The Stakeholders

Kahnistensera

  • Kanien'kehá:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers)

    In Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) language, Kahnistensera means “life givers.” It alludes to the umbilical cord that attaches all women to Mother Earth.

    According to Kaianerehkó:wa, the Great Law of Peace, the Kahnistensera are the “Progenitors of the Nation. They shall own the land and the soil.” Women are thus caretakers of the land, it is our cultural duty to protect all life, including our children and ancestors. This was our position as Plaintiffs before the Superior Court of Quebec.

    As caretakers of the land, we see it as our inherent duty to ensure that allegations of undiscovered evidence and unmarked graves are considered with the respect, gravity and cultural sensitivity that they deserve.

  • Special Interlocutor

    In June 2022, Kanien’kehá :ka lawyer, Kimberly Murray, was appointed the Independent Special Interlocutor for Missing Children and Unmarked Graves and Burial Sites associated with Indian Residential Schools. The purpose of Murray’s position is to “work closely and collaboratively with Indigenous leaders, communities, Survivors, families and experts to identify needed measures and recommend a new federal legal framework to ensure the respectful and culturally appropriate treatment and protection of unmarked graves and burial sites of children at former residential schools.”

    Murray’s office is also tasked with highlighting the connections between Residential Schools and other institutions which may also contain unmarked graves, including sanatoriums, hospitals, and detention centers.

    Representing Kimberly Murray’s office, lawyers Julian Falconer and Donald Worme intervened in the Mohawk Mothers’ court case, offering expertise and guidance to Justice Gregory Moore.

    Lawyers representing this Office played a significant role in the October 2022 Mohawk Mothers’ injunction audience against the New Vic.

  • McGill University

    One of the oldest universities in Canada, McGill University is named after James McGill, a wealthy fur trader and slave owner whose statue was toppled by activists in 2021. McGill’s controversial links with military research have scandalized the public on several occasions. The university’s psychiatric department became the central hub of the CIA’s unethical psychiatric experiments in the 1950 and 1960s.

    In 2018, the Government of Quebec authorized McGill University to prepare an Opportunity Study; it looked at repurposing part of the former Royal Victoria Hospital site. Since then, Quebec has mandated Pierre Major to lead the New Vic project and transform part of the Royal Victoria Hospital into a new campus.

  • SQI

    Promoter of New Vic project, the SQI was established by the Government of Quebec in 2013. Its mission is to support public bodies “in the management of their public infrastructure projects by ensuring rigorous planning, implementation and monitoring of projects.” In 2018, the SQI was mandated by the Government of Quebec to create a Master Plan for the repurposing of the Royal Victoria Hospital site.

Other Parties

  • Know History

    Know History has been contracted by the Mohawk Mothers to conduct archival research and statement gathering. This work will support the archaeological investigation into the presence of unmarked graves on the site of the New Vic Project.

    Know History is a historical research firm trusted by Indigenous groups and governments across Canada to accurately and respectfully research, document, and share their stories.

  • City of Montreal

    Under Quebec’s Cultural Heritage Act, the City of Montreal is responsible for preserving the Mount-Royal Patrimonial Site, and the Royal Victoria Hospital buildings.

  • Quebec Government

    The aim of the Cultural Heritage Act is to “promote, in the public interest and from a sustainable development perspective, the knowledge, protection, enhancement and transmission of cultural heritage, which is a reflection of a society’s identity. It is also intended to promote the designation of deceased persons of historical importance and historic events and sites.”

    Mount Royal’s designation as a Historic and Natural District reflects a desire on behalf of government to preserve the many historical sites and monuments located in the historic territory. Mount Royal includes Mount Royal Park, religious sites and monuments, and burial sites for Indigenous and European-Quebecois populations.

  • Band Councils

    Band councils were imposed on Indigenous Peoples through the Indian Act. Following a Canadian political structure—including the election of band councils by band members—it is a governance model that is largely incompatible with indigenous political organizations and values. As stated in the Haudenosaunee Position Paper, presented to the United Nations in 197, Band Councils are “political colonies among Native peoples.”

    As traditional Longhouse Kanien'kehá:ka women, the Mohawk Mothers follow the Kaianerehkó:wa, a precolonial constitution which is based on consensual decision-making and harmony between clans, genders, and peoples. According to the Kaianerehkó:wa, the Kahnistensera (women, life-givers) are the “progenitors of the soil.” We are in charge of selecting speakers for our people, and of caretaking the land and all children of the past, present and future generations.

  • Canadian Government

    The Government of Canada, as with all levels of government, plays an important role in Canada’s journey towards reconciliation.

    As one of the Calls to Action outlined in the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Final Report, the commission called upon the federal government to “work with provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, churches, Aboriginal communities, former residential school students, and current landowners to develop and implement strategies and procedures for the ongoing identification, documentation, maintenance, commemoration, and protection of residential school cemeteries or other sites at which residential school children were buried. This is to include the provision of appropriate memorial ceremonies and commemorative markers to honour the deceased children.” As per Article 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, Canada respects the ancestral and treaty rights of Indigenous Peoples. Over the last decades, Canada has publicly repeated its commitment to efforts with Indigenous Peoples, and more recently, to applying the Truth and Reconciliation Commission recommendations. Nevertheless, when called to Court by Indigenous peoples, including the Mohawk Mothers, Canada generally fights them.

    The Canadian Government has acknowledged that the residential school system amounted to a cultural genocide of Indigenous Peoples, for the systemic mistreatment of Indigenous peoples in institutions such as Residential Schools, hospitals, and detention centers. Indigenous peoples were exposed to a range of horrific abuse, all within systems aimed at killing “the Indian in the child.”

    The admission of genocide makes it necessary to examine Canada’s legal framework to ensure that future legislative changes will protect Indigenous peoples from crimes against humanity on their homeland. In accordance with Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, as well as the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous people (UNDRIP), Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain their ancestral and treaty rights on their traditional territories. The Rotinonshonni (Iroquois) Confederacy has a longstanding treaty relationship with European settlers, reflected in the Tehiohate (Two Row Wampum), and the Silver Covenant Chain, which state that Indigenous and settler ways of life can live together on the condition that they do not encroach upon one another. According to its Constitution, Canada respects the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples on their territory, Anowarekeh (Turtle Island).