The land is made up of forest and lakes typical of the rugged Canadian Shield.

It is used primarily for hunting and fishing by Mohawk from the reserves of Kanesatake and Kahnewake Quebec, who share access to this territory.

[3] For a number of years a Mohawk land claim dispute with the provincial government prevented completion of Highway 400 through Wahta.

[4] Consequently, through the late 1990s and early 2000s there was an eight-kilometre gap in the freeway, where the roadway remained a two-lane highway for several years even after construction of the freeway was completed further north; although an agreement in principle was reached between the provincial government and the band council by 2001,[4] construction was further delayed by the inability to reach quorum in a band referendum on the agreement: although two separate votes in 2002 were both solidly in favour of the agreement, neither was legally implementable because overall voter participation fell short of the required minimum of 198 voters both times.

[5] In 2003 the government and the Mohawk First Nation reached an agreement allowing freeway construction through the reserve lands.