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Conflict in Caledonia: Aboriginal Land Rights and the Rule of Law (Law and Society Series)
Conflict in Caledonia Aboriginal Land Rights and the Rule of Law - Law and Society Series Author:Laura DeVries On 28 February 2006, the Six Nations of the Grand River blocked — workers from entering a half-built housing development in southern — Ontario. They renamed the land Kanonhstaton, "the protected — place." The protest drew attention to the issue of Aboriginal — land rights and sparked a series of ongoing events known as the — "Caledonia Crisis." — Laur... more »a DeVries' powerful account of the dispute links the
actions of local residents, government officials, and the
police - and the current of racism released by the
conflict - to entrenched non-Aboriginal discourses about
law, landscape, and identity. It encourages non-Aboriginal Canadians
and citizens of other settler societies to reconsider their
assumptions - to view so-called facts such as the rule of
law as culturally specific notions that prevent truly equitable
dialogues with Aboriginal people. Devries not only reveals the
conflicting visions of justice that various actors brought to the
dispute, she also examines alternative conceptualizations of
sovereignty over land and law inherent in the Constitution.
By questioning cherished notions about law, multiculturalism, national
identity, and human rights as they played out in one conflict over
land, DeVries offers true insight into Canada's troubled