OFFICIAL SIGNING CEREMONY FOR TSIKARISTISERE TRUST
The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne is pleased to inform community members that the Trustees of the newly established Tsikaristisere Trust, alongside Council members, will officially sign the documents marking its formal establishment in a special ceremony. The signing event will take place at the Tsi Snaihne Recreation Center on Thursday, January 23, 2025, from 5–8 p.m. We invite the community to join us in celebrating this significant milestone.
In 2015, Canada provided a Land Claim Settlement Offer to the Mohawks of Akwesasne. This offer included the opportunity to regain 18,282 acres of land through Canada’s Additions to Reserve Process, along with a monetary settlement of $239,808,436.00. The settlement aimed to resolve claims related to the historically leased lands known as Tsikaristisere or ‘Dundee.’
Following negotiations, the final terms of the agreement were presented to the community for a referendum vote, conducted online and by ballot between October 1 and December 8, 2018. The community approved the settlement via the referendum, and the results were validated on January 7, 2020.
As stipulated by the Mohawks of Akwesasne Tsikaristisere/Dundee Claim Settlement Agreement, settlement funds must be used exclusively for specific, financially secure purposes. Following community consultation, it was decided that these funds would be placed into a newly established trust, the Tsikaristisere Trust, which was approved by the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne in April 2024.
For more information regarding the trust, please contact the Internal Technical Team (ITT) at itt@akwesasne.ca or ARRO Program Manager Cheyenne Lazore at 613-575-2250 ext. 2134.
