North Bay Nugget from North Bay, Ontario, Canada • 28

2S-THE NORTH BAY NUGGET SATURDAY AUG 23 1980 Indian land caution remains far from settlement Bear Island band awaits its day in Supreme Court I "The provtnce has been delaying actions on the land caution for almost three years I think (hey are seeking to delay tip proceedings because they never thought we would be as prepared as we are now" he said The delay in time may Just be working to the band's benefit Chief Potts added When the land caution was initiated the residents of the land in question felt there was no way the band would ever prove its right to the land As time goes on people are getting used to the fact the band may have that right don't blame the people living on the land for the loss of our land They bought the land in good faith and many people don't really know the land claim has been going on since "The people living on the land are remaining in a standoff position There hasn't been any negative feeling between the band and those living within the 4000 square mile he said The band is now waiting for the hearing which was scheduled for May 1978 to be rescheduled After an attempt to lift the land caution in April 1978 the attorney-general for the Province of Ontario sued the band in the Supreme Court of Ontario seeking a number of declarations among them that the band had no interest in the land in question "An Indian can only lose his nncss' if he loses his land this land claim is a do or die situation for us" said Chief Potts This announcement by Bear Island Indian Band Chief Gary Potts that the 3000 residents living Inside the band's land caution area lose their properties if the band Is successful in its bid to win land rights was a relief to the landowners Chief Potts told The Nugget that the people had bought the land from the Ontario government in and "will not be penalized if the land claim is approved in our favor" The land claim includes 4000 square miles and within that there are three towns Elk Lake Temagami and Gowganda and 127 townships The tribal boundary which is being claimed however only includes portions of most of the townships The land claim has been filed for 103 years and during that time the Province of Ontario has consistently refused to admit the band has any claim or right according to Chief Potts A land caution was enforced by the band in 1973 and since that time no new development has been allowed on the land in question The band and province are now in the first portion of a three-part court battle "If we are successful in our claim we will seek compensation from the province for the loss of land If the government refuses to provide us with compensation we will see what can be worked out with the municipalities within the land claim" said Chief Potts Some type of compensation from the municipalities to the band for the use of their land will be the target if an agreement is sought with the surrounding areas according to Chief Potts i-iAU? sTARtiitiii Options available THE FLYING FRENCHMAN Edouard CARPENTIER THE GOLDEN GREEK ChrisTOLOS This cottage pestled in the trees on Lake will not lose their land if it is proven in a Tema garni stands within the 4000 square miles Supreme Court hearing that the Indian Band which have been subject to a land caution since does ovn the land and that no treaty with the 1973 The caution Imposed by the Temagami province was ever signed Bear Island band Indian Band encompasses three towns and 127 Chief Gary Potts says townships The 3000 residents within this area i First protest was filed by Chief Tonene in 1877 "If the municipalities absolutely refuse to cooperate the band will have two options We can either forget about getting any form of compensation or we can seek further legal action" he said Because the province has continued to hold its stand that the band has no rights to the land the band has been Involved in preparing for a fight for the past four years according to Chief Potts More than 1000 documents which contain some 4000 pages have been prepared and tribal ancestry on the land in question has been traced back some 5000 years The research which included proving the Band's right to the land and researching the Canadian Judicial system so they are able to fight their case has taken three years of intense work according to Chief Potts I FOOT TALL STEEL CAGE MATCH The SHEIK HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION nILUMAn NO ESCAPE STEEL CAGE LADY WRESTLING THE MIDGETS I mud? hud? hop? Photo and stories by Shelly Ettles Northern Bureau NORTH BAY MEMORIAL GARDENS WED AUG 27 8:30 pm TEMAGAMI A land claim which was Died in 1877 by Chief Tonene of the Teme-augam Anishnabal (later 1dm tifled as the Temagami Indian Band) is now eight to 12 years from being settled according to Chief Gary Potts present chief of the band The land claim which has been on file for 103 years now Includes 4000 square miles including three towns Elk Lake Temagami and Gowganda and 127 townships The land being claimed was never in question unto lumbermen who were licensed by the Ontario government on Lake Temiscamlng arrived on