While development is inexorably closer to the surroundings of Kahnawà: Ke, the great chef Cody Diabo claims that the community is tired of seeing houses and companies being built around it, while a 345 -year -old territorial claim remains blocked by the federal bureaucracy.
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà: Ke (MCK) launched an information campaign and a new website in the hope of reviving the territorial demand, known as the land grievance of the seigneury of Sault Saint-Louis (SSSL).
The area in question, with an area of approximately 97 square kilometers, extends beyond the current borders of Kahnawà: Ke and includes several municipalities in the Montérégie region, on the South Shore.
We must repair the errors of the past
said Diabo, adding that he will not be satisfied less than what is due to him.
There is not only the past use that we have been forbidden to benefit from, but also future use. As long as the land is not returned to Kahnawà: Ke and that they are exploited for other purposes for the benefit of other people, it is worrying.
The federal government accepted the complaint in 2003. However, the Grand Chef Diabo indicated that the talks were slow during the decades that followed, revolving around the negotiation protocols, or Negotiate the way to negotiate
as he says himself.
Michael Coyle, a professor specializing in the rights of Aboriginal people and conflict resolution at Western University, explains that when Canada accepts a claim, this means that its lawyers have decided that Canada still has a legal obligation towards the First Nation.
This does not engage [le Canada] to conclude a particular agreement or to include land in an agreement, but this undertakes him to negotiate a claim that he deemed valid
he said.
In the meantime, Mr. Diabo wants the government to issue a directive interrupting development efforts in the SSSL or included at least the community in these discussions.
The SSSL includes Sainte-Catherine, Delson, Saint-Constant, parts of Châteauguay and other municipalities.
An area of approximately 97 square kilometers, the area claimed by Kahnawà: Ke includes several municipalities in the Montérégie region.
Photo : CBC
Straighten the wrongs of the past
In 1680, the King of France Louis XIV granted plots of land, a lordship, to the Jesuits to establish a mission and for the use and occupation of the Haudenosaunee, or Kanien’Kehá: Ka de Kahnawà: Ke. The Kanienʼke꞉ka of Kahnawà: Ke are part of the Confederation of Haudenosaunee.
Historical documents show that the concession stipulated that the settlers would not be authorized to settle on land.
The Jesuits nevertheless began to grant part of the land to French settlers. In 1762, a British general, Thomas Gage, was pronounced in favor of a complaint filed by the Kanien’Kehá: KA and canceled the concessions.
However, the case has never been completely adjusted and the Kanien’Kehá: Ka continued to be dispossessed of their land over the years, so that today, the territory of Kahnawà: Ke represents only a little more than 50 square kilometers.
Diabo said the band’s council wanted to have a serious conversation with the federal and provincial governments in order to formulate a transition plan. With regard to people living in the municipalities concerned, he said that a positive claim of the claim did not necessarily mean other trips.
We are not monsters in the end, even if this is what happened to us historically. People settled down and then chased from our regions
hammered the great chef. We are not like that.
A painted stone carries the inscription “It’s a mohawk land” along the Old Malone motorway in Kahnawà: Ke.
Photo : CBC / Paula Dayan-Perez
A spokesperson for Couronne-Aboriginal and Affairs of Northern Canada (RCAANC) stressed that the government was working with the Kahnawà Mohawk Council: Ke in a spirit of cooperation and partnership in order to solve the SSSL problem through confidential negotiations.
We remain determined to achieve a negotiated result that advances the priorities of the Kahnawà Council Mohawk: Ke
said Eric Head.
In a statement, the Quebec government indicated that the negotiations were taking place exclusively between the Kahnawà Kahnawà Council: Ke and the Federal Government and that it did not participate.
In Quebec, 22 specific claims are underway between various band councils and the Canadian government.
According to RCAANC, out of the 115 claims concluded in the province, almost 60 % were settled by negotiation, while a little less than 40 % led to the conclusion that the crown had no legal obligation. The other two were paid by an administrative appeal.
The government often chooses to settle the grievances by offering land which it makes available to replace the disputed land if, for example, there are people who live there, explained Mr. Coyle, a rights specialist of the Aboriginal people.
In other cases, it offers money that band advice can use to buy private land.
A third possibility, which he says he has not yet seen the application, is the expropriation of private land to settle a dispute.
Expropriation is used in many different contexts in Canada. It is used in Toronto, for example, right now to build new metro lines
said Mr. Coyle.
Solutions require creativity, he added.
Mr. Diabo hopes that they will succeed. He also hopes that the neighbors of Kahnawà: Ke will be informed of the dispute and will better understand the point of view of his community.
Rather than adding and exacerbating the situation, let us settle the problem right away
he said. We are here now.
According to a text by Cassandra Yanez-Leyton, by CBC News
