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Mell1bers of two Indian bands- are occupying disputed land OWEN SOUND, Ont. (CP) - campsite near the edge of the Members of two local Indian cliff. bands' have occupied a seven- hectare property in this Bruce They mt.end to maintain a fast, Peninsula· city to back thfir and pray until ~unsettodaywh~n claims to the historic land. they plan to break.camp, he said. A drum is inside a traditional The property, known as the .. lodge the band members built South Ordnance Reserve, sits under an apple tree atop cliffs overlooking Owen · · Sound harbor at the northeast As the spirit moves them they end of the .city. It was once in- beat the drum and sing, another tended as th_e site to guard spokesman said. · · against attacks by American· fleet during the war of 1812. But the seven-hectare proper- ty is now the proposed location for a non-profit housing project and this has spurred. the Cape Croker and Saugeen indian reserves into action, Cape Croker Chief Ralph Akiwenzie said Monday. . __ .... . .. Akiwenzie said there are firm indications the housing project is going through and a real estate deal between the federal govern- ment and the local housing cor- poration is imminent The two bands met · in joint council late last week . and decided to authorize an occupa- tion of the disputed territory by band members, he said. A group of members from the Cape Croker reserve arrived in a van Sunda morning and set up a Frustration over the lack of progress in a long-standing land claim is at the root of the bands' action . The purpose of the occupa- tion of the land is to draw public attention to the claims and re-as- sert, both " historically and spiritually" Indian rights of ownership, Akiwenzie said. · The land claim, first launched by the bands about 10 years ago, relates to · a treaty drawn up in 1836 which· gave the Crown 600,000 hectares of land, roughly corresponding to most of the present territory of Grey and Bruce Counties and extending as far south as Goderich. The bands claim the treaty is invalid. They say it was not signed by key chiefs.