The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Stands in Unity with Grand Chief Serge Otsi Simon and the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake
July 28, 2019
Treaty One Territory, Manitoba
AMC Communications
One Territory – Winnipeg, Manitoba _ The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) stands in solidarity with Grand Chief Serge Otsi Simon and the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake in Oka, Quebec as they continue to exert their sovereignty over the return of unceded Mohawk land.
Grand Chief Serge Otsi Simon of the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (Mohawk Council) has broken off talks with Oka Mayor Pascal Quevillon after the mayor refused to apologize for racist and derogatory comments about the Mohawk territory. Quevillon has said that property values would decline and raised fears of illegal dumping and an expansion of “smoke and pot shacks”. Grand Chief Serge Simon said yesterday that he and his council “were not going to give the mayor any more importance.”
Acting Grand Chief Sheldon Kent stated “The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs is standing in unity with our brother Grand Chief Serge Otsi Simon and the Mohawk Nation as they exercise their sovereignty. Racism towards our First Nation people will no longer be tolerated and we support Grand Chief Simon in his decision to break off talks with the Oka mayor. The Mohawk people have the right to be consulted and vote on any return of Kanesatake land that they assert as theirs. AMC supports a Nation-to-Nation approach to any discussions regarding the traditional territories of our First Nation communities.”