Police increased their presence in Caledonia, Ont. on Friday as tensions ran high in the community that has been gripped by a native land claim dispute for more than a year.
Construction on a church parking lot adjacent to the disputed land was the scene for several tense moments. A police source told CTV News that members of the Six Nations Confederacy confronted the construction crew on Friday.
Threats of vandalism on the church were allegedly made causing officers from the Ontario Provincial Police to respond to the scene. A nearby school was temporarily locked down as a precaution.
Police say the tensions quickly eased after they arrived and began negotiating a peaceful settlement to this latest skirmish in the on-going dispute.
The OPP took pains to keep news media away from the construction area, saying they were worried the sight of reporters might inflame the situation.
"Every little thing is quite sensitive," OPP Const. Paula Wright said. "We'd like to maintain the peace and keep the negotiations going."
Around 6 p.m. police said that the dispute had been resolved.
Friday's incident is the latest in a long series of skirmishes, tense moments and violence since members of the Six Nations began protests and their occupation of a housing development in February 2006.
The dispute has sharply divided the town, both physically and emotionally.
Six Nations protesters claim the disputed land was stolen from them more than 200 years ago. During the height of the dispute, protesters erected a barricade across the community's main road, effectively cutting Caledonia's access to neighbouring towns.
Violent clashes have also occurred between the protesters and others opposed to the Six Nations.
Negotiators from the federal and provincial governments and the Six Nations have spent months trying to reach a settlement. The start of negotiations resulted in barricades coming down but protesters maintained their occupation of the disputed land.
The Ontario government purchased the land from the housing developer, effectively ending its future as a subdivision. The province said the land would be held in trust until a settlement could be reached.
Negotiations have moved slowly, igniting protests by Caledonia residents and others.
Most recently, the town's mayor and others from the community formed a convoy which drove very slowly along the busy QEW and Gardiner Expressway ending at the provincial legislature in Toronto.
The group rallied at Queen's Park on May 2, urging both levels of government to speed up talks to end the dispute.
With a report from CTV's Chris Eby
