Mohawk Nation News

News and Articles by kahntineta, Mohawk Nation News Publisher

Mohawk Nation News

TRAFFICKING OF “INDIGENOUS CULTURAL HERITAGE”

MCGILL/MCCCORD & MOHAWK MOTHERS DISCUSSION, JUNE 3. 2024 

TRAFFICKING OF INDIGENOUS CULTURAL HERITAGE “-

Six Nations chiefs explaining wampum belts 1871.

MNN. June 15, 2024. This message was delivered to McGill McCord Museum on behalf of Kahnistensera Mohawk Mothers:

“Wampum belts have been trafficked across international borders not recognized by us. Trafficking of cultural goods is the illicit import, export and transfer of cultural property. In 2011, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security announced that the illicit sale of cultural property is the third most profitable black market industries in the world, following weapons and narcotics trafficking! Wampums were stolen from indigenous communities on Turtle Island, often by using coercive strategies or middlemen who profitted from the misery and chaos of colonialism.

Band Councils do not represent us. They are an incorporated entity of Parliament and represent Canada, not the original indigenous peoples.   

One dish one spoon Agreement: Natural resources such as animals, fish and medicinal plant should be shared in a respectful manner amongst  onkwehonweh people. 

Wampum cannot be sold by an individual. They are stewarded by specific families to conserve them for the future generations. Individuals cannot sell Kanien’keha:ka cultural heritage, like a piece of merchandise. They are historical agreements that are recorded for the future generations. For a century, McGill’s McCord Museum has possessed Kanien’keha:ka wampum that were acquired when our people were experiencing great duress on financial, social and physical levels, which Canada has recently acknowledged as genocidal. This history was not communicated to the public at the recent display of wampum. Today we are here to renew our relationship on better terms, based on collaboration, justice and truth-telling. We offer the McCord Museum an opportunity to return Kanien’keha:ka belongings to our communities, where they belong.

McGill and McCord squat on unceded Onkwehonkwe land and retain possession of and control over immensely valuable cultural heritage which forms the backbone of our identity, governance structures and nationhood. We traditional Kanien’keha:ka Longhouse people live in accordance with our precolonial constitution which our ancestors helped us to develop from time immemorial, the Kaianerehkowa. Wampum form the very basis of our cultural identity. Our right to live, possess and control our heritage is the basis of our culture, which is acknowledged by Section 35 of the Constitution Act of Canada 1982, which states: “The existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal peoples of Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed”, as well as by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act, which is the Federal repatriation of the UNDRIP protocols outlined by the United Nations.

In the United States, these conversations have led to the creation of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), which currently requires museums to collaborate on projects with Indigenous peoples to  repatriate all Indigenous heritage to Indigenous communities. The historic, traditional and artistic materials created by a people as an expression of themselves belongs to us, the original people from whom the objects were stolen and separated from the historical settings of these objects.

The UNDRIP Act in Canada states in Article 31 that: “Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions, as well as the manifestations of their sciences, technologies and cultures, including human and genetic resources, seeds, medicines, knowledge of the properties of fauna and flora, oral traditions, literatures, designs, sports and traditional games and visual and performing arts. They also have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their intellectual property over such cultural heritage, traditional knowledge, and traditional cultural expressions.” Article 25 says: “Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard.”

Regarding Indigenous peoples, all states and publicly-funded corporations such as McGill are expected to recognize and protect the exercise of these rights. Every living being on earth has a spirit, including wampum that were handmade by our ancestors which carried forth our knowledge and instructions for future generations of Onkwehonweh. The spirit placed into the wampum was for the future generations of our people, not for the enjoyment and entertainment of tourists and academics. We feel the spirit of these teachings from our ancestors in our whole being. An object having an historical, traditional or cultural importance central to the indigenous people or culture itself, are not property owned by an individual. They cannot be alienated, appropriated or conveyed by any individual, corporation or organization. Such objects are inalienable by all parties at the time the object was created.

