blocked.
- ↑ See. Cameron Smith, McGuinty must step in over native mining dispute, The Star March 1, 2008. .
- ↑ See Kate Harries, Supporters rally, in: Indian Country, April 21, 2008 ( Memento of June 26, 2008 in the Internet Archive ).