The Kanien'kehá:ka say a vast swath of Montreal's South Shore is theirs. They want their claim settled
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.
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Historical documents show the grant stipulated that settlers would not be allowed on the land.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.
WATCH | What's the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis Land Grievance?:
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."
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Business Insider
5 hours ago
- Business Insider
Ghana secures first Paris Club debt deal from France
France has signed a bilateral agreement with Ghana to provide debt relief under the country's ongoing external debt restructuring programme, marking a major milestone in Ghana's efforts to recover from unsustainable debt levels following the COVID-19 pandemic. France signed a debt relief agreement with Ghana as part of an external debt restructuring program. This makes France the first Paris Club member to formally support Ghana's financial recovery. Ghana noted economic progress, including inflation reduction, reflecting positive indicators of recovery. The agreement, signed on Friday, July 25, makes France the first Paris Club member to formally commit to debt relief for Ghana. The development follows Parliament's approval of the indicative terms presented by the Official Creditor Committee (OCC), according to Citi Newsroom. Ghana's Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson, who signed on behalf of the government, described the agreement as ' the most significant milestone' and urged other Paris Club members to follow France's lead. 'We expect to complete the process as soon as possible so that Ghana can breathe again, ' he said. ' Today is a milestone, a milestone in the sense that it has taken us some time to get here. But it is the most significant one. The most significant one, which will pave the way for others to also emulate the steps taken by France in signing this bilateral agreement,' he added. Officials express optimism over broader support from global creditors The signing ceremony was attended by French Ambassador to Ghana Jules Armand Aniambossou, Paris Club Secretary-General and OCC Co-Chair William Roos, and officials from both governments. Speaking at the event and during his presentation of the 2025 Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament, Dr. Forson noted that inflation had dropped from 54% to 13.7%, adding, 'We have gone through turbulent signs but we can see that hope is in sight.' He also expressed optimism that Ghana's recent economic progress would be recognized by other members of the Paris Club framework, expediting the country's external debt restructuring process. Ambassador Aniambossou said France's decision reflected the strong ties between the two countries. ' When your friend or family member is facing difficulties, you have to show that you are there for them and take some key actions, ' he said. Paris Club Secretary-General William Roos called for stronger collaboration among creditors. ' We have to progressively build a strong trust between France, China, the G20 and Paris Club members,' he said.


Politico
6 hours ago
- Politico
'Donaldddddd': Foreign leaders schmooze Trump on his personal cell
Those leaders include French President Emmanuel Macron, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who Trump will meet for a round of golf in Scotland on Monday, according to the person and two others familiar with the calls. The three, like others in this story, were granted anonymity to discuss private talks. The informality of these conversations, although hardly different from the off-the-cuff style Trump often showcases in public settings, can still be striking to aides listening on the other end of the line. A person familiar with one of the president's conversations with Macron recalled the two leaders 'bro-ing out' as they greeted one another. 'It was oddly amusing — Trump would say 'Emmanuellllll' and really draw out the l and then Macron would go, 'Donaldddddd' and draw out the d,' they recalled. 'And it sort of went back and forth.' Foreign officials credit their ability to adapt to Trump's freewheeling style to improved personal relationships, which, they say, is leading to more favorable outcomes. One European official pointed to last month's NATO leaders summit in The Netherlands where Trump announced that he'd changed his mind about the alliance after meeting with cohorts he lauded as 'great leaders.' He told reporters that he was departing feeling 'differently' and had determined that the cause of European security was 'not a rip off.' And since then he has agreed to authorize more defense aid for Ukraine so long as Europe foots the bill. 'There's less friction and more alignment in some cases,' said the European official. 'Some of that is the result of a lot of leaders being more hands-on with Trump, and, yes, more solicitous in private.'


Boston Globe
7 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Trump criticized the idea of presidential vacations. His Scotland trip is built around golf.
