Mohawks to get own justice system

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The Kahnawake Mohawk Nation is on its way toward judicial independence from the provincial and federal governments.

An agreement to allocate complete "judicial autonomy" it the 5,500-member band near Montreal is expected to be finalized in March.

The Quebec Minister of Native Affairs said this week "the ultimate goal of these talks is to recognize the Mohawks as a nation, not only in words but in practice."

John Ciaccia said the Kahnawake reserve will "be a nation within a state."

Ciaccia said the Mohawk people will have legal power to control their own judicial system in both criminal and civil cases.

They will also be able to settle family and contractual disputes.

The Kahnawake reserve's 13-member police force will be expanded to 18 and will be given the power of arrest.

The band has only had the power to settle disputes within its membership through mediation, but it will now be given the power to hold trials and hand down sentences.

The arrangement will not "necessarily" have a mechanism for appeals to Quebec and federal rulings, Ciaccia said.

He also said Kahnawake Nation could be viewed as a model for other bands across Canada who want to have their own justice systems.

Kahnawake Grand Chief Joe Norton told Windspeaker the agreement will help the Mohawks enter the 1990s with a modern focus.

He said it will enable the Kahnawake Mohawks to have "control over their own lives."

And it will help them settle problems that have erupted with band factions torn between traditional values and contemporary systems.

The dispute involves the development of an on-reserve bingo parlor, which many of the Elders and traditional Mohawks object to.