OPP raid Six Nations land protesters

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Protesters at Six Nations (Ontario) had a rude awakening on April 20 when Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) arrived in force at 4:30 a.m. to act on an injunction to remove them from the Douglas Creek Estates, a high-end housing development being built on land the Haudenosaunee claim as their own. Sixteen Native people were arrested. Three OPP were injured.

The raid seemed only to inflame an otherwise tense situation. The protesters rallied support from other Native nations and entrenched their position by erecting barricades near the housing site. A rowdy group of 500 residents from nearby Caledonia arrived on April 24 and attempted to break through police lines with the intent of dealing with the barricades themselves. Another non-Native mob descended on the site again on April 28.

The Ontario government has appointed former Premier David Peterson to lead negotiations to end the standoff. Peterson has a high standing with Aboriginal leaders from successfully mediating discussions between the province and Ontario's First Nations to resolve a dispute with Aboriginal communities over their share of all provincial gambling revenues. He is to report directly to Ontario's Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Ramsay.