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Amanda Deer, her non-native boyfriend and an 11-year-old boy left town after a group of protesters formed in front of their home, some trying to break down their font door, Deer told CBC News.

Deer said it had to do with Kahnawake’s Mohawk residency law, which prohibits any Mohawks who marry a non-Mohawk after 1981 from living on the reserve together.

Some of those on hand Sunday argued that the incident had nothing to do with Deer’s boyfriend being non-native. One man alleged the boyfriend was a “violent felon.” The incident came on the heels of other tense moments in the reserve this month.

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Deer said she wasn’t sure whether the mob wanted her boyfriend to leave because he is not native, or because he has a criminal record; some Kahnawake residents, including Deer’s neighbour, have cited the latter reason. There would be more ambiguity about the mob’s motivation, were it not for the case of Cheryl Diabo, from the same reserve, whose home and car were vandalized last year — her garbage bin affixed with a sign that read “Kwe! My name is Cheryl and I live with a WHITE MAN” — because she was living with her white boyfriend.

Nor was there much ambiguity in the campaign of intimidation against Marvin and Terry McComber, whose house and daughter’s car were spray-painted with graffiti by protesters gathered outside their home in a “marry out, stay out” demonstration. Marvin, who is native, and Terry, who is not, eventually moved off the reserve. So did Barry and Sandy Stacey. And Waneek Horn-Miller and her non-native partner. There’s a common thread in all of these stories, and it’s not that all of these Mohawk residents happen to be living with partners with criminal records.