The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe of New York now owns a grocery store on the reservation.

The tribe bought First Americans IGA and 609 acres from a Mohawk family for $13.5 million. The tribe initially planned to close the store and use the land for other purposes but changed its mind after hearing from Mohawks in New York and Canada.

''We had heard from community members that they wanted us to keep the IGA open to meet the needs of the community,'' the tribal council said, Indian Country Today reported.

The 53,000-square-foot store sits across from the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino. When it opened in 2005, it was considered the largest IGA in the U.S.

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Mohawk tribe purchases IGA supermarket (Indian Country Today 6/10)