AKWESASNE – Residents of Akwesasne’s four districts will have two months to vote on a $240 million land claim deal with the federal government.
The online voting will start Oct. 1 and will go until Dec. 7, the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne announced today (Thursday). Following that, there will be four traditional polling stations where members can cast a ballot on Dec. 8.
Up until the voting starts, community meetings to bring people up to speed on the details of the Dundee settlement will be held on Cornwall Island and in St. Regis, Snye and Hogansburg.
The deal, which has been 37 years in the making, includes a provision where Akwesasne can expand its reserve land base by finding willing sellers in Ontario and Quebec – up to 18,000 acres.
The $240 million is compensation for 20,000 acres, which the MCA claimed was illegally surrendered to Quebec in 1888.