Mohawks claim land as own

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The Mohawk nation of the Akwesasne reserve, on the Canadian-American border in Quebec, is preparing land claims to expand their nation and become the first reserve to get unequivocal self-government.

The Mohawk plan to claim ownership of the Thousand Islands is part of a claims package that already includes $1 billion worth of land in New York state.

In a statement this week Mohawk officials say they are prepared to arrest any Canadian lawman or judge who might be boating on the St. Lawrence River to show they already have jurisdiction.

"We're going to have to assert ourselves and be harder in our positions than ever before. Our way of doing business from now on is going to be more nationalistic," said Mike Mitchell, grand chief of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne.

Akwesasne is one of 40 reserves negotiating with Ottawa for self-government. The government has granted only the Sechelt reserve in British Columbia a version of self-government modelled after a municipality. But Akwesasne wants more than that.

"We've have been studied to death. And everything we do, we have to double check to get permission," says the chief who says the reserve has more to fear from federal government bureaucrats than from a violation of its territory by smugglers who use the reserve to move untaxed cigarettes and alcohol from the United States.