Community group condemns harassment of Caledonia supporter of Six Nations

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The following just arrived in my email box – as you may have noticed i have been out of town for over a week, and thus have not been able to keep up my regular blogging. My apologies for letting the ball drop – the context for the below is a flare-up in racist violence in Caledonia last week, and “get tough on the Indians” posturing from various politicians.

The forward this widely:

Caledonia -- August 14, 2006. "Community Friends for Peace and Understanding with Six Nations" condemns the recent harassment directed against one of its members by Caledonians opposed to the reclamation site. Jan Watson, a Caledonia resident and a member of the group has been repeatedly threatened by other Caledonians because of her peaceful but persistent support of the Six Nations reclamation of the Douglas Creek Estates. Watson has had eggs and other objects thrown at her house, has been accosted by an angry mob of protesters armed with baseball bats and iron bars who threatened to roll her car and physically attack her, and most recently has had people attempt to kick in her door late at night. Linsay Hinshelwood, a spokesperson for the Community Friends group condemns the harassment that has been directed against Watson. "This kind of thuggish behavior is completely inappropriate" said Hinshelwood, adding that it "brought disgrace to the handful of residents in Caledonia who are behaving this way".

Watson, for her part, vows to continue in her work in support of Six Nations in Caledonia. According to Watson "I am not going to be intimidated by this kind of violence and hatred. It is my right as a Caledonia resident and citizen of this country to advocate that our government treat the people of Six Nations justly and I will continue to do so, for as long as it takes to get a resolution to this conflict."

Community Friends is a group of Caledonia residents and labor and community activists who are seeking to achieve a just resolution to the conflict over the Douglas Creek Estates. For the past three months group members have been leafleting and going door-to-door in Caledonia, organizing small group meetings between people from Six Nations and Caledonia, and have also been involved in trying to defuse confrontations between protesting Caledonians and members of the reclamation site.

For more information please contact group spokesperson Linsay Hinshelwood at 289-284-0154 or e-mail smiley100@mountaincable.net.-30-