As development creeps closer to Kahnawà:ke’s borders, Grand Chief Cody Diabo says the community near Montreal is fed up — watching homes and businesses get built on land they say has belonged to them for centuries, while a 345-year-old land grievance remains stalled in federal bureaucracy.
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) launched an information campaign and a new website in the hopes of breathing new life into the land claim, known as the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis (SSSL) Land Grievance.
The area in question, about 97 square kilometres, extends beyond Kahnawà:ke’s current borders and contains several municipalities across the Montérégie region on the South Shore.
“We have to right the wrongs from the past,” said Diabo, adding that he’s not settling for less than what’s owed.
“Not only is there the past use that we’ve been prohibited from benefiting from, but future as well. Because as long as the lands are still not returned to Kahnawà:ke and they’re being developed for different uses to other people’s benefits, it’s a concern.”
The federal government accepted the grievance in 2003.
But Diabo said talks have been slow moving in the decades since, revolving around negotiation protocols — or “negotiating how to negotiate,” as he puts it.
Michael Coyle, a professor specializing in Indigenous rights and dispute resolution at Western University, said that when Canada accepts a claim, that means its lawyers have decided Canada continues to have an outstanding legal obligation toward the First Nation.
“It doesn’t commit [Canada] to reaching a particular agreement or to include land in an agreement, but it does commit them to negotiate a claim that they have found to be a valid claim,” he said.
Meanwhile, Diabo said he wants the government to issue a directive pausing development efforts on SSSL or at least include the band in those discussions.
The SSSL includes Sainte-Catherine, Delson, St-Constant, parts of Châteauguay and parts of other municipalities.
Righting past wrongs
In 1680, French King Louis the XIV granted parcels of land, a seigneury, to the Jesuits to set up a mission and for the use and occupation of the Iroquois, or Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawà:ke. The Kanienʼkehá꞉ka of Kahnawà:ke are part of the larger Iroquois Confederacy.
Historical documents show the grant stipulated that settlers would not be allowed on the land.
The Jesuits began granting part of the land to French settlers nonetheless. In 1762, a British general, Thomas Gage, ruled in favour of a complaint lodged by the Kanien’kehá:ka, reversing the concessions.
However, the matter was never completely settled and the Kanien’kehá:ka continued to be dispossessed of their lands through the years so that today, Kahnawà:ke’s territory accounts for just over 50 square kilometres.
Diabo said the band wants to have a serious conversation with the federal and provincial governments to formulate a transition plan. As for the people living in the affected municipalities, Diabo said a successful settlement to the claim doesn’t necessarily mean further displacement.
“We’re not monsters at the end of the day, even though historically that’s what happened to us. People moved in and then removed us from our areas,” said Diabo.
“We’re not like that.”
A spokesperson for the federal government’s Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC) said the government has been working with the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke in the spirit of co-operation and partnership to resolve the outstanding SSSL through confidential negotiations.
“We remain committed to a negotiated outcome that advances the priorities of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke,” said Eric Head.
In a statement, the Quebec government said the negotiations are exclusively between the MCK and the federal government and that it is not participating.
While Kahnawà:ke currently encompasses about 50km² of territory across the St. Lawrence river from Montreal, the territory dedicated to the Kanien’kehá:ka’s ancestors in the 17th century was nearly twice the size. Much of that land has gradually been developed into Montreal suburbs and infrastructure projects.
In Quebec, there are currently 22 specific claims in progress between various bands and the Canadian government.
According to CIRNAC, among the 115 claims concluded in the province, almost 60 per cent were settled through negotiation, while just under 40 per cent resulted in the finding of no lawful obligation on the part of the Crown. The remaining two were settled through an administrative remedy.
The government frequently chooses to settle grievances by offering land that they make available as a substitute to the disputed land if, for example, there are people living there, Coyle said.
In other cases they offer money which the band can use to buy private land.
A third possibility, which he said he hasn’t seen yet, is the expropriation of private land to settle a dispute.
“We use expropriation in a lot of different contexts in Canada. It’s being used in Toronto, for example, right now to build new subway lines,” said Coyle.
Solutions demand creativity, he said. Diabo is hopeful they’ll get there.
He also hopes Kahnawà:ke’s neighbours will get educated on the dispute and better understand his community’s perspective.
“Rather than kick it down the road and … exacerbate the situation, let’s settle it right now,” he said. “We’re here now.”
