The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) has sent letters this week to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and to U.S. President Donald Trump through Consul General Sanders, in response to recent political developments.
The letter to Prime Minister Trudeau was sent in response to his call for First Nations communities to support the Canadian government’s efforts to lobby against President Trump’s economic threats. The letter strongly rejects any such request, asserting that the MCK will not lend their support to a government that has historically been dismissive of Indigenous rights and has participated in systemic attempts at the erasure of First Nations peoples.
“We will not stand with a government that has consistently undermined our sovereignty, our right to self-determination, and our very right to exist,” said Ohén:ton Í:rate ne Ratitsénhaienhs Cody Diabo. “We have endured centuries of injustice at the hands of settler governments, and we will not allow others to speak on our behalf when it comes to matters that directly affect our people, our lands, and our future.”
In the letter to President Trump, the MCK affirmed that Kahnawa’kehró:non are historical allies of the United States, but also made it clear that they do not recognize the Canada-U.S. border. The Mohawk Nation predates the establishment of both Canada and the United States, and the MCK stresses that the imposition of these artificial borders does not diminish our inherent rights.
“We are the original inhabitants of this land, and the line between Canada and the United States is a colonial construct that we do not recognize,” Diabo continued. “Our relationships with both nations are based on our history as allies, not on the whims of borders that were drawn without our consent.”
The MCK calls for all nations to respect the rights of Indigenous peoples to determine their own futures and urges both the Canadian and U.S. governments to engage with First Nations directly rather than relying on external political entities to speak for Indigenous communities.
Copies of the letters can be viewed here.