According to the Two Row Tehiohate philosophy, our society knows how to govern ourselves from birth. We had no jails, police, weapons or threats of death to manage our relationships. We are a true free self-determining people, with a “constitution” that is a true world heritage that has influenced what came to be called “democracy” all over the planet. For example, the United States’ decentralized semi-autonomous state system was appropriated from our traditional governance structures by Benjamin Franklin and the League of Nations. Wampum is the promise of the Kanien’keha:ka to pass our knowledge and traditions to future generations and to carry out the agreements made between the parties involved. As colonialist Cadwallader Colden described, “Wampum is a system of memory and recall far more advanced than anything they have seen in Europe.” The wampum was taken out regularly from the basket in the general council and the words were repeated to remind the people of the promise. The white people were invited to the wampum recitals, though their memory was faulty and many promises were broken.

Teiohateh Two Row, is the universal relationship of non-domination, balance and harmony between different people.

Wampum belts are promises of peace. To us it is not right to display our cultural heritage in museums as dead objects that no longer matter. We will not accept being put on display any longer. Wampum are living heritage that we are still using as the basis of our agreements, traditions, protocols and relationships. The fact that the McCord Museum of McGill University hold these items and put them on display remind us of how these agreements were violated by Europeans and transformed into entertainment items, stripped of their social, spiritual and political meaning. The essence of our agreements is in our minds. Wampum only work if we entertain a living relationship with them. Our honesty brings back our words and thoughts from these discussions. Our message based on the kaianerekowa, the great peace, has never been diminished. We must regularly review the original meanings.

We indigenous people belong to the land. The women made the belts because they have the duty of peace. The McCord exhibit misinterpreted certain meanings, for example stating that the straight line in the middle of the wampum represents the rule to govern. This improper representation must be corrected by our Elders and Knowledge Keepers. A gross misrepresentation in the exhibit suggested that we used wampum as money. It is Europeans who turned our wampum into a form of money, an idea that did not exist in our way.

The museum overlooked the original cultural meanings of the wampum. We offer to work together to correct this so that such violations, abuses, and misunderstandings can be made right. We will begin by discussing proper arrangements for the return to our communities of our heritage. We pledge to inform everyone of the true power, spirit and meanings of the wampum which is the basis of our relationship with all peoples and all life. We wish to remove the misleading narratives devised by European scholars and other foreigners by putting our wampum back in our hands. The way that these wampums were lost to our communities is very dark and troubling.

For many invading colonists all over the world our wampum were valuable objects of fashion that they stole and used as symbols of status. Some were taken right off the dead bodies of murdered Indigenous people throughout turtle island and then sold. Some wanted souvenirs to hang on their wall to remind them of having murdered us. Colonial institutions, especially museums, and their funders, such as the Bank of Canada, are pervaded by the continuation of a deep historical legacy of racism and genocide which must now stop. The general lack of information stems from the horrific conditions under which wampum were taken away from us. McCord did not provide meaningful and truthful explanations of the wampum and of how they ended up in McCord’s storage rooms. Somewhere the trail of information leading to their origins has been suppressed. We come to state without any ambiguity that it is time to return all our heritage to us for us to determine how our past, present and future will be used and interpreted. 

Wiskniontsakeh signifies the alliance of five different peoples

who pledge to live by the great peace.  

We hereby propose the following agreement: McCord Museum shall:

1. Relinquish all claims of ownership to Indigenous cultural heritage. 

2. Negotiate the transfer of Kanien’keha:ka cultural heritage to the Kahnistensera Mohawk Mothers, who will coordinate their rematriation to Indigenous communities. McCord may hold the material on our behalf until arrangements are made to move them.

3. Understand that Kanien’keha:ka cultural heritage, including but not limited to wampum, is on temporary loan to the McCord Museum from the Kanien’keha:ka, contingent on proper care of the material culture and in good faith to facilitate the rematriation of Kanien’keha:ka belongings held by the McCord Museum.

4. Provide the Kahnistensera and Indigenous communities with a complete inventory of wampum, including all related documents and data that McCord may possess or have access to.

5. Fund Indigenous-led research into the meaning and historical movements and displacements of each wampum, to share correct information with the public. This includes funding a Kahnistensera-led program with Kanien’keha:ka elders, knowledge keepers and youth to correct the record.

