Mohawks v. Canada: Bridge shutdown hurts business

ST. REGIS MOHAWK NATION, N.Y. -- Melinda Walk needs her Canadian customers back - so much so that she's willing to give them full value for their currency at her convenience store-gas station just over the U.S.-Canadian border, even at a loss of 12 cents on the dollar. Walk is among border merchants caught in a standoff between Canadian Mohawks and the Canadian government over the arming of border guards stationed at the Cornwall Island Customs House, which sits on reservation land. A Mohawk protest in late May brought a bridge shutdown by Canadian authorities and only a trickle of local traffic is getting through. "I'm willing to take a little bit of a loss to coax them back," she said. "It's not much, but I have to do something. The bridge closing has cost me a huge chunk of business." Her store sits on the American side of... [read full story]                    

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