MONTREAL – Kahnawake voters put their faith in a familiar face Saturday, electing Mike Delisle Jr. to a fourth consecutive term as grand chief of the South Shore Mohawk reserve.
Although Delisle said he was happy to edge rancher Barry Alfred by a count of 754 votes to 612, his celebration will have to be short-lived.
The territory’s 7,500 inhabitants face harsh economic realities, but also an array of challenges that speak to the nature of their Mohawk identity and sovereignty.
“We definitely have our work cut out for us,” Delisle told The Gazette. “Even though I was re-elected, I think the voters expect to see new ideas and new momentum.”
The 12 incoming chiefs must decide whether to continue negotiating a 24,000-acre land claim with the federal and provincial governments initiated by Delisle’s administration in 2005.
They also will present the community with the Justice Act, an ambitious plan to have a system of Mohawk laws recognized by the Canadian government.
If the act is passed, it’s expected to reignite debates over band membership and regulation of the aboriginal tobacco industry.
“Ninety-nine per cent of our laws are consistent with Canada’s, this is a very law-abiding community,” said Joe Delaronde, a former council chief and spokesperson for the band council.
“We just need to get the tobacco industry regulated so that the chief and community can stand up and defend it when someone gets arrested. Nothing can be done until the industry steps up to the table, so it’s real ‘chicken and egg’ stuff, but we’re working on it.”
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The production and sale of tax-free cigarettes has been a pillar of Kahnawake’s economy since the late 1980s, employing hundreds and generating millions in revenue each year.
But tobacco sales have been slumping since the mid-2000s, when the RCMP began cracking down on suspected smuggling rings on reserves across Canada.
The industry’s troubles were only compounded last June when Kahnawake-based Rainbow Cigarettes was named as a defendant in a $1.5-billion lawsuit launched by North America’s largest tobacco producers.
Delisle said the Justice Act also will allow Kahnawake to revisit the issue of band membership, which made waves in February 2010 when the Mohawk Council attempted to evict a small group of non-natives from the reserve.
That year, Mohawk peacekeepers handed out 35 eviction letters to non-natives or people living with non-natives on the reserve.
The ensuing debate over the letters highlighted divisions within the community, with opponents of the band council claiming it would tear families apart and criminalize interracial marriage.
The issue died because of a clause in the Indian Act, which states band councils do not have the authority to act on membership issues.
“Membership wouldn’t be a big deal if we lived on a territory the size of Nova Scotia but we’re living on a postage stamp here,” Delaronde said.
“If we let just anybody come in and take advantage of our tax-free status and our services then it wouldn’t take long for us to be overrun and lose our Mohawk identity altogether.”
Delaronde has been personally affected by Kahnawake’s membership law, which states that a person forfeits their right to live on the territory when they marry a non-native.
“My sister ‘married out’ and had to move away,” he said. “She’s still my sister. We’re not saying we hate non-Indians. Come to my house for dinner every night, just don’t sleep over.”
Kahnawake’s struggling economy also was a predominant theme of this year’s campaign.
Business owners say they continue to suffer from the effects of last year’s Mercier Bridge emergency shutdown, which limited the flow of traffic from Montreal for months.
“Even after they finished repairs on the bridge, it’s like people forgot we exist,” said James Patton, who co-owns the Caughnawaga Golf Club.
By Patton’s reckoning, the bridge closing cut the golf course’s revenue in half, causing him to layoff “a bunch” of his 45 employees.
Small business owners have also felt the brunt of a bad economy. The Kahnawake Economic Development Commission, which grants loans to entrepreneurs, handed out nearly 90 per cent fewer loans in the 2011-2012 fiscal year than it had in 2009-2010.
Before the election, Delisle and his council had banked on a $50-million casino to stimulate the reserve’s economy, but the idea was scrapped after residents cast their ballots against the project during an April referendum.
“We need something to generate collective wealth that the community could share,” Delaronde said. “We thought the casino was our ticket, but now we’ll have to find another golden goose.”
As the newly elected council looks to the future, the challenges Kahnawake faces may seem insurmountable. But as Delisle readily points out the potential for a more sovereign and much larger territory also lies ahead.
“There’s plenty of hope here, we’re a community of hard working, industrious, proud people and when we unite it can be an amazing thing.”
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