A group of homeless people in an encampment in Brantford say they’re facing an eviction deadline Friday.
The Six Nations reserve is ordering them off the land where they’ve built their camps in a wooded area.
It’s not clear how many people are living in these camps. CHCH News heard there may have been as many as 40 or 50 at one time and that number may have dropped significantly since they were given eviction notices.
The Six Nations Reserve says the Glebe in Brantford is part of their land.
It was attached to the nearby Mohawk Institute Residential School and used to support the school while it was open.
Six Nations wouldn’t allow CHCH News onto the land on Thursday, but they say they are concerned about homeless people living there without authorization.
Linda Talian takes food to stray cats in the area and has seen the tents and camps.
“The encampments that I’ve seen up close are organized, clean. I saw generators, they’re there for the winter. They were well planned, well built,” said Talian.
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But the Six Nations elected council wants the camps off the land.
Six Nations says the chief visited the encampment earlier this month and told the people camped here they have to leave.
A statement from Six Nations says, “The people unlawfully on our Territory need to respect our land.”
“Neither Six Nations nor the community in Brantford can tolerate conditions that can lead to grave crimes like human trafficking.”
Six Nations says it expects a joint effort of Six Nations Police and Brantford police to enforce their order.
One of the people in the camps says they’ve been told to leave by Friday.
Others in the area on Thursday say there aren’t a lot of options in today’s economy for people forced to live in tents.
The camp resident told CHCH News that what he calls “bad apples” have left. He says there are only a handful of people still living there and they form a stable community. And he also says they have nowhere else to go.
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