Seigneury Lands report completed, available for viewing by community members

01/26/2016

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK)  wishes to advise Kahnawa’kehró:non that the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis (Seigneury) Consultation on Lands Final Report has been completed and is being made available for viewing by community members.

This is being done in preparation for the upcoming Winter Community Meeting on Tuesday, 16 Enníska/February. At that time the community will be asked to formally validate the Report.

The report contains the results of an extensive Community Consultation that took place from December 2014 to February 2015 on issues relating to land, in context of the Seigneury negotiations with the Federal government. It lists all the perspectives and positions expressed by those community members who participated.
 
“Due to the nature of the Report, and the fact that there are protocols on place in terms of the information that can be released during the on-going negotiations, we have to proceed carefully,” said Chief Christine Zachary-Deom, who is the Portfolio Lead on the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis. “Therefore, we are reminding Kahnawa’kehró:non that this report is strictly our business. It will have an impact on how we proceed and how we negotiate, so it is incredibly important that the information remains in the hands of community members only.”

The report will be made available only at the MCK main offices.

The MCK accepted an offer from Canada to negotiate and resolve the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis land grievance in 2003. From an historical perspective, the Seigneury was granted by King Louis XIV of France to Kahnawà:ke in 1680. The original grants of 1680 consisted of approximately 45,000 acres. Kahnawà:ke today consists of approximately 13,000 acres.

“Anyone with any questions on the Seigneury, and this report in particular, is welcome to contact me on the matter,” Chief Zachary-Deom concluded. “Once the Report is validated, we can move forward with the next steps.”