Steven Bonspille was Grand Chief (2005-2008) of the Kanesatake Mohawk

Mohawk nation

Mohawk are the most easterly tribe of the Iroquois confederation. They call themselves Kanien'gehaga, people of the place of the flint...

 1700-member community located near Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

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History

Bonspille was one of the key figures in a power struggle in the early 2000s in the community. He and three other chiefs at the time, Crawford Gabriel, Pearl Bonspille and John (sha ko hen the tha) Harding opposed then-Grand Chief James Gabriel

James Gabriel

James Gabriel was Grand Chief of the Mohawk community at Kanesatake from 1995 to 2004. His tenure in office was controversial, marked by bitter divisions between his supporters and opponents.-Background:...

 (1993-2004). Among the issues, they were concerned about Gabriel's having hired private police forces for a raid in the community in January 2004.

In 2005 Bonspille defeated Gabriel in the election for grand chief. In this election Harding and Pearl Bonspille lost their seats on the band council, and most of the six members were supporters of Gabriel. After finishing his term in 2008, Bonspille moved with his family to adjacent Oka, Quebec

Oka, Quebec

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