[LINK] "Mohawks seek to remove non-natives from Kahnawake"

[rfmcdonald]

I mentioned in 2010 the desire of the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve outside of Montréal to expel mixed Mohawk/non-Mohawk couples from the reserve's territory. Now, as CBC reports, Kahnawake is at it again.

So long as Kahnawake maintains these policies, its officialdom few to no rights to complain against racial discrimination elsewhere. It's worth noting that this policy runs against the tendency among Canadian First Nations to want to broaden membership to include more people of mixed ancestry.

Michael Delisle, Grand Chief of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, said the ban on non-native people living on Mohawk territory goes back years — even decades — to the Indian Act, first passed in 1876.

He said it came to a head in the 1970s, culminating with the 1981 moratorium on mixed marriages on Kahnawake soil.

Support for the ban on mixed marriages continued every time the conversation cropped up, and was over time entrenched in Mohawk law.

“This was discussed further, but for all intents and purposes, it’s looking to be enforced even more strongly,” Delisle said.

He said Kahnawake’s limited real estate means the 6,500-person community’s ability to grow is stunted, and allowing non-natives onto the reservation takes space away from Mohawks.

Delisle also made the case that non-native people living in Kahnawake largely benefit from the same perks Mohawks are entitled to, notably tax exemption.

He said there are approximately 100 non-native people living in Kahnawake who are either married, in common-law relationships or are simply just living there.