Five Kanesatake chiefs denounced in a statement Friday a maneuver by Grand Chief Victor Bonspille which, according to them, would violate the rights of the Mohawk territory. Since Wednesday, the doors of the Band Council have been chained, paralyzing the political life of the community.
Grand Chief Victor Bonspille effectively forced the closure of the Kanesatake Band Council establishment on Wednesday morning. After employees were asked to leave, the building’s doors were chained shut. Since then, no activity has taken place there.
To impose a halt to the activities of the Band Council, Grand Chief Bonspille relied on a motion of non-confidence voted on Tuesday evening.
In a joint statement released Friday, five leaders are taking to the front. They denounce an anti-democratic maneuver “violating” the rights of the Mohawk territory. The vote leading to the motion “in no way complied with the laws of the community, it is, therefore, inadmissible,” we can read.
They maintain that this action aims to “unilaterally overturn the democratic election” of the leaders who oppose the decisions of the grand chief, namely Denise David, Brant Etienne, John Canatonquin, Amy Beauvais, and Serge Otsi Simon.
For more than a year, two factions have been openly clashing within the Mohawk Council. Grand chief Victor Bonspille and his twin sister — chief Valerie Bonspille — denounce a revolt on the part of the other chiefs who sit on the council. In the majority, the other leaders say they are opposed to decisions that are not taken for the good of the community.
Last July, Victor Bonspille asked the Indigenous Services Canada department to entrust management of the community to a third party, which Ottawa refused. The last third-party management of Kanesatake lasted from 2003 to 2006.
In today’s joint statement, the five leaders denounce this request which would have been made “unilaterally and at [leur] unknowingly […] in a desperate attempt to get rid of all political opposition at the Council table.”