MONTREAL – The Mohawk council of Kahnawake is still waiting to hear from many of the people who have been sent eviction notices, Mike Bush, a chief on the council said Friday night.
Last week, the council sent letters to 25 people – mostly white people involved in relationships with Mohawks – asking them to leave the reserve because Mohawk law does not allow them to live there, said Joe Delaronde, press attaché for the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake. They were given 10 days to respond. As the deadline expired, only eight had responded.
According to Mohawk law, non-aboriginals have no residency rights. About 7,500 Mohawks live on the reserve.
Delaronde said the council would publish the names of those who were sent letters if they don’t respond by the deadline as a form of peer pressure. Among those who responded, three of them already left the reserve.
Bush said as of Friday night it had not been determined whether the list of 25 people with eviction notices would be published.
The council has also not decided how it will enforce the order if people refuse to leave.
However, Bush said he hopes that the remaining people contact the council, to discuss their situation. He said he hopes this incident will allow the community to have an open discussion about the issue of membership and citizenship.
“We need to discuss this as an entire and complete community,” Bush said. “We have been avoiding it for about 85 years.”