Land return of 162 acres

A 162-acre parcel of land has been successfully added to Kahnawake’s land base as part of the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis (SSSL) land grievance, an addition that Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) grand chief Cody Diabo said could be an ideal site for future agricultural projects led by the community.

“In my vision, I think this could have great agricultural usage, it’s right in the agricultural belt and farming is becoming really big in the community again,” Diabo said. “I see it as an area where everyone can come together and pool resources and just work together for the greater good for the community.”

The land is spread across two lots in St. Remi and St. Isidore. The area was formerly used as a federal communications site with a tower, with the surrounding lands leased to local farmers for agriculture.

Before the land can be used by the community for its own agricultural projects, it must undergo remediation work, a stipulation of the Additions to Reserve (ATR) policy under which the land is being returned.

That remediation work, which will include tearing down the tower structure and preparing the land for planting, will be carried out by MCK, but will be fully financed by the federal government.

Diabo said that while the ground may not be ready for planting in the 2026 season, it can be expected to be ready for 2027 - assuming that the community goes ahead with using the area for agricultural use.

In person community engagement sessions starting in 2026 will provide more information about the potential uses and gather feedback from the community about how to make the most of the area.

“In 2026 we might need to be out there doing a lot of work turning the soil, cleaning it up, but it’s a large enough parcel that when the structure is being torn down people can still be out there prepping the land itself from the community,” Diabo said.   

The Council table has been discussing this specific parcel of land with the federal government since 2018 within the broader context of the SSSL land claim.

That land claim has been ongoing for decades, with the MCK and the federal government entering negotiations on the claim back in the early 2000s.

There’s been a renewed effort from the current Council table on the Seigneury file, with the “Still Ours” awareness campaign launching this summer to educate both the community and non-Indigenous people in surrounding areas.

“The grievance itself is for 24,000 acres. This parcel is still a good step, but it doesn’t even really take a dent out of the grievance itself. It’s just one step forward,” Diabo said.

He said he remains hopeful about the future return of more SSSL lands.

“There was a really big push at the start of our term to get these lands back to Kahnawake, and that’s really what we’re talking about and focusing on here,” Diabo said. “It’s been a long, long process to get to this point.”

Diabo added that Council is determined to keep pushing the federal government to speed up the process, particularly the ATR process, which can often take many years - it’s the same process that was used for the return of Highway 30 lands as part of the SSSL file.

“The ATR process is a Canadian process, we understand that, and it’s what’s there right now, it’s what we have to utilize. We don’t agree necessarily with the whole process because on its own it can be a 10-year process, but the federal team assured that we’re going through the expedited system,” he said.

More information will be made available at the start of next year about the process for preparing the land, including ways for community members to get involved in the future of the area. “

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