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Voters in Kahnawake won’t cast their ballots until July 7, but they already know who the next grand chief will be.

Joseph Norton is running unopposed in his 13th bid to preside over the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake. If you think that makes for a boring election, consider this: Norton is one of only two people to be elected grand chief of the territory since 1980.

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The only other grand chief who served during that period, Michael Delisle Jr., is running for a seat on council this year.

“Boring? Politics in Kahnawake can be exciting, immensely frustrating but never boring,” Delisle said. “Some of the issues we deal with are about our survival as a people. We’re fighting for our languages, our culture and our land.

“There’s nothing boring about that.”

Band council chiefs have a set of responsibilities that go beyond making sure garbage is picked up and potholes are filled. Because Kahnawake is a sovereign entity, chiefs are in charge of education, health care and a slew of services ordinarily covered by Quebec or Canada.