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Back in 1993, the London Free Press sent me to cover the recent construction of a tent village at the Canadian Forces’ Camp Ipperwash, west of the Ontario city, by a group of Stony Point natives demanding return of land taken from them in 1942 to make way for the base.

The defence department said it was pursuing a policy of non-confrontation and did not expect the situation to escalate.

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That’s not how things turned out. During a violent confrontation in 1995, the Ontario Provincial Police shot protester Dudley George dead.

For many Canadians, the latest news from Attawapiskat — and the occupation in solidarity of Indigenous and Northern Affairs offices now underway in Winnipeg, Toronto and other sites — confirms that the forecast for the future is as bleak as the experience of the recent past: cloudy, with a chance of violence.

But amid the extensive coverage from the northern Ontario community, it passed unnoticed that the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point concluded a final settlement Thursday to resolve the outstanding issues with the federal government on the former Camp Ipperwash lands. The band received $95 million and agreed to a process for return of the lands taken 74 years ago under the War Measures Act. “Today, World War Two is finally over for the Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point with the closure of the taking of our lands in 1942. We look forward to a better relationship with Canada going forward and today marks a new beginning,” said Chief Thomas Bressette.