Simon Hayter

Welcome to Caledonia

The sleepy rural community of Caledonia ignited into a flashpoint for aboriginal anger and racial tension when police tried to remove a group of native protestors occupying a tract of land slated for development in April of 2006. The charged and often violent events that followed over the next year have escalated rather than cooled relations between natives and local white residents. Caledonia has brought front and centre issues of treaty rights, racism, and the dissolusionment of Canada's large and conflicted aboriginal population.

Welcome to Caledonia.
   
A Six Nations warrior stands on a barricade after police attempt to break up a group of protestors occupying a disputed land tract.
   
Highway 6, a major artery in Southern Ontario, is blockaded by a burning vehicle and other roadblocks.
     
  
A protestor brandishes a weapon.
   
Protestors clash with police and local residents.
   
Protestors on the reclamation site.
     
  
Angry resident Anne-Marie Vansickle stands with her children Kai and Kierra in the front yard of her home which edges onto the disputed land.
   
Racist placards at a rally held by local white residents.
   
Frank Farbas trims some weeds on the property he owns bordering the disputed territory.
     
  
The Promised Land.
   
Residents of Caledonia fly American flags on their lawns to express their dissatisfaction with the Canadian government's response to the occupation.
   
Jason Clark is an outspoken member of the Caledonia's Citizen Alliance.
     
  
Six Nations spokesperson Janie Jamieson with her 4-month-old son Warren Justice Chavez Cook.
   
A Six Nations warrior stands on guard at a burning barricade on highway 6.