6. Fund the safe and secure storage of Kanien’keha:ka cultural heritage until Indigenous communities are able to properly take on the care of these belongings.

[a] The Kanien’keha:ka belongings contained within the inventory will be completely under the ownership and control of Kanien’keha:ka traditional people. [b]  During McCord’s temporary stewardship pending rematriation, McCord shall grant any Indigenous community or persons’ requests to access and use Indigenous cultural heritage, including wampum belts, for their own purposes.

7. Assist with curation expertise and resources, including securing sufficient funding, to ensure, in a timely manner, safe storage of the cultural artifacts in facilities controlled by traditional Indigenous governance systems. McCord shall provide free access to said belongings to all Onkwehonweh of any Indigenous communities to learn, physically handle, and use them for social, educational and ceremonial purposes.

8. Assist in the funding of the Kahnistensera Mohawk Mothers in order to arrange with Kanien’keha:ka communities for the creation, maintenance, and curatorial protocol to build the proper facilities for the transfer of the belts and articles to traditional Indigenous communities.

8. All historical agreements with other parties that allowed our wampum to be taken away and placed in colonial institutions shall be superseded by this agreement, because the original community ownership was never, and could never be, relinquished.

Robbie Robertson sings about the “Ghost Dance” to remind everybody “we shall live again, we shall live again” because of our love for our mother earth and all life.

Crow’s brought the message
To the children of the sun
For the return of the buffalo
And for a better day to come

You can kill my body
You can damn my soul
For not believing in your God
And some world down below

You don’t stand a chance against my prayers
You don’t stand a chance against my love
They outlawed the Ghost Dance
They outlawed the Ghost Dance
But we shall live again, we shall live again

My sister above
But she has red paint
She died at Wounded Knee
Like a Latter-day Saint

You got the big drum in the distance
The blackbird’s in the sky
That’s a sound that you hear
When the buffalo cry

You don’t stand a chance against my prayers
You don’t stand a chance against my love
They outlawed the Ghost Dance
They outlawed the Ghost Dance
But we shall live again, we shall live again
We shall live again

Crazy Horse was a mystic (yeah)
He knew the secret of the trance
And Sitting Bull, the great apostle
Of the Ghost Dance

Come on Comanche
Come on Blackfoot
Come on Shoshone
Come on Cheyenne

We shall live again (we shall live again)
We shall live again (we shall live again)

Come on Arapaho
Come on Cherokee
Come on Paiute
Come on Sioux

We shall live again (we shall live again)

You used to do the Ghost Dance
Used to do the Ghost Dance
But we don’t sing them kinda songs no more

 

 

MCGILL/SQI & MOHAWK MOTHERS CLASH IN APPEAL COURT

Submission by Kahnistensera Mohawk mothers

Shé:kon Sewakwekon, Justices,

The Kahnisrtensera Mohawk Mothers stood before the three justices of the Quebec Appeals Court in Montreal. All kanienkehaka women are Kahnistensera, “life-givers”, with a privileged relationship to the children and the earth which lies at the heart of this court case. Kahnistensera contains the word Onerits’ta, which is the umbilical cord and the stem of a fruit. As a tree bears fruit, of which they are caretakers. Their precolonial constitution, Kaianerehkowa, comes from time immemorial and is translated as the  path of the “Great Law of Peace.” 

The Women’s Nomination Belt, which was presented to the judges, is a reminder of women’s duties. Section 44 of the first written translation of the Great Law of Peace, published in 1916 states “The lineal descent of the people of the Five Nations shall run in the female line. Women shall be considered the progenitors of the Nation. They shall own the land and the soil. Men and women shall follow the status of the mother”. They are the stewards and caretakers of the land for the coming faces, “Tahatikonhsontóntie.” Furthermore, they hold the titles of the 49 families that make up the Confederacy and depose those who stray from the great peace.

It is the women’s duty to search for the missing and murdered children following the colonial genocide program inflicted on indigenous people. They must find, protect and return the remains of the relatives to their families and communities, one of the most important exercises of their inherent duties.

