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The Kahnawake Mohawks are running out of land.

Any other problem that might plague Kahnawake pales in comparison to this one simple fact: the reserve’s growing population is exhausting what remains of its territory. With nearby South Shore suburbs inching to the reserve’s borders, finding a resolution to the land question seems increasingly difficult.

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Last week the Kahnawake band council finalized a report outlining the demands of its community members as it moves toward a new round of land claim negotiations with the federal government. Though the report is confidential, Grand Chief Joe Norton made it clear there’s one point the Mohawks won’t back down from.

“This is our land, we’re not surrendering any of it,” Norton told the Montreal Gazette. “A lot of these negotiations come down to a cash settlement in return for the surrendering of lands. That’s unacceptable to us.”

This may present a serious problem to the federal government. Kahnawake’s 45,000-acre claim stretches from Châteauguay to St-Lambert — a swath that encompasses nine Montreal suburbs. Most of the land Kahnawake wants to recover has already been converted into housing, strip malls, factory farms and gas stations.