In 1717, the governor of New France had granted the lands encompassing "the Pines" and the Pine Hill Cemetery, where local Mohawk ancestors had been buried, (and to whom it was considered sacred burial ground) to the Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice or Sulpician Fathers Seminary, a Roman Catholic order that was based out of Paris, France. The parcel of land was expanded again in 1735 through a second grant. In both instances the land was granted provided it would be used for the benefit of Indigenous residents. Following the conquest of New France in 1760, the Mohawk began advocating for the recognition of their land rights to British officials. Their requests to be released from the rule of the Sulpicians and reporting of seminary officials to white settlers were ignored. The Mohawk continued pursuing their right to the land, petitioning, and failing, to obtain the recognition of Lord Elgin's recognition of their claims in 1851. Eight years later, the Province of Canada extended the official title of the disputed land to the Sulpicians.