My Dundas Valley

(May 23, 2013) — The Turtle Island News has just posted an article, written by staff writer Chase Jarrett, “Deer hunters worry band council involvement will hurt treaty”. Here is the beginning of this text published on their home page:

Ontario is moving to backdoor the Six Nations Confederacy by drawing the elected band council into the annual deer hunts overseen by the Confederacy’s Wildlife and Habitat Authority. The move is an attempt to discredit the Confederacy and negate Haudensaunee treaty rights says Haudenosaunee Wildlife and Habitat Authority (HWHA) spokesman Chester Gibson.“They’re (Ontario) backdooring us to try and get the band recognized,” he said. “We don’t go in there as a band,” he said.

The HWHA began deer harvesting and exercising Haudensaunee hunting rights in 2010 in DundasValley, in Hamilton, Ontario, and for the first time in Short Hills, St. Catharines, Ontario, during the 2012-2013 hunting season. In both parks, a lack of predators has led to an overblown deer population putting strain on the local ecosystems. The HWHA accomodates Ontario’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) during their hunts as an effort to help conserve the parks. The deer meat goes to longhouses for ceremonies. Last season 37 deer were taken from DundasValley and seven were taken from Short Hills.

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With the Author’s permission, we are presenting, below, two documents meticulously researched and compiled by Thomas Kennedy, member of the Ontario Historical Society, St. Catherines Historical Society, Ontario Genealogical Society, and McMaster ’50.

Kennedy’s work clearly demonstrates that the so called “Nanfan Treaty” does not reflect true historical facts. It is, instead, a false term fabricated and used for fraudulent political reasons.

Based on this and on our earlier publications on this topic, we strongly recommend that the Hamilton Conservation Authority reviews and corrects its position on the annual deer hunting in Dundas Valley Conservation Area. “Nanfan Treaty” is historically flawed and should be legally invalid. All agreements and protocols based on this hoax should be immediately challenged and revoked.

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In a few months, another winter will come and again, deer hunting will capture the attention of many people in our communities. In light of emerging evidence, the validity of this procedure is being questioned. We need a strong public debate on this topic, but above all, we need a legal re-evaluation of this politically sensitive issue.

I am fully aware of the position taken by Chris Bentley, the Ontario’s attorney general and minister of aboriginal affairs, with respect to the alleged First Nation’s hunting rights in the area owned and administered by the Hamilton Conservation Authority.

I have carefully read the internet version of the text of the Nanfan Treaty (the 1701 Treaty of Albany) and have done some research around this topic. The matter is highly controversial, to say the least.

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