Kanesatake, Quebec

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Kanehsatake is a Mohawk community on the shore of Lac des Deux-Montagnes in southwestern Quebec, Canada, near Montreal.

Its recent political history has been troubled. In 1990, the nearby town of Oka attempted to construct an extension of a golf course onto a burial ground used by the people of Kanehsatake. The Mohawks occupied the land, and when the Sûreté du Québec and Canadian Forces intervened, the result was the prolonged standoff of the Oka Crisis, in which one police officer was killed.

In 2004 and 2005, disputes over the governance of former Chief James Gabriel have resulted in violence, including the arson of the chief's home and car, and his exile to Montreal. Chiefs Pearl Bonspille, Steven Bonspille and John Harding, opposed Gabriel leading to a series of incidents that ended Gabriel's tenure as grand chief. Bonspille was elected grand chief on June 26, 2005. In the same election, Harding and Pearl Bonspille were also dispossed of.

[edit] Conflicts over policing

Harding and his fellow chiefs Steven Bonspille and Pearl Bonspille believed Gabriel's obsession to control policing and his trampling on the civil rights of the citizens of Kanehsatake to be extremely dangerous.

Bonspiel positioned himself to run for Grand Chief. He dis-associated himself politically and socially from Harding and his militant supporters. He remained above the fray as Harding engineered an intense and very public dispute with Gabriel. Gabriel became obsesssed with Harding's political antagonism, and came to see him as his main political opponent.

On January 12, 2004, Gabriel led a heavily armed force of sixty-seven native "special constables" into Kanehsatake. The attempted coup was an unsuccessful attempt to usurp the power of the Police Commission. The special constables sequestered themselves in the local police station for several days until their forced evacuation. Gabriel's home was subsequently burned and he was forced into exile. Gabriel planned a return to power from his exile.

The Government of Canada supported Gabriel. It refused to allow elections to be held on the Mohawk Territory, citing unnamed dangers. It supported Gabriel's disputed claim to a continuance of his mandate, enabling him to remain as an unelected and illegitimate leader of the community. It increased the policing budget, and hired the P.R firm of Communications Strategie to direct and support Gabriel's re-election strategy.

Harding continued to antagonize Gabriel. A Community Watch team was organized to counter the lack of a police force. A liaison team was established with the Sûreté du Québec (the provincial police force). Political communication lines were opened up to prevent another Oka Crisis. Hardings influence was growing as Gabriel's was becoming marginalized.

Steven Bonspiel meanwhile remained untarnished and untouched by the political machinations and he had begun building a solid base of support. Gabriel's support base was virtually non-existent in the territory. He relied on non-resident voters for support. Bonspiel was quick to exploit Gabriel's fixation with Harding and undermined that non-resident support. Elections were finally held in late spring of 2005. Gabriel lost to Bonspiel. Harding was voted out. Pearl Bonspille was also voted out. Harding could no longer influence the community.