Mohawk Nation of Grand River
Acquired Territory
The Haldimand Tract as a deed of gift: acquired, not ancestral; individual, not collective; never surrendered.
The deed of gift unrolls over the Nation’s own map of the Tract: the Crown’s word, enjoyment. Tap it to roll it up again; tap each of the four words below to tell them apart.
Four words decide whose land it is
Tap a word to learn it: who acts, which way the land moves, what proves it, what undoes it.
Two questions, facing opposite ways
| Occupation asks | what did the people do before the Crown came? It looks back, to the Crown’s assertion of sovereignty. |
|---|---|
| Enjoyment asks | what did the Crown promise, and to whom? It looks forward, from 1784, for ever. |
| So | a court could find a people never held land exclusively and still be bound by the Crown’s promise. |
Which word you choose decides the road
| The road of occupation | s. 35; prove the past; a duty to consult; negotiate as a band; justified infringement; it ends in compensation |
|---|---|
| The road of enjoyment | s. 109; the four instruments; descent on oath; a duty to obey: observe, and record; mandamus; it ends in the land kept |
| Why not consult | consultation would concede the claim is unproven; the Crown owes observance, a duty imposed by law |
| If the duty fails | an official who fails it commits, as the Nation holds, a breach of trust: an offence under the Criminal Code, s. 122 |
Over, not instead of
| Above | roads, parks and titles laid down by the province, the towns and others |
|---|---|
| Beneath | the Tract, acquired by the class in 1784 by deed of gift |
| Given up by the class | none: no surrender, no dedication |
| Ontario | took its lands in 1867 subject to it, under s. 109: a latent defect in every title above |
At a glance
| The book | Acquired Territory, about 105,000 words, companion to the mandamus affidavit |
|---|---|
| The Tract | about 950,000 acres, measured six miles from each bank, mouth to source |
| The class | some of the Mohawks of three named villages, and their posterity |
| Their land | by deed of gift, 25 October 1784 |
| Its title | never surrendered by the class; no diminution |
| Ontario | took its lands in 1867 subject to it, under s. 109 |
| Online | acquiredterritory.com |
Where to read it
The book Acquired Territory sets out the whole argument: its timeline, its dramatis personae, its grounds one by one, and a schedule of unjust enrichment. Online, at acquiredterritory.com. This page states the Nation’s position.
In eight lines
- Surrender. Only the holder can; the class never has.
- Dedication. Cannot take what only a surrender gives up.
- Occupation. Looks back; s. 35; a collective.
- Enjoyment. Looks forward; s. 109; person by person.
- Two roads. Compensation, or the land kept.
- Over, not instead of. Titles above; the Tract beneath.
- Lost by. Nothing: no diminution.
- A duty. To observe, not to consult.
The printed poster
Download the poster as printed, A3, full quality: acquired-territory.pdf