CKMS News - 2021-04-28 – An interview with 1492 LandBackLane spokesperson Skyler Williams
A storage container at the 1492 LandBackLane site. The side of the container has been stylishly and colourfully painted with the words "Solidarity Across Turtle Island".

CKMS News - 2021-04-28 – An interview with 1492 LandBackLane spokesperson Skyler Williams

This episode features an interview with Skyler Williams, the spokesperson for the 1492 LandBackLane land reclamation camp on Haudenosaunee territory at Six Nations in south-west Ontario.

listen here: CKMS News - 2021-04-28 – An interview with 1492 LandBackLane spokesperson Skyler Williams

Host: dan kellar

In July 2020, while the community was managing the COVID19 pandemic, including erecting checkpoints to keep non-residents from their reserve lands, some Indigenous folks from Six Nations of the Grand River also took action against continued land theft by housing developers and the nearby town of Caledonia by setting up the 1492 LandBack Lane reclamation camp.

Through court injunctions, lawsuits, a police raid, police intimidation, police violence, 17 million dollars in police spending, and being demonized by settler governments including Haldimand mayor Ken Hewitt and Ontario premier Doug Ford, the land reclamation action has continued and the LandBack movement has grown.

On April 20th 2021 members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs council, alongside spokesperson Skyler Williams announced the “Protect The Tract” initiative, declaring a moratorium on development in the Haldimand Tract and a need for real consultation with the community before any projects move forward.

This episode features an interview with Skyler Williams, the spokesperson for the 1492 LandBackLane land reclamation camp on Haudenosaunee territory at Six Nations in south-west Ontario.

To stay updated on the activities at the camp, check out @1492LBL on twitter and 1492LandBackLane on facebook. For more on the development moratorium and the history of land struggle at Six Nations, visit protectthetract.com

(Download audio of this episode)

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This program is a part of the “Local Journalism Initiative” grant project and is funded by the Community Radio Fund of Canada, the Government of Canada, and the CKMS Newsroom.

Check out the archived versions of  this program and other episodes on radiowaterloo.ca/news., and other stories commissioned under the Local Journalism Initiative at canada-info.ca.

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