Kanehsatake is a
MohawkMohawk" are an indigenous people of North America originally from the Mohawk Valley in upstate New York to southern Quebec and eastern Ontario. Their current settlements include areas around Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River in Canada...
community on the shore of the Lake of Two Mountains in southwestern
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, near
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
.
In addition to the Kanesatake lands, the
Doncaster 17 Indian ReserveDoncaster is a Mohawk First Nation Reserve in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada. It belongs to the Mohawks of Kanesatake and Kahnawake....
also belongs to the Mohawks of Kanesatake.
Its recent political history has been troubled. In 1990, the nearby town of
OkaOka, Quebec is a village on the northern bank of the Ottawa River , west of Laval, Quebec, Canada, on Route 344...
attempted to construct an extension of a golf course onto a burial ground used by the people of Kanehsatake.
Kanehsatake is a
MohawkMohawk" are an indigenous people of North America originally from the Mohawk Valley in upstate New York to southern Quebec and eastern Ontario. Their current settlements include areas around Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River in Canada...
community on the shore of the Lake of Two Mountains in southwestern
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
,
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, near
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
.
In addition to the Kanesatake lands, the
Doncaster 17 Indian ReserveDoncaster is a Mohawk First Nation Reserve in the Laurentides region of Quebec, Canada. It belongs to the Mohawks of Kanesatake and Kahnawake....
also belongs to the Mohawks of Kanesatake.
Its recent political history has been troubled. In 1990, the nearby town of
OkaOka, Quebec is a village on the northern bank of the Ottawa River , west of Laval, Quebec, Canada, on Route 344...
attempted to construct an extension of a golf course onto a burial ground used by the people of Kanehsatake. The Mohawks occupied the land, and when the
Sûreté du QuébecThe Sûreté du Québec or SQ is Quebec's national police force of Quebec...
and
Canadian ForcesThe Canadian Forces , officially the Canadian Armed Forces , are the unified armed forces of Canada, as constituted by the National Defence Act, which states: "The Canadian Forces are the armed forces of Her Majesty raised by Canada and consist of one Service called the Canadian Armed Forces."...
intervened, the result was the prolonged standoff of the
Oka CrisisThe Oka Crisis was a land dispute between the Mohawk nation and the town of Oka, Quebec which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted until September 26, 1990...
, in which one police officer was killed.
In 2004 and 2005, disputes over the governance practices of former Chief
James GabrielJames Gabriel was Grand Chief of the Mohawk community at Kanesatake from 1995 to 2004. His tenure in office was very controversial, and was marked by bitter divisions between his supporters and opponents....
resulted in violence, including the purported
arsonArson is the crime of deliberately and maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires caused by lightning for example. The study of the causes is the subject of fire investigation...
of the chief's home and car, and his exile to Montreal. Chiefs Pearl Bonspille,
Steven BonspilleSteven Bonspille is the current Grand Chief of the Kanesatake Mohawk community, located near Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was one of the key figures in a power struggle in which he and three other chiefs at the time, Crawford Gabriel, Pearl Bonspille and John Harding opposed former Grand Chief...
and John Harding opposed Gabriel, leading to a series of incidents that ended Gabriel's tenure as grand chief. Bonspille was elected grand chief on June 26, 2005. In the same election, Harding and Pearl Bonspille were also deposed.
Conflicts over policing
Harding and his fellow chiefs
Steven BonspilleSteven Bonspille is the current Grand Chief of the Kanesatake Mohawk community, located near Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was one of the key figures in a power struggle in which he and three other chiefs at the time, Crawford Gabriel, Pearl Bonspille and John Harding opposed former Grand Chief...
and Pearl Bonspille believed Gabriel's attempt to control policing and his alleged violation of the civil rights of the citizens of Kanehsatake to be extremely dangerous.
Bonspille positioned himself to run for Grand Chief. He dis-associated himself politically and socially from Harding and his supporters. Gabriel came to see him as his main political opponent.
On January 12, 2004, Gabriel led an armed force of sixty-seven native "special constables" into Kanehsatake in an unsuccessful attempt to usurp the power of the Police Commission. The special constables sequestered themselves in the local police station for several days until their forced evacuation. Gabriel's home was subsequently burned and he was forced into exile. Gabriel planned a return to power from his exile.
The
Government of CanadaThe government of Canada is established as a constitutional monarchy, with the powers and structure of the federal government established by the Constitution of Canada, which includes the written part, the decisions of courts, and unwritten conventions developed over time.-Usage:In Canadian...
supported Gabriel. It refused to allow elections to be held on the Mohawk Territory, citing unnamed dangers. It supported Gabriel's disputed claim to a continuance of his mandate. It increased the policing budget, and hired the P.R firm of Communications Strategie to direct and support Gabriel's re-election strategy.
A Community Watch team was organized to counter the lack of a police force. A liaison team was established with the
Sûreté du QuébecThe Sûreté du Québec or SQ is Quebec's national police force of Quebec...
(the provincial police force). Political communication lines were opened up to prevent another
Oka CrisisThe Oka Crisis was a land dispute between the Mohawk nation and the town of Oka, Quebec which began on July 11, 1990, and lasted until September 26, 1990...
. Hardings influence was growing as Gabriel's was becoming marginalized.
Steven Bonspille meanwhile began building a solid base of support. Gabriel's support base was virtually non-existent in the territory. He relied on non-resident voters for support. Bonspille took advantage of Gabriel's focus on Harding and undermined that non-resident support. Elections were held in late spring of 2005, with Gabriel losing to Bonspille. Harding and Pearl Bonspille were voted out.
Tobacco trade
Tobacco is a traditional medicinal herb indigenous to North and South America. Its significance and use by native cultures in the western hemisphere goes back at least two thousand years. Custom is in conflict with current government laws attached to trade control of tobacco products.
Despite all of its political problems, Kanehsatake has experienced much needed economic growth stemming from the tobacco trade. Beginning with only two fishing shacks set up over five years ago on each end of the territory, the trade has expanded, with well over thirty stores of all different shapes selling tobacco today. Initial factories organized in Akwesasne and shortly after in Kahnawake have been providing Kanehsatake with their product since the business began.
With this economic boon residents have invested back into their community by developing land and creating other businesses (restaurant, clothing store, gas station). This investment has benefited the Kanienkehaka. Despite purported legal problems surrounding the sale of cigarettes, it has decreased unemployment among Mohawks living in Kanehsatake and Mohawk communities elsewhere.
External links
Links re Policing and governance issues of 2003-2005