SCC DENIAL NO SURPRISE

NEWS RELEASE

MNN. January 16, 2025.

This morning, the Supreme Court of Canada announced that the application for leave to appeal has been dismissed. This announcement stemming from the very same colonial legal system that enabled the genocide comes as no surprise to all us os onkwehonweh. Even though Canada and Quebec promised truth and reconciliation, we are still unable to have their courts acknowledge our most basic rights, including the right to investigate crimes committed against our ancestors. In the limited portion of the site investigated to date, search dogs have identified the scent of human remains in three areas. One of these areas has already been destroyed by the heavy mechanical equipment that McGill and the Société Québécoise des infrastructures (SQI) chose to use, ignoring the expert panel’s instruction to excavate the zone manually. As a result, the bones found in that area were pulverized to the point where they can no longer be identified. The litigants are extremely concerned that the same will happen with the two remaining areas that have no been surveyed if there is no legal recourse to prevent McGill and the SQI from further destruction of evidence. Preliminary results from a probe designed to detect human remains also identified areas of interest, which heightens our concerns. Because the civil courts are unable to protect our most basic rights, we are exploring other options for holding these institutions accountable and maintaining the integrity of this investigation. Desecration of a corpse is illegal under the Criminal Code, and criminal courts have already determined that the mechanical excavation of a known grave constitutes desecration. We will not let this happen again. We owe this to our ancestors and to the future generations. Our case and our investigation continues, and the Supreme Court’s decision in no way deters us from performing our inherent duties as Kanien’keha:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers).

Cash is taking us out on this one: “Ten years ago on a cold dark night someone was killed in the town hall light. . . . 

 

Aserakowa Thahoketoteh, Court Reporter

Thahoketoteh@hotmail.com

MohawkMothers.ca

kahentinetha2@proronmail.com

#991 kahnawake quebec canaa J0L 1B0