"Peaceful Demonstration Marks Anniversary of Botched OPP Raid"

Seven years ago, on April 20, 2006, hundreds of OPP officers swarmed the land in Caledonia now known as Kanonhstaton in a pre-dawn raid to evict a peaceful protest from the former housing development.

The raid failed when the Six Nations people poured onto the land by the hundreds.

Saturday about two dozen people marked the 7th anniversary of the botched OPP raid by exercising hunting and fishing rights on the Cockshutt Bridge.

OPP closed down the bridge and highway into Brantford.

"Brantford sits on Mohawk land," said John Garlow. He was one of several people who braved the freezing temperatures and blowing snow during the day-long shutdown.

About four police cruisers from both Brantford and Brant County OPP closed traffic on the bridge.

Bill Monture, a member of the Six Nations Men's Fire, said he contacted police to close down the road to traffic between Birkett Lane and Oxbow Road.

Police went door to door and warned neighbours in the area beforehand that they might be "inconvenienced" during the shut-down, said Marylou Knechtel, who lives on the Oxbow lands.

"We know it is a seven-year solidarity day for what happened in Caledonia, so c'est la vie," said Knechtel. She said she supports Six Nations land grievances.

"I support what's happening here and that we have to move forward with addressing these issues that are around both these communities," she said.

Garlow remembers the raid. He got a text message around 7 a.m.

"I think there was around two to 300 officers there if I remember correctly and they had small arms, sniper and sniper rifles and all we had was our faith and our truth: that it is our land and that's all we had," said Garlow.

The Cockshutt Bridge was chosen because much of the land in Brantford is unsurrendered Six Nations land, said Garlow. "There is a lot of rent money still owing to us and it's time they (government) start paying."

The quiet demonstration lasted from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. without incident.