[Witness speaks in Mohawk]
My name is Michael Kanentakeron Mitchell. I come from Akwesasne. From 1982 to 2006, for the majority of those years, I served as grand chief and district chief for the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne. So I have a little bit of experience with those borders and the problems for Canada, the United States, and the Mohawk Nation.
I will try to give you a better understanding of Akwesasne and its geographic location. You have Cornwall Island, Barnhart Island, St. Regis Island in the St. Lawrence River. Barnhart Island is in New York State. Cornwall Island is in Ontario. St. Regis Island is in Quebec. The international boundary line zigzags around islands in the St. Lawrence River. You have state and provincial boundaries running all through our territory.
Today, the law enforcement officials refer to the St. Lawrence River as a “no-go zone”. One minute you're in Canada and the next minute, when you're floating on the river, you're back in Canada, or New York State, or Quebec, or Ontario. They say if there's anything that has to do with law, they'll wait on the mainland. This is an area we ourselves have to live with, every day crossing a border back and forth.
Sometime after the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which guaranteed to us protection of our lands, a border was run through to separate the colony of New York and the colony of Vermont from the province of Canada. The line ran on a 45-degree north latitude, half the distance between the north pole and the equator. It ran west along the line until it hit the St. Lawrence River. That point is precisely at the St. Regis village. In 1780, George Barnhart, a German settler, moved up from the Mohawk Valley to Cornwall, Ontario. In 1795 he leased Barnhart Island from us. The lease was for $30 a year. In 1805, we insisted upon a larger rental and $60 a year was agreed to.
Subject to our title, Britain had sovereignty there. Its white inhabitants were treated as British subjects. In the Treaty of Ghent, in 1814, which settled the War of 1812, the British traded off Barnhart Island to the Americans for half of Grand Island, at the outlet of Lake Ontario. The Barnharts received $6,597 in awards, over a hundred times the amount of annual rental we were receiving, and later received still a bigger award. The Barnharts remained on the island. The Mohawks received nothing.
Then, in 1842, this border was confirmed by the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, which was entered into between the United States and Great Britain.
So you are left with all the jurisdictional confusion at a place we call Akwesasne. The big gap is in law enforcement. The gap can be filled just one way, by recognizing and respecting the inherent jurisdiction of the Mohawk Nation. Our jurisdiction covers New York, Ontario, and Quebec.
I became grand chief in 1984. Between 1984 and 1986, we submitted 22 bylaws to the Department of Indian Affairs from council that were requested and needed by the community. They covered water safety, boat safety, taking care of the river, the animals in the river, the animals on the mainland, dog catching--22 bylaws that were rejected by the Department of Indian Affairs. Of course, it got advice from the Department of Justice.
We live on the St. Lawrence river, and our people pushed us to say we need something to take care of the water and the people--boat safety--so we created the conservation environmental law. Of course, it was rejected by Canada. Then we wanted a program. We started our justice program. They said, “No, you can't have that either”. We asked for a conservation program. Ottawa said no, Quebec said no, and Ontario said no--no place to train them.
Now, if you're a leader and your people need something, you figure you have to do something, so we sent them to New York State, Albany, and had them trained over there. They came back six months later, finished at the top of their class, fully certified, so we enacted the Akwesasne conservation environmental law. We registered that law with the Mohawk Nation hereditary chiefs, and on our inherent right we put it to work. We fought with the federal and provincial governments. Ten years later, our conservation officers were patrolling with officers from Quebec, with officers from Ontario, with officers from New York State. We were doing joint projects.
What I'm trying to illustrate to you is that we had to fight every inch of the way to establish a law for law and order in Akwesasne. It's a jurisdictional nightmare. You can easily be frustrated when governments tell you, “No, you can't do that”. We've made a lot of progress.
Today, the population of Akwesasne overall is about 18,000, of which over 10,000 are other members of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne that we're responsible for. We did build up our institutions. We do have a justice department, we do have a Mohawk court, we have law-making ability. The instruments are all there, with strong support from the community. And with that law-making ability, we started providing security for the community.
We do have a tobacco law in Akwesasne for the cigarettes that come from Ontario, and we make sure they go into and are regulated through the stores that exist--the legitimate stores. So everybody gets a quota. But we also understand, because we're in a jurisdictional situation, that the other half of Akwesasne is where the manufacturing plants are located. We have no quarrel with what they're doing.
I want to sit here and tell you that when you talk about smuggling in Akwesasne to our community residents, they'll say, “guns, drugs, aliens, terrorism”. They understand what smuggling is about. And the leaders and the police get help from the community citizens when they see something strange coming down the road or across the river. You say “cigarettes” and they'll give you a look that says, “Well, it's helping the economy”. It needs to be regulated, but it provides employment. Regardless of how you try to sell it, the people are going to look at that and say, “We have to try to find a solution, because it does have an effect, an impact, on us in a positive way, as economic development”.
My desire to be here is to relate to you my experiences. There is a way forward for Canada and the Mohawk Nation to agree to a process in which the tobacco trade can be regulated, can be held accountable.
You need to trust the Mohawk governments that exist in our Iroquois communities. You need to establish a partnership with them so that something is going to be enacted that will, in a safe way, guarantee the safety of your people and ours.
When you live in a jurisdictional situation as we do, you need the support and backing of the United States and Canada, the support of Quebec and Ontario. I can tell you, as part of our geographic situation, we've been good neighbours, and I've already told you hundreds of times over that the majority--98% of the population--is law-abiding. Kids are going to school. People want to work.
We didn't put that border there.
The last thing I want to say is that the ideal solution for Canada and the United States is to move that border. Move the international border one way or the other, or move it aside, and create that Mohawk territory. We're capable of providing for justice, for law and order that would be acceptable to the United States and Canada. It sure would relieve the pressure for us in having to look at each other and ask, “Are you a Quebecker? Are you in Ontario? Are you in New York state? What exactly are you today?”
If somebody moves, or if our children get married to somebody from the other side of the river...one day you're a Canadian, the next day you're an American. The idea that is embedded in all of us is that we are citizens of the Mohawk Nation, and neither Canada nor the United States can ever change that. But we can build on it.
For this issue related to your hearing on cigarette smuggling, there is a peaceful solution. I retired in 2006, and there are a lot of things, as I look back, that have been accomplished by the Mohawks of all the communities, who are now meeting and looking for these solutions. I would urge you to think about those things and find a peaceful way with us to go forward.
Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen of the committee, I did submit a written report to you. I would like to request that it be added, above and beyond the statements I have made.
Niawen.