Tracey Deer, creator of Mohawk Girls, fears eviction from her native Kahnawake where show is set

TraceyDeer, the filmmaker who created the popular TV show Mohawk Girls, says she expects to be evicted fromKahnawake, the community where the show is set and filmed.

"Now that I'm married, they want to evict me. I will no longer be considered a Mohawk ofKahnawake. That is super, super devastating," Deer told CBCMontreal'snewpodcastMontreapolisin a wide-ranging interview.

Approximately 20 families havereceived eviction notices aspart of theKahnawakeMohawkCouncil'slongstandingandcontroversiallaw that bars mixed-race couples from livingon the territory.

Deer got married last fall. Sheand her husband, who is non-Indigenous, have not received an official eviction notice yet.

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'Mohawk Girls' not universally loved inKahnawake

Deer has helped putKahnawakeon the map with her successfuldramedyseries Mohawk Girls,which delves intothe struggles andsex lives of four young women living there.

The show is filmed on the territoryand features several local actors.

Mohawk Girls, produced by RezolutionPictures,has been nominated for several Canadian Screen Awards overits four seasons. Afifth and final season should begin filming later this year.

The series is lighthearted in tone, but it doesn'tshy away from controversial issues, including Kahnawake'sresidency law.

Deer said while she has several fans inKahnawake, reaction to the show there isn't always positive.

"There are definitely those people here who hate itand think I'm a traitor and that I'm makingus look terrible," Deer said.

Unspoken rule: Mohawks marry Mohawks

Deer and her husband live in a house she owns on the reserve, right next to the house she grew up in, where her mother still lives.

She keeps a small office in the basement where she works on her film and TV projects.

Growing up, Deer'sparents never explicitly told her she had to marry a Mohawk man, but she said it was an unspoken assumption in the community that Mohawk womenhad to marry Mohawk men and have Mohawk babies.

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She did end up marrying a Mohawk, whom she later divorced.

After that, she decided to expand her search forlove beyondKahnawake.She met her current husband through a matchmaking service.

Deadline to 'vacate' set for May

The residency law has been on the books in Kahnawake since 1981.The band council says the purpose of the law istohelppreservethe Mohawk nation and keep the community alive.

The council iscurrentlyreviewing thelaw, and an updated draft should be released soon. But there seems to beno question of softening it.

In an open letter published in February, the council saidthe new law will "address the challenge of enforcement."

The council also sentout a new round of letters to mixed-marriage couples living onthe reserve in February, asking them tomake arrangements to vacate the territory.

"If you have not yet done so, we ask that you take the letter seriously and govern yourselves accordingly, as the next action step will be implemented on May 1, 2017," the letter reads.

It's not clear what that "action step"will consist of.

Tracey Deer on the moment in 1990 that changed everything

8 years ago

Duration 3:14

The Mohawk filmmaker looks back on a late August day in 1990 when she was in a convoy of cars pelted by rocks hurled by angry white men. She was 12. The incident shaped her life.

Memories of 1990 Oka crisis

Deer was forced to leaveKahnawakedue to circumstances beyond her control once before, during the 1990 Oka crisis, when she was just 12.

She and her mother and sister were part of a convoy of women, children and elderly people who were evacuated from the reserve over safety concerns.

The Mohawks in thatconvoy werejeered and pelted with rocks by an angry mob of non-Indigenousprotesters on the Montreal side of theMercierBridge. It was a shattering experience, she said.

Prepared to move

Now, it'sDeer'sown people who are judging her.

Deer and her husband oppose the law and would like to fight it, but her husband has a son who lives with them, and they're thinking of having children together.

She said she doesn't want her children to face the same identity struggles she faced during the Okacrisis.

Deer said the family already has a home off-reserveand will move there if necessary, for the sake of the children.

"I'm not going to put them through that.They're not going to grow up being told that they're not important because I love their father," Deer said, hereyes welling with tears.

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You can hear a full feature interview withTraceyDeeron CBC'snew Montreapolispodcast, bringingyou conversations with people who make upmodern Montreal.Click here to subscribe.