The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne is going to sue Canadian officials to try to get the Seaway International Bridge reopened.
The tribal government on the Canadian side of the Mohawk reservation announced Friday that it plans to take Minister of Public Safety Peter van Loanand Canada Border Service Agency President Stephen Rigby to court to end the stalemate that has had the bridge closed since May 31.
If federal lawmakers don’t clarify questions raised by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, ownership of land held in trust for tribes throughout the nation could be in doubt, including in Snohomish County.
The nation’s highest court in February ruled that the federal Department of the Interior can only take land into trust status for tribes that were under federal jurisdiction as of 1934, the year Congress approved the Indian Reorganization Act. That means states could claim land that currently makes up reservations of any tribe that was not protected under an existing treaty or other agreement at that time.
Now, disturbing remarks by Health Canada officials makes one question just whether or not the agency is committed to getting this outbreak under control.
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