They self-represent in these colonial legal proceedings because the Kaianerehkó:wa and their cultural practices, customs and traditions provide that they do so. Their position is based on the clan-based consensual decision-making protocols from time immemorial. They are now carrying out their duty to represent themselves before the Superior Court beginning almost two years ago. Justice Gregory Moore of the Superior Court Montreal recognized their public interest standing and their right to represent themselves in his judgement of September 20th, 2022; that they can legitimately represent themselves and the public interest of their people by  upholding their individual responsibilities as caretakers of the land and children.

This judgement was never appealed. The Attorney General of Quebec now submits that they aren’t worthy of the honour of the Crown because they are individuals and not an incorporated group. First, they are carrying out their obligations towards their children of the past, present, and future. Second, Incorporation is a feature of colonial society, not theirs. Their society has organized councils, fires, traditions and families. They condemn the Attorney General’s attempt to undermine their standing as the original people on onowarekeh, turtle island, their collateral attack on Justice Moore’s decision; and their attempt to relitigate what was already adjudicated, which constitutes sharp dealing and an abuse of process.

The House of Commons ratified the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in the UNDRIP Act, 2021; the provinces are encouraged to implement the Act and the Declaration as a basic source in interpreting Canadian law. Articles 3 and 5 protects their right and duty to represent the interests of coming generations; Articles 11 and 12 asserts the rights of cultural manifestation, traditions, ceremonies, and laws; and Article 18 provides that “Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters which affect their rights, through representatives chosen by them according to their own procedures”, as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision-making institutions.

The rights in this case fall under a larger nation-to-nation relationship with the Crown as sovereign allies for centuries. “Canada” is a Mohawk word. They are bound by shared histories and original agreements, the Tehiohate Two Row Wampum and the Silver Covenant Chain. These processes uphold mutual respect and dialogue on onowarekeh. 

Yet the Attorney General of Quebec claims that the Honour of the Crown is not at stake in this issue. They beg to differ. Kahnistensera brought these claims as mothers, in their traditional and official capacities, as custodians of the soil and of everything it contains, and of the children of the past, present and future. They are born into their lifetime of duties, bound to uphold them forever according to the kasahtsensera kowa sahoiera, the Great Natural Power, which is creation.

No one can represent okwehonweh, the original people placed here by creation. Each has a final say. Quebec Crown agents can only act with Band Councils which are Canada’s corporate bodiies imposed on indigenous people by the colonial Indian Act, not by a traditional indigenous governance system. This contradicts the spirit of reconciliation. The Attorney General of Quebec quotes the Manitoba Metis Federation decision which states that “It must be explicit that the obligee of the obligation is an indigenous group,”so that a group can’t be partially composed of Indigenous people.” The Attorney General cherry-picks which parts of that decision are relevant so as to claim that the kahnistensera cannot invoke the Honor of the Crown. To exclude kahnistensera, especially in a case that involves abused and murdered children who were in their care, contradict the principles of Section 35(1) of the Constitution Act 1982 and the spirit of Reconciliation. These women are definitely not a group of opportunists with a few token Indigenous members. THEY ARE ALL REAL LIVE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE. The honour of the Crown applies FIRST AND FOREMOST to them, rather than to any corporation represented by attorneys who have sworn allegiance to the Crown who are strangers to indigenous ways.

Finally, the Attorney General suggests that the Honor of the Crown cannot be engaged through litigation! They submit that the kahnistensera brought dishonour to the Crown outside of court through their faulty execution of the Settlement Agreement!! The Appellants almost immediately breached the jointly-drafted agreement in several ways. They tried to find a common ground and deal with these issues with the Appellants outside of court, but to no avail.

The ruling now under appeal addresses the urgent breaches of the Agreement because of the Appellants’ failure to abide by the Agreement. These breaches are: First, the refusal to implement recommendations from the expert Panel regarding forensic precautions and the sharing of data. They infer that the term “guided” in section 13 of the agreement does not make the panel’s recommendations binding. But what does “guided” mean if recommendations can simply be unilaterally dismissed without any credible explanation or discussion? The kahnistensera would never have agreed to such a clause. 

Second, the Appellants unilaterally decided to fire the expert third party Panel mandated by all parