The Aboriginal peoples who inhabited my region before the arrival of the Europeans were the Haudenosaunee. Today the community of the Six Nations of the Grand River is the largest First Nations reservation in Canada, “with a current population of approximately 13,000.” In English, this means “People of the Longhouse” but the Haudenosaunee go by many names such as the Iroquois or Six Nations.
The Past
The Haudenosaunee people are a confederacy of the Kanienkahaka (Mohawk), Oneida, Onondoga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia “archeological evidence places Haudenosaunee in the area around present-day New York State by approximately 500 to 600 CE, …show more content…
I believe that as a society Canadians are becoming more aware of the challenges faced by the Aboriginal peoples and are working to build both communities up together. In recent years there has been a renewal to right the wrongs that Aboriginal people have faced, including a renewed look into land claims and electing Aboriginal peoples to high government positions to ensure they receive proper recognition. Right now there is a land claim dispute over the Haldimand Tract. In 1974, the Six Nations created “the Six Nations Land Claims Research Office (SNLCRO) to pursue the terms laid out in the Haldimand Proclamation of 1784.” Since then, the SNLCRO has submitted twenty-nine different land claims over the land given to them in the Haldimand Treaty of 1784. These land disputes had begun as early as 1795, only ten years after the Haudenosaunee had begun to settle there. However the most recent and most publicized of these land claim disputes came in 2006 during the Douglas Creek Estates Dispute in Caledonia. The dispute began when The Six Nations of the Grand River sought to reclaim and halt the development of the Douglas Creek Estates subdivision in Caledonia, which was to be built on land known to some Haudenosaunee as Kanonhstaton, “the Protected Place.” This dispute led to blockades by Native protestors …show more content…
The Haudenosaunee still have a vibrant and unique culture that is becoming part of the Canadian identity. As more time passes and the Haudenosaunee continue to experience growth their culture will only continue to expand and influence Canadian society more so than it does