Lake Temagami to explore for timber At that time Chief Tonene protested the interference of the men with the Indian lands which had never been surrendered by Treaty Chief Tonene filed his protest with the federal Indian Agent in Parry Sound In 1883 the federal government acknowledged that the Teme-augam Anishnabal had not taken part In the Robinson-Huron Treaty It has been documented that although no formal sale or surrender of NdaU-menan (lands within the land claim) took place Lake Temagami was surveyed in 1885 and 100 square miles was designated as a reserve for the Temagami Band of Indians by the federal government "The province has never been willing to acknowledge the land is ours Since 1885 the Province of Ontario has claimed that the land in question was surrendered by the Rofainson-Huron Treaty of 1850" said Chief Potts In August 1973 a land caution was filed by Chief Potts against all unregistered CYown lands within the area known as NdaU-menan Although the claim has been going on since 1877 formal actions were not carried out in the 1960s because the Temagami Indian Band community was reshaping itself A period of unsettlement was caused because leaders were changing quite often according to Chief Potts Police baffled ATLANTA (AP) Atlanta police don't know whether they're looking for one "very sick or several killers But six black children have been shot strangled or stabbed to death in little more than a year and the size of the force Investigating the slayings has been doubled The latest victim was 13-year-old Clifford Jones of Cleveland who was visiting his grandmother here He was found strangled Thursday Four other children from the area have disappeared One was kidnapped from her home but there was no demand for ransom have not been able to tell that the cases involve one said homicide Lieut BL Neiklrk "We haven't solved the cases or determined the motive involved But this is an abnormally large number of such cases since July (1939)" One link he said is that the cases involved young black people under the age of 15" we've got a very sick person out there" Police Chief George Napper said during a news conference to announced that the forte investigating the deaths has been increased to 10 policemen Napper also said the city has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and the FBI to step in province has been unwilling to accept our claim of right to the land so we have been preparing a case and collecting research to prove our he said After three years of extensive research the band now has some 1000 documents which contain more than 4000 pages which they feel prove they have a claim for unmolested possession to their aboriginal lands After the land caution was filed in 1973 the Province attempted to have it lifted on May 8 1978 A hearing to determine whether or not the band had an interest in lands which were placed under the caution was set for May 15 1978 before Judge Fernand Grattan Ontario District Court in Ninth Bay Bruce Clark lawyer for the band discovered provincial representatives for three days in December 1979 The discoveries are a method used to speed up the court hearings as they serve to disclose most of the information which will be used at the formal hearing Discoveries of Chief Potts who represents the band in the claim were held for seven days in January I960 The trial pleas which were filed hiring 1979 were reopened when a mining company intervened in the on May 15 of this year The band is now at the first stage of a court battle which will have three stages 'are ready to go to court at any time but the Province of Ontario is continuing to delay the hearing We are also willing to fight as long as it said Chief POtts The band has spent $180000 up to this point on the land claims Most of the money came from groups concerned with Indian rights After the intervention of the mining company a hearing was held in the Supreme Court of Ontario's office in order to examine the pleas of the Province and the band The meeting was adjourned and word has not yet been received on the decision "The danger is now very real that the Province never owned any of the land in the claim People in the area are now beginning to realize that there is a good possibility our claim may come said Chief Potts "I think most people in the area would like to see the land claim settled so they know where they stand" he said Trout Creek fall fair on today TROUT CREEK (Staff) The annual Trout Creek fall fair begins this afternoon at the town's community centre The doors to the exhibits open at 1230 pm and during the afternoon there will be everything from livestock Judging to woodcutting contests and a midwav One of the most popular events of the Trout Creek fair is the baby show It begins at 2 pm today On Sunday there will be a pancake and sausage breakfast at 8 JO am The midway will be operating again on Sunday and there will be a light horse show beginning at 10 am There are more than 30 classes in the English and western portions of the light horse show imo The Natancf Coindl for the Observance at Gfonctorents Day "This shouldn't tsks too long! i.