The Path to Grand River

'The Scouting Party', depicting an Indian ranger and warriors on the Grand River - 1780. Image (c) Michael Swanson - www.mswansonart.com

Many Haudenosaunee people fought alongside the British against the American rebellion in the 18^th century. In return for their support and their loyalty to the Crown, they were 'granted' a tract of land along the Grand River in 1784, called the Haldimand Tract by the British. It was described as being ..."Six Miles deep from each side of the River beginning at Lake Erie and extending in the proportion to the Head of said River, which Them and Their Posterity are to enjoy forever." (Haldimand Treaty, October 25, 1784).

However, almost from the moment that the Haldimand Proclamation was put in place, it began to be eroded. Through a series of military and governmental property appropriations, disreputable real estate deals, or overt theft of land by homesteaders and other settlers, the Grand River tract was progressively whittled down by non-native interests. It is now a fraction of its former size, at 46,500 of the original 950,000 acres (a reduction of more than 95%).

The original 950,000-acre Haldimand Tract (grey) has been progressively whittled away by duplicitous land sales, government appropriations, and illegal homesteading. As of 2001, only 48,000 acres of the original grant remain, represented by the current Six Nations reserve (orange). Source: Barker (2016) via Six Nations Council (sixnations.ca.).

Barker, Adam. 2016. Indigeneity and Carcerality: Thinking about reserves, prisons, and settler colonialism. Carceral Archipelago: Academic and staff blogs from the University of Leicester.
http://staffblogs.le.ac.uk/carchipelago/2016/10/27/indigeneity-and-carcerality-thinking-about-reserves-prisons-and-settler-colonialism/ .

Six Nations Council. 2015. Six Nations of the Grand River - Land Rights, Financial Justice, Resolutions. http://sixnations.ca/SNLands&ResourcesBooklet2015Final.pdf

Swanson, Michael - Ranger and Warriors on the Grand River - 1780. Image courtesy Michael Swanson.
http://www.mswansonart.com