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Who is a Mohawk?

The answer could set the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake on a collision course with the federal government amid renewed debate over who can live on the South Shore reserve.

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Kahnawake’s band council claims sole authority over determining membership in the community. But now, in response to a group challenging the reserve’s controversial “Marry out, get out” membership law, the federal government says it has final say over who can legally call themselves a Kahnawake Mohawk.

“The department considers the band list maintained by the (federal government) to be the official band list for the Mohawks of Kahnawake,” wrote Nathalie Nepton, an Indian Registrar with Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

The letter, obtained by the Montreal Gazette, adds that Kahnawake’s band council never provided the government “notice of its intent to assume control of its membership” and has, by default, ceded control of the matter to Ottawa.