The White House isn't calling Trump's five-day, midsummer jaunt a vacation, but rather a working trip where the Republican president might hold a news conference and sit for interviews with U.S. and British media outlets. Trump was also talking trade in separate meetings with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Trump is staying at his properties near Turnberry and Aberdeen, where his family owns two golf courses and is opening a third on Aug. 13. Trump played golf over the weekend at Turnberry and is helping cut the ribbon on the new course on Tuesday. Advertisement He's not the first president to play in Scotland: Dwight D. Eisenhower played at Turnberry in 1959, more than a half century before Trump bought it, after meeting with French President Charles de Gaulle in Paris. But none of Trump's predecessors has constructed a foreign itinerary around promoting vacation sites his family owns and is actively expanding. Advertisement It lays bare how Trump has leveraged his second term to pad his family's profits in a variety of ways, including overseas development deals and promoting cryptocurrencies, despite growing questions about ethics concerns. 'You have to look at this as yet another attempt by Donald Trump to monetize his presidency,' said Leonard Steinhorn, who teaches political communication and courses on American culture and the modern presidency at American University. 'In this case, using the trip as a PR opportunity to promote his golf courses.' A parade of golf carts and security accompanied President Trump at Turnberry, on the Scottish coast southwest of Glasgow, on Sunday. Christopher Furlong/Getty President Trump on the links. Christopher Furlong/Getty Presidents typically vacation in the US Franklin D. Roosevelt went to the Bahamas, often for the excellent fishing, five times between 1933 and 1940. He visited Canada's Campobello Island in New Brunswick, where he had vacationed as a child, in 1933, 1936 and 1939. Reagan spent Easter 1982 on vacation in Barbados after meeting with Caribbean leaders and warning of a Marxist threat that could spread throughout the region from nearby Grenada. Presidents also never fully go on vacation. They travel with a large entourage of aides, receive intelligence briefings, take calls and otherwise work away from Washington. Kicking back in the United States, though, has long been the norm. Harry S. Truman helped make Key West, Florida, a tourist hot spot with his 'Little White House' cottage there. Several presidents, including James Buchanan and Benjamin Harrison, visited the Victorian architecture in Cape May, New Jersey. More recently, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama boosted tourism on Massachusetts' Martha's Vineyard, while Trump has buoyed Palm Beach, Florida, with frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago estate. But any tourist lift Trump gets from his Scottish visit is likely to most benefit his family. 'Every president is forced to weigh politics versus fun on vacation,' said Jeffrey Engel, David Gergen Director of the Center for Presidential History at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, who added that Trump is 'demonstrating his priorities.' Advertisement 'When he thinks about how he wants to spend his free time, A., playing golf, B., visiting places where he has investments and C., enhancing those investments, that was not the priority for previous presidents, but it is his vacation time,' Engel said. It's even a departure from Trump's first term, when he found ways to squeeze in visits to his properties while on trips more focused on work. Trump stopped at his resort in Hawaii to thank staff members after visiting the memorial site at Pearl Harbor and before embarking on an Asia trip in November 2017. He played golf at Turnberry in 2018 before meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland. Trump once decried the idea of taking vacations as president. 'Don't take vacations. What's the point? If you're not enjoying your work, you're in the wrong job,' Trump wrote in his 2004 book, 'Think Like a Billionaire.' During his presidential campaign in 2015, he pledged to 'rarely leave the White House.' Even as recently as a speech at a summit on artificial intelligence in Washington on Wednesday, Trump derided his predecessor for flying long distances for golf — something he's now doing. 'They talked about the carbon footprint and then Obama hops onto a 747, Air Force One, and flies to Hawaii to play a round of golf and comes back,' he said. On the green... Christopher Furlong/Getty ... and in the sand. Christopher Furlong/Getty Presidential vacations and any overseas trips were once taboo Trump isn't the first president not wanting to publicize taking time off. George Washington was criticized for embarking on a New England tour to promote the presidency. Some took issue with his successor, John Adams, for leaving the then-capital of Philadelphia in 1797 for a long visit to his family's farm in Quincy, Massachusetts. James Madison left Washington for months after the War of 1812. Advertisement Teddy Roosevelt helped pioneer the modern presidential vacation in 1902 by chartering a special train and directing key staffers to rent houses near Sagamore Hill, his home in Oyster Bay, New York, according to the White House Historical Association. Four years later, Roosevelt upended tradition again, this time by becoming the first president to leave the country while in office. The New York Times noted that Roosevelt's 30-day trip by yacht and battleship to tour construction of the Panama Canal 'will violate the traditions of the United States for 117 years by taking its President outside the jurisdiction of the Government at Washington.' In the decades since, where presidents opted to vacation, even outside the U.S., has become part of their political personas. In addition to New Jersey, Grant relaxed on Martha's Vineyard. Calvin Coolidge spent the 1928 Christmas holidays at Sapelo Island, Georgia. Lyndon B. Johnson had his 'Texas White House,' a Hill Country ranch. Eisenhower vacationed in Newport, Rhode Island. John F. Kennedy went to Palm Springs, California, and his family's compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, among other places. Richard Nixon had the 'Southern White House' on Key Biscayne, Florida, while Joe Biden traveled frequently to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, while also visiting Nantucket, Massachusetts, and St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands. George H.W. Bush was a frequent visitor to his family's property in Kennebunkport, Maine, and didn't let the start of the Gulf War in 1991 detour him from a monthlong vacation there. His son, George W. Bush, opted for his ranch in Crawford, Texas, rather than a more posh destination. Advertisement Presidential visits help tourism in some places more than others, but Engel said that for some Americans, 'if the president of the Untied States goes some place, you want to go to the same place.' He noted that visitors emulating presidential vacations are out 'to show that you're either as cool as he or she, that you understand the same values as he or she or, heck, maybe you'll bump into he or she.'