"Farmers Farming Burtch Under Band Council Support"

The Six Nations Farmers Association (SNFA) is preparing to plant at the Burtch lands again.

The group says it has permission from band council to farm the land but they have yet to sign a lease with the Confederacy Council which asked the SNFA to sign a lease last year. They refused.

Art Porter, chief administrative officer of the SNFA, said they're hoping to start planting as quickly as possible.

They've already ordered seeds and expensed $98,000 to plant soybeans on about 282 acres at the former Burtch Correctional facility lands in Mount Pleasant.

Mohawk Chief Allen MacNaughton had negotiated for the return of Burtch lands to the Confederacy in exchange for barricades coming down during the 2006 land reclamation in Caledonia.

Infrastructure Ontario is currently holding the land in trust for Six Nations.

The land had to undergo a remediation process before it could be returned. Infrastructure Ontario did not return calls seeking answers on the status of the remediation and return of the land.

"As far as I know, we're still planting there," said Porter at the SNFA's annual general meeting on Saturday at the Sour Springs longhouse. "I haven't heard anything from the (elected) Chief (Ava Hill). We're going to continue to plant it until such time as it's given back to the elected system to distribute it as they see fit."

Porter said the SNFA wants to be recognized by both councils. "We've dealt with the Confederacy every year, pretty well," said Porter. "With the Confederacy having their meetings so far apart, it's hard to really get things put in place with them. We want to be recognized by both councils. They were welcome to come to this meeting today. I don't see anybody here from the Confederacy."

Hazel Hill, interim director of the Confederacy's planning department, the Haudenosaunee Development Institute, said there's been no discussion among the Confederacy on how to deal with the farming of the Burtch lands this year.

The SNFA donates a portion of farming proceeds from the Burtch lands to community groups and longhouses every year.

Jesse Porter said the SNFA gave the Confederacy $77,000 the first year Burtch was farmed in 2007. "There has not been one report to the community as to where that $77,000 went to, what they used it for, did we have input into how they used it, nothing," he said. "They need help as to how to administrate things."

But Hill said the Confederacy gave back $15,000 of that money to the farmers to put into planting.

"The Confederacy has financed into Burtch but the Confederacy never received any records as to what happened with that money," she said. "If he (Jessie Porter) has a concern with the finances he should be directing that to the council secretary."

Elected Chief Hill said band council supports the SNFA planting at Burtch, although it hasn't entered into an official lease with them.

"We did provide them with a letter indicating that they do have our support to farm that property," she said.

She said she believes band council should administer the Burtch lands.

"The Ontario government has indicated to us that the Burtch lands are to be returned to the Six Nations community. Our position is that the lands are to be returned to the community and be administered by the Six Nations Elected Council."

She said the clean-up at Burtch is not yet complete.