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YOUR Independent Community Newspaper THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2017
Vol. 5 Edition 36
First Nations support for WWF
By Mary Beth Corcoran mary@chathamvoice.com
First Nations members recently joined Water Wells First members in peaceful protest, blocking the entrance to a wind turbine construction site on Bush Line near Highway 40. Cindy Soney and Corrine Tooshkenig happened to drive by the Bush Line blockade one evening last week, after hearing about the fight by WWF to stop turbine construction until the water well problems in north Chatham-Kent are investigated. Soney was present the next morning when Chatham-Kent police came to the Bush Line site with Pattern Energy officials to remove the protesters. Soney, who holds the title of Supreme Authority of Great Turtle Island (North America) and Head Crane Clan Mother, and Tooshkenig, a Clan Water Grandmother, held a document which is a
deed of land proclamation from 1850 in the Province of Canada which gives ownership of the land to First Nations. “The document is for the ownership of all of North America. As the original inhabitors, we never sold any land and that goes back to our traditional clan system. I am top of the clan system as Head Clan Crane Mother,” Soney explained. WWF spokesperson Kevin Jakubec went to speak to the police and told them they would have to talk to the property owner, Soney, who showed them a certified copy of the document deeding them the land. Jakubec said the police backed off and the Pattern Energy officials said they would be consulting with their lawyer. Tooshkenig said the papers go back to work done by the clan to prove land ownership during the Kettle Point dispute near Ipperwash.
Continued on page 3
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Blue skies, green river, no bridge
Clair Culliford/Special to The Chatham Voice
Workers pull away the last section of the Fifth Street Bridge during deconstruction efforts last week. The concrete will be removed to a point below the waterline before reconstruction can begin.
Food, fun and fashion
By Bruce Corcoran bruce@chathamvoice.com
The second annual Downtown in the City Extravaganza (DTICE) is sure to be a positive experience. The event, slated to take place the evening of Sept. 15 throughout downtown Chatham, coincides with the second annual C-K Positivity Day,
which culminates with video showcase in the Chatham Capitol Theatre at 6 p.m. Capt. Positive and Opti-Woman will be at the theatre from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. DTICE takes place between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and will feature a cornucopia of fashion and activity demonstrations, according to the Historic Downtown Chatham
BIA’s Connie Beneteau. There will be a parade of fashions beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Downtown Chatham Centre. Last year, organizers had three different shows, with the first starting at 5 p.m., in different parts of the downtown. That first performance may have been a bit too early, organizers say, as it didn’t give visitors a chance to
get to the downtown following their own workdays. Where else but downtown Chatham would you have fashion and chainsaws? Robbin Wenzosk of Robbin’s Amazing Art from Muirkirk will hold a wood carving demonstration between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. on King Street West. Continued on page 2
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