Kanesatake grand chief retracts comments on rail blockades after Mohawk community protest

The grand chief of the Kanesatake Mohawks has retracted his plea for protesters toend the ongoingrail blockades across the country, following an outcry within his community that leda small group to padlock his band council office.

"It is not my place to make such judgment," Grand Chief Serge Otsi Simon said Wednesday, after spending much of the morning speaking with the group who had locked him out.

"I have nothing but respect and admiration for the Indigenous people taking a stand to defend their rights."

On Monday, Simon gave an interview to CJAD 800, a Montreal radio station, in which he called on protesters to remove the barricades that went up nearly two weeks ago insupportof the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs in British Columbia, who are opposing a pipeline project slated to go through their traditional territory.

As Simon traveled to Ottawa on Tuesday, where he repeated his comments at a news conference with Assembly of First Nations National ChiefPerry Bellegarde, a half-dozen protesters gathered outside his office, saying he wasn't speaking for the community.

"Theydecided that my comments were irresponsible or not called for, that I didn't consult with them before I said anything," Simon said Wednesday outside theKanesatakeband council office, about 65 kilometres northwest of Montreal.

"But I was acting in the best interest of my communityand the safety of my community."

He apologized for any harm or confusion causedby his comments, adding"I made an error, Iguess, in trying to bring some form of good faith. Maybe it wasn't right timing."

Some of Simon's critics had called for him to resign.It'snot clear whether they are satisfied with his response.

The group protesting outside his office declined to comment on Simon's retraction, but did eventually remove the padlock.

Simon's leadershiphas frustrated community members in the past. Several residents told CBC News that he and the band councilroutinely failto consult the community before taking major decisions, such as when Simon invited a mining company to make a proposal to the community in 2016. (The project was abandoned amid protest.)

The unease over Simon's commentsalso stemmed from a sense that the Wet'suwet'enhereditary chiefs deserved the support ofKanesatake Mohawks, after having backed the community during the 1990 Oka Crisis,the 78-day standoff prompted bya planned golf course expansion onto sacred Mohawk lands.

"In 1990, we had the support of Indigenous people from the whole country.So we wanted to tell our brothers and sisters that we're in solidarity with them,"John Harding, one of the demonstrators outside the band council office, said Tuesday.

A delegation ofWet'suwet'en hereditary chiefsplans to visit later this week the Mohawk communities ofTyendinaga, near Belleville, Ont., andKahnawake, south of Montreal, where blockades have halted rail traffic in much of Eastern Canada.

The purpose of the trip, saidWet'suwet'enHereditary Chief Na'moks, is to thank theMohawks for their support.

Legitimacy of band councils questioned

Another issue underlying thecontroversyin Kanesatakeis the perennial questionof the legitimacy of the band council itself.

As inWet'suwet'en, a significant number ofKanesatakeresidents consider the band council to be simply an extension of the federal government and having only limited authority.

"It was a system that was imposed upon us. It replaced the Indian Agent and it follows the agenda of the minister of Indian Affairs. [Band councils] are basically service providers," said Ellen Gabriel, a prominent Mohawk activist and member of thelonghouse,the traditional Mohawk form of government.

Even some business owners in Kanesatakeare inclined to steer clear of the band council system, feeling it lacksaccountability.

"I'm more for hereditary leaders, just because it brings us back to our customs. The voice goes more to the people in that system," saidDave Belisle, owner of The Medicine Box, one of the larger marijuana dispensaries in Kanesatake.

In the Mohawk longhouse tradition, women are given equal say as title holders to the landand decisions are made through consensus.

"What it can do is also say 'We're going to protect the medicines, we're going to protect the trees and [remind us that] we're not the most important species living here," Gabriel said.

Simon said he believed band councils will remain important institutions of First Nations government in the future. He said that while their legitimacy issues need to be addressed, that process must be driven byFirst Nations themselves.

"That's an internal reconciliation that needs to happen," he said."How that's going to take shape ... we don't know, because we need to have that time for ourselves to try to resolves those issues."

Simon's call for an end to the barricadeswere picked up by Premier Franois Legault to justifyhis impatience with the protests.

On Wednesday, Legault said the federal government needed to set a deadline for the protests, after which Ottawa should co-ordinate a police response.

"Trudeau needs to prove his leadership," Legault said. "It needs to be fast as in, days, not weeks."

But the prospect of police intervention raises fears in Kanesatake about a repeat of Oka, which began when aSuret du Qubec officer was killed whileenforcing an injunction.

"I would urge the premier to further think on it before he startsmaking more statements [about police intervention]," Simon said.

"Just like I did with my own statements," he added with a chuckle.

Quebec Premier wants a deadline for the blockades to end

4 years ago

Duration 2:04

Francois Legault told reporters in Quebec City that the deadline should be the same across the country