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Rice Celebration 2005 (September 3, 2005)
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Photos by Cindy Vance
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Photos by Candy Bilow
History
When the manomin was ripe in late summer of 1979 a
commercial non-native harvester in a mechanical rice harvesting boat, licensed
by the Province of Ontario, robbed the Ardoch Community of its wild rice
harvest. The stands of wild rice in the river below Ardoch had been cared
for and harvested by Aboriginal people from around Eastern Ontario for over 130
years. The following year a hearing under the Wild Rice Harvesting Act was
held at the request of the Ardoch Community. The decision was to return
the harvesting rights to the Aboriginal people. In 1980 the harvest was
carried out by the people who had managed it for generations. Just three
days before his retirement, James Auld, the Minister of Natural Resources,
reversed the decision of the Hearing and allowed the issuing of a licence to the
non-Aboriginal harvester.
In August and September of 1981 the people of the Ardoch
Algonquin First Nation and their allies from Alderville, Tyendenaga, Curve Lake
and Hiawatha fought a 27-day stand-off against Ontario to protect their
jurisdiction and responsibility for the manomin (wild rice) which grows in the
Mississippi River near Ardoch. The wild rice at Ardoch has been shared for over
a hundred and thirty years with pickers from Alderville and Curve Lake. It
is the manomin that was preserved from Rice Lake when the Trent Canal destroyed
its habitat there.
On August 30 the Premier of Ontario ordered the Ontario
Provincial Police and the Ministry of Natural Resources to get the commercial harvester
onto the River.
Hundreds of police and MNR were employed in the
operation. The airboat never made it to the water. The next morning
on August 31 the community dug up the road entrances to the Lake and liberated a
part of the Algonquin homeland for 27 days. Harold Perry now an Elder and
the Honourary Chief of the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation led the battle and the
subsequent court cases that followed. In 1982, Alan Pope the Minister of
Natural Resources admitted that there was an unsettled question of jurisdiction
and that the Province had no right to impose its authority over the manomin.
No subsequent Provincial government has threatened to lay claim to the rice.
By all estimates Ontario should have been able to crush
any resistance and win the hearts and minds of the public. It had all of
the resources to do so. The Davis Tories were enjoying the greatest
popularity of any government in decades. There were greater forces
however; spiritual forces that would not let the manomin go. As long as
the people were unwilling to let it go the spirits of our ancestors would
protect it. Many great warriors, men and women, Indian and non-Indian came
to the banks of Mud Lake to stand along side our ancestors. It was this struggle
that gave rise to Algonquin pride and determination. This is why
Algonquins from Sharbot Lake, Bob’s Lake, the Fall River, Eel Lake, Eagle
Lake, the Big Rideau, the Tay River, Mattawachen, Calabogie and Ottawa are proud
to claim the name Ardoch as their own. The confrontation at Ardoch also
brought many non-Aboriginal people to understand and support the fight for
Aboriginal rights and self determination.
This year the Ardoch Algonquin First Nation (AAFNA) is celebrating that struggle. We would like to recognize the Ontario Provincial Police for their capability of ensuring the safety of all people involved in the conflict. We want to recognize the many Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal people who gave of themselves both during the struggle and to support our community afterwards.
Robert Lovelace, Co-Chief
Randy Cota, Co-Chief
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Ardoch Algonquin First Nation Banner created by Kevin Wight.
