Mohawks in Quebec will sit out election season yet again

Thursday, April 21, 2011  

Tribes in the United Sates actively encourage their members to vote in state and federal elections but don't look for a similar effort among Mohawks in Quebec.

Most members of the Kahnawake First Nation and the Kanesatake First Nation won't be participating in federal or provincial elections this year. Mohawks see voting as a erosion of their sovereign rights.

"In the end, voting would undermine us," Kanesatake spokesperson Ellen Gabriel told The Montreal Gazette.

Joe Delaronde, a spokesperson for the Kahnawake council, also said voting in federal or provincial elections violates the Two Row Wampum. Mohawks shouldn't interfere in another nation's governance, according to the treaty.

"We're in the same river, going in the same direction but in different canoes," Delaronde told The Gazette.

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Mohawk reserve is a no-vote zone (The Montreal Gazette 4/21)