Kahnawake membership law complaints referred to Canadian Human Rights Tribunal

The Canadian Human Rights Commission has upheld a complaint filed by five Mohawks from Kahnawake, all inrelationships with non-Indigenouspeople, who say the band's membership law is discriminatory.

Under Kahnawake's membership law, a community member who is biracial orin a relationship with someone who is not Indigenousisn't entitled to live on the territory.

• Allegations of racism and abuse on First Nations reserve near Montreal

The complainants say they areexcluded from voting and participating in political activities on the territoryandrefused access to services, education and property.

The complaints included:

• A Mohawk woman who was dating a black man claimed to have had to leavethe reserve because of racist treatment.
• Another woman who received an eviction noticeworried for the security of herself and her family because of the tense climate on the territory.
• One complainant said it was impossibleto find work within the community.
• A 12-year-old girl, whose mother is Mohawk,said she has physical and verbal abuse because of her mixed cultural heritage. She alleges that she and her non-Indigenous father cannot walk in Kahnawakewithout fearing physical violence.

The commission said there is enough substance to the complaints to refer the case to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

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The tribunal has the power to rule the membership law discriminatory, if it finds it in breach of the Canada Human Rights Act, and it could levy fines against the Kahnawake band council.

'We've been down this road before'

Council ofKahnawakespokesmanJoe Delaronde said the membership law has faced other legal challenges.

"We're not surprised, we've been down this road before," he said.

He also denies that anyone has faced harassment because of the law.

The membership law is a community law that is supposed to protect Mohawk identity and culture, Delaronde said.

He said it haswidespread support.

• The struggle to belong under Kahnawake community's 'Marry Out, Get Out' rule

Delaronde saidthe law doesn't keep anyonefrom engaging with the community.

"It doesn't say they can't participate, they can't work, they can't visit," he said. "It just says you can't live here."

He added that many people who work on the reserve live outside of it, and members with non-Indigenouspartners who move away are still respected.

Delarondesaid the Mohawk council willdecide at a later date if it willrecognize any decision made by theCanadian Human Rights Tribunal.

Major test case, saysCRARR

The Centre for Research Action in Race Relations helped launchthe complaint.

CRARR'sdirector, FoNiemi, says ithas the potential to be a major test case forFirst Nations in Canada.

He saidthe five complainants hopeKahnawake'slocal governmentwill accept mediation with the Human Rights Tribunal in a bid to find a solution to their concerns.