Kanesatake grand chief pens open letter saying another Oka Crisis is not coming

The grand chief of Kanesatake's band council says the Mohawk peopleliving there have "no intention whatsoever" of reliving the armed standoff nearly 30 years ago known as the Oka Crisis.

Grand Chief Serge Simon made the statement in an open letter because he said media coverage of the latest tensions has often suggestedthere are early signs that another violent conflict is coming.

"We strive for peace and harmonious cohabitation," he wrote in the letter published on Facebook.

Kanesatake is in the process of negotiating a land claim settlement with the federal government, and a local developer says he wants to give them some of the wooded area known as the Pines through a federal program.

The developer also said he is open to selling additional land to the federal government, which could eventually be purchased by Kanesatake.

That prompted Oka Mayor Pascal Quevillonto say the town is at risk of becoming"surrounded."

The two are not currently speaking, and Simon wants an apology from the mayorfor saying that property values would go down if more of the town was developed by Mohawks.

• Timeline of the Oka land dispute

On Friday, the federal and provincial governments met with Simon and Quevillonseparately.

"The interest of [Quevillon's] community is in social peace, not confrontation," wrote Simon, saying the mayor's comments show he has a "lack of knowledge" when it comes to the history and land rights of the Kanesatake Mohawks.

In 1990, tensions in theoverlapping communities culminated in an armed standoff when the expansion of a golf course into the Pines was planned, known as the Oka Crisis.

The Canadian Armed Forces were called in, and the planned golf course expansion was eventually cancelled.

The area, filled with pine trees planted by the Mohawks generations ago,is considered sacred.