Seigneury awareness campaign kicks off
MCK chief Jeremiah Johnson takes a stroll through the Old Mill Site, a parcel of land in Delson that Kahnawake plans to make accessible to community members.
This week, many in Quebec celebrated a day off work for St. Jean Baptiste Day, a holiday that is rooted in the history of French settlers in the province.
For Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) chiefs, the day was used to mark something different: the start of an education campaign to drive forward land claims made as part of the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis (SSSL), a land grievance that has been going on for many years as the community seeks to take back land that belongs to Kahnawake. “This land is ours, it’s still ours, hence the title,” MCK grand chief Cody Diabo said at the launch.
MCK chief Ryan Montour stands by the Turtle River, which runs by the Old Mill Site.
“We’re here to bring the information to everybody around us, and we’re working to resolve this in as peaceful a manner as possible.”
MCK chiefs and representatives met in Delson on Tuesday on a parcel of land known as the Old Mill Site, an area nestled between two residential properties and bordering the Turtle River.
It’s approximately one acre of land that throughout the years has been passed around through a number of leases, dating back to 1774, when a mill was built at the site. At the time, the installation of a mill was a responsibility fulfilled by the seigneur, who was responsible for the upkeep of each seigneury’s roads, church, and agricultural processing.
By the 1800s, that mill had fallen apart, and it was eventually torn down in 1897. The MCK has worked closely with advisor Rose-Ann Morris on charting the history of the site, and Morris explained that the mill was leased to neighbours throughout the years, with a $1 per year lease payment continuing between a neighbour and MCK until the 2000s.
Around 2000, Morris said that Quebec began digitizing its property records, at which point the title of the land became listed as “The Laprairie Corporation,” an entity that does not appear to exist.
The province of Quebec and the municipality of Delson did not respond to The Eastern Door’s request for comment by our publication deadline.
“We don’t know how that happened, but it’s showing up in the Delson municipal land registry and in the Quebec province-wide land registry, so that’s what we’ve been trying to do to get that corrected and changed back, because it should be under the Mohawks of Kahnawake,” Morris said.
On Tuesday, MCK chiefs gathered for a press conference and tour of the site. The area has been maintained by neighbours in surrounding residential properties, who have ensured the land has remained in good condition.
Last year, the Kahnawake Environment Protection Office (KEPO) also undertook an environmental study in the area, which confirmed that the river was contaminated, meaning that it wouldn’t be appropriate for activities like fishing or swimming at this point.
The space itself is envisioned as an area for community gatherings, though Diabo emphasised that the land has been being used by locals in the area whose homes essentially look out onto the area, and the Council intends to maintain a good relationship with those people.
“We’ve had conversations with them as well in terms of them accessing the land too,” Diabo said.
MCK chief Ryan Montour said that he has interacted with the neighbours during visits to the site.
“The neighbours are very cordial, they understand that Kahnawake owns this piece of land, they respect it, they actually do the upkeep of the trails, they’re very, very well educated,” he said.
“We’ve been coming here yearly for the last couple of years, just keeping it fresh in everybody’s minds.”
At this point, the responsibility for the upkeep of the lands is done entirely by the neighbours, and Diabo said that future responsibilities for maintenance would be included in conversations with those locals going forward. Soon, Council intends to install signs to make clear the path to the lands, which is located between two residential properties, and information plaques about the history of the area.
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The priority now will be educating not just the locals of Delson, but also the locals of everywhere covered by the SSSL lands about the history of the land grievance, as well as providing accessible information for Kahnawa’kehró:non, with the “Still Ours” campaign.
That education will include frequent updates on the website kahnawakelandback.com, as well as outreach campaigns with surrounding communities and municipal representatives.
“We want to provide the information, educate our community, educate our neighbours in this area that this is still our land and we’re looking at land back, obviously; but we want to do it in good relations with our neighbours and hopefully negotiate with Canada to have more land added to Kahnawake’s territory,” Morris said.
