THE Mohawks have never officially given their support to the organizers of the pro-Palestine encampment on the campus of McGill University. The Mohawk council of Kahnawake dissociates itself from a letter that appears official – and sown everywhere on the site — signed by Stuart Myiow, a Mohawk who has made comments in the past denying the Holocaust.
When informed, the organizers removed these posters. “There were allegations of anti-Semitism. […] We examined the notice and we withdrew it, because this movement is not anti-Semitic,” confirmed Monday afternoon an anonymous representative of the student association Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights. “We take any allegations of anti-Semitism very seriously. »
She claims that the document has not been posted for “a few days”, even if Ari Nahman, who studies at Concordia University and is spokesperson for the organization Independent Jewish Voices, still claimed on Sunday to be “here with the permission of the kanien’kehà:ka people” (Mohawk).
On April 28, a certain Stuart Myiow, “representative of the Wolf Clan”, declared, giving the impression of speaking on behalf of the “Mohawk people”, “to grant full rights to those who occupy McGill and to other campuses on Turtle Island to be in the said territory.” The apparently official letter, bearing a logo representing the Confederacy of the Five Iroquois Nations, had been displayed at the camp.
On Monday, the Kahnawake band council affirmed Duty that there was “no affiliation” between him and “the self-proclaimed group “The Kanienkehaka Traditional Council of Kahnawake” represented by Stuart Myiow”. “Recent statements from this group do not reflect the collective positions of the Kahnawà:ke community. »
“While we sincerely hope for a quick and peaceful resolution to the conflict, we cannot interfere in matters that are not ours,” noted the band council.
The fact remains that “Mother Mohawk” Kahentinetha reiterated her support for the demonstrators on Monday afternoon. Turtle Clan activist (and former Mohawk spokesperson during the Oka Crisis) Ellen Gabriel has also already visited the camp.
Negationist and conspiratorial remarks
Live from his Facebook page, Stuart Myiow has already made negationist remarks, describing the Shoah as a “so-called genocide”, while denying being anti-Semitic.
“Is it too far-fetched to think that the exact opposite happened to what we are told about the Second World War? ” he asked during a discussion on the existence of extraterrestrials in July 2023. “Let’s think about that. Those who claim to have been victims of genocide now turn around and inflict genocide on other people. Do you think this is the behavior of people who were victims of genocide? No, it’s not. This is the behavior of manipulators, mind manipulators. »
His almost daily videos have spread several conspiracy theories. Mr. Myiow notably welcomed a supporter of the “Freedom Convoy”, Frédéric Pitre, described by an expert in radicalization as “fairly well-known in the complosphere”.
He also invited Carl Brochu, candidate in 2021 for the Patriote Party. This political gathering following the “great replacement” theory states in particular on its website that “mass immigration” is “planned destruction” by “the Canadianist enemy [qui] has always aimed at the disappearance of the Quebec people.”
At the time of writing, Stuart Myiow had not responded to our requests for an interview.
Unsuccessful meetings
With Zacharie Goudreault and Florence Morin-Martel
This report is supported by the Local Journalism Initiative, funded by the Government of Canada.