Full Description
On September 6, 1995, Dudley George was shot by Ontario Provincial Police officer Kenneth Deane. He died shortly after midnight the next day. George had been participating in a protest over land claims in Ipperwash Provincial Park, which had been expropriated from the native Ojibwe after the Second World War. A confrontation erupted between members of the Stoney Point and Kettle Point Bands and officers of the OPP's Emergency Response Team, which had been instructed to use necessary force to disband the protest by Premier Mike Harris's government. George's death and the grievous mishandling of the protest led to the 2007 Ipperwash Inquiry.
Edward J. Hedican's Ipperwash provides an incisive examination of protest and dissent within the context of land claims disputes and Aboriginal rights. Hedican investigates how racism and government practices have affected Aboriginal resistance to policies, especially those that have resulted in the loss of Aboriginal lands and led to persistent socio-economic problems in Native communities. He offers a number of specific solutions and policy recommendations on how Aboriginal protests can be resolved using mediation and dispute management - instead of the coercive force used in Ipperwash Park that ultimately gave this tragic story such infamy.
Contents
Preface
1. Introduction
Ipperwash as a Case Study; Dissent and Society
The So-Called 'Indian Problem'
Research on Aboriginal Policy; Legal, Cultural, and Social Variability
Modern Aboriginal Conditions
The Scope of the Book
2. Aboriginal Policy in Canada
The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (1996)
Nunavut: A New Land, A New Deal (1999)
Ipperwash Inquiry (1995-2007; Canada Votes against UN Aboriginal Rights Declaration (2007)
Prime Minister Harper's Apology (2008)
Aboriginal Leader's Reactions
Urban Aboriginal Strategy (1997-2012)
Assessing Canada's Aboriginal Policy
Conclusion
3. The Nature of Aboriginal Rights
The Context of Aboriginal Claims
The Concept of Aboriginal Rights
Treaties and Land Surrenders
Aboriginal Claims Policy
The Courts and Aboriginal Claims
Conclusion
4. The Politics of Resistance and Confrontation
Contested Ground: The Nature of Resistance
The Ojibway Warrior Society, Kenora, Ontario (1974)
The Teme-Augama Anishnabai Logging Blockade (1988)
The Innu and the Goose Bay Air Base Occupation (1988)
The Lubicon Lake Cree Confrontation (1988)
The Mohawk Warrior Society, Oka, Quebec (1990)
First Nations Policing Policy (1992)
The Gustafsen Lake Standoff (1995)
The Burnt Church Fishing Dispute (2002)
Caledonia and the Grand River Land Dispute (2006)
Grassy Narrows: Mercury Poisoning and Forest Management Protest (2006)
The Akwesasne Border Confrontation (2009)
Patterns of Resistance: Comparative Perspectives
Aboriginal-Police Relations: Resistance and Reconciliation
Conclusion
5. The Ipperwash confrontation
Aboriginal Origins in Ontario
Kettle and Stony Point First Nations
Land Cessions
The Occupation of Ipperwash Park
The Ontario Government's Response
Racial and Culturally Intolerant Attitudes
The Shooting of Dudley George
The OPP Response
A Framework for Police Preparedness
Chiefs of Ontario Response to the Framework
Did the OPP Forget the Lessons of Ipperwash?
Amnesty International is Watching
Ipperwash Inquiry Backlash
Ipperwash and the Media
Conclusion
6. Ipperwash Inquiry Recommendations
Ipperwash Inquiry Recommendations
Policing Aboriginal Protests and Occupations
Facilitating Negotiations
Project Maple: Crisis Negotiation
Redressive Action
Treaty Commission of Ontario
Wider Considerations of the Ipperwash Inquiry
Update: Return of Land and Settlements
Conclusion
7. Ipperwash as Racial Oppression
Anti-Native Prejudice
Understanding Racial Oppression
The Violent Suppression of Aboriginal Protests
Policy Recommendations Concerning Aboriginal Protests
Aboriginal Policy as an Exercise of Choice?
The Systemic Nature of Racial Oppression
Conclusion
8. Institutional Racism in Canada
The Characteristics of Institutional Racism
The Media
The Police
The State
A Policy of Respect, Justice and Tolerance
Summary of Aboriginal Issues
Concluding Remarks on Aboriginal Protests and Resistance
NOTES
References
Appendix
Index
