Tyendinaga update

Arson suspected in trailer fire

For: http://www.intelligencer.ca
The Belleville Intelligencer
Saturday, July 21, 2007

A trailer parked along Highway 401 east of Belleville went up in flames Friday morning.

Tyendinaga Township fire Chief Dan Callaghan says firefighters were alerted to the blaze around 6 a.m.

The trailer, which had been parked on the south side of the highway, sported a Mohawk warrior symbol and the slogan “We support our troops.”

The sign refers to Mohawks occupying a Deseronto-area gravel pit as part of a land-claim protest.

Callaghan says an arson investigation is underway.

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Damage to 401 during protest could cost thousands

Samantha Craggs
For: http://www.intelligencer.ca
The Belleville Intelligencer
Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Officials for the Ministry of Transportation report they have no estimates on the cost to fix damage done to Highway 401 during the recent national aboriginal day of action.

But a local expert said repairing road damages can cost thousands.

The June 29 protest, which saw police close a portion of the major highway from Belleville to Deseronto, caused minor damage to the road, most of which has been fixed, said spokeswoman Emna Dhahak.

Sections of a fence were knocked down or removed from three quadrants of an interchange, and two southbound guard rail posts were burned or damaged, she said.

There was a small area of burned asphalt on the paved shoulder and ash debris that was full of nails, she said.

There was also one crushed culvert end and two symbols painted on the structure piers, driving surface and barrier wall, she said.

The symbols will be covered with gray paint this week, she said.

Tyendinaga Township officials have yet to comment on whether damage was done to County Road 2, which was also blocked, said Reeve Margaret Walsh.

While MTO has no estimates yet, the cost of fixing guard rails varies, said Gerry LeMay, Belleville’s superintendent of public works when asked what, typically, such work entails.

A recent guard rail mangled by a car accident on North Front Street cost “a couple of thousand dollars” to fix, LeMay estimated.

With spray paint, “it varies,” he said of what it costs the city.

“It may just be a matter of painting over top of it. It’s just time consuming and a pain.”

The day of protest is not the only cause of local spray paint related to Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory.

“No OPP” can be found along Highway 49.

Recently, someone spray painted “No Indians welcome” on the highway leading in to Prince Edward County, said Chief R. Donald Maracle of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte.