Kanesatake rumblings

>> Grand Chief’s court-ordered return is as controversial as his tenure

by PATRICK LEJTENYI

Photo by Jason Felker

Strange things are going down over in Kanesatake, again. The Mohawk reserve near Oka on the Lake of Two Mountains is embroiled in another political struggle over self-governance and federal government interference. This time, however, it involves the reserve’s own governing body, the Kanesatake Band Council, and a man many Mohawks feel is not fit to lead them.

The present conflict began last December 6, when the band’s Grand Chief, James Gabriel, was forced out of office by a popular vote of non-confidence. He was replaced by Steve Bonspille, who agreed to take the position on an interim basis. Last week, however, a federal court stated that Gabriel’s removal was illegal and issued an injunction against the band council, effectively ordering the deposed chief back to work, despite local outrage. The band council, led by Bonspille, had no choice but to let him back or else face contempt of court charges. A week ago Wednesday, on May 8, the band council said they were re-appointing Gabriel, but, Bonspille says, “under protest.”

A main issue of contention for Bonspille and a significant group of citizens opposed to Gabriel’s return is the manner in which it was imposed on them. They feel that by going to the federal courts to get his old job back, Gabriel is ignoring the will of the community he is supposed to be representing, and setting a bad precedent for other Canadian natives.
“I certainly don’t believe that the Federal Court of Canada has any right to dictate to the Mohawk community of Kanesatake, or any other First Nation, who their leader should be,” Bonspille says. “They have no right being there, none at all. It’s just another way of controlling the native population, to oppress our people even further. And they found the perfect puppet in James Gabriel.”

The issue of legality is especially tricky. While the December 6 vote against Gabriel that forced him out was ruled illegal by the federal courts, those who supported his ousting say the vote was the exercising of a long-standing Mohawk custom. By ignoring it, they say, the federal government is once again trying to crush native self-governance.

“It’s another way for [the federal Department of] Indian Affairs to assimilate us,” Bonspille says. “They want to get us into mainstream Canadian society [by] taking away every part of us, through governance, through culture, through language. It’s just another way they’re chipping away at our very being. And when they have the support of James Gabriel, one of our own, I’m ashamed to say he’s a Mohawk.”

Tradition’s fine print

For his part, Gabriel says that the process that forced him out is a misrepresentation of Mohawk custom, used by his enemies for political ends. And while custom has benefited Gabriel in the past—he assumed his position in 1996 after popular disaffection led to the resignation of the previous Grand Chief—he says no-confidence votes can only lead to a chief’s resignation, not impeachment. And he says he never formally resigned last December.

“Every aspect of the [custom-based] arguments they brought forth against me was quashed by the judge,” Gabriel says. And as for the contention that he is a federal toady, Gabriel believes his opponents “are unable to distinguish between the judicial system and political interference from the federal government.”

Meanwhile, Gabriel is having trouble getting to work. Last week, a group of Mohawk women began occupying the band office in order to prevent Gabriel from entering. The Mohawk Women’s Coalition for the Preservation of Mohawk Peoples, representing an estimated 75 Kanesatake women—a large number, considering that only 341 people showed up at the December 6 meeting to remove Gabriel—are dedicated to ensuring that he does not return to office. They have a lengthy list of grievances, from a lack of public consultation to financial shenanigans to political interference in policing to intimidation of opponents.
“When Jimmy speaks about an issue concerning Kanesatake, he doesn’t speak at a community meeting, or send out the information to the community, he’ll contact the press,” says Chrystal Nicholas, a spokesperson for the Women’s Coalition. “We find out our things from the press. And you can’t do that. Not on this reserve anyway.”

Other allegations made by the Coalition, which Gabriel calls “totally false,” include using money designated for land claims negotiations to attend a leadership and management training conference in Barbados in 1999, secretly approving a federal land claims bill without consulting the community, firing 14 Mohawk language teachers, again without consultation, and his continued public conviction that Kanesatake is rife with drugs and crime. Gabriel’s strong anti-drug stance is well known. As he tells the Mirror, “After six-odd years of doing this, I know there is a major problem here. To say that everyone here is happy and that there are no drug problems in the community is totally absurd.”

Drugs and bad blood

But not to hear others tell it. Tracy Cross, a Kanesatake cop, says, “There is a problem here, but it’s no worse than in Montreal or Laval. But Jimmy makes it sound like Bosnia or something.”

Cross has his own grievance against Gabriel. He says the Grand Chief secretly hired a white outsider, Richard Walsh, to investigate the Kanesatake drug routes. Walsh’s credentials have been questioned, and Steve Bonspille says Walsh wound up investigating both Kanesatake police officers, including Cross, and other community members. Bonspille and the Women’s Coalition also claim Walsh was paid with money approved for plumbers, scuba divers and teachers. Gabriel denies this as well, but Bonspille says the entire Walsh situation is “a big, messy affair.”

Come what may, James Gabriel and Kanesatake are stuck with each other until the next band council elections in 2004, barring an unanticipated reversal. Gabriel will be go back to court in July to argue the merits of his case, and is optimistic. But if he does win, working life won’t be easy.

“There’s obviously a need for mending fences,” Gabriel says. “But there also has to be a release of information to the public [on the disastrous state of the reserve’s finances], more disclosure regarding illegal activities that are now being swept under the rug and intervention in our schools so our youth don’t go down that path.” In the face of popular ill will, however, Gabriel remains defiant. “I’ve faced difficult situations before, and I’ve overcome them,” he says. “When the truth comes out about these charges against me, people will find out all this baloney doesn’t stand.”

As for Bonspille, he says that while the Kanesatake band council has no choice but to reinstate Gabriel as Grand Chief, they won’t be going out of their way to make life easy for him. “Life goes on, and I have a lot of work to do here, and all the work I’ve been doing so far does not involve James Gabriel,” he says. “I expect it to continue that way. I will not work with Mr. Gabriel while he is on council here, the people don’t want him and we get our mandate from the community of Kanesatake. The people say ‘Get him out, he’s not our Grand Chief.’ And I have to respect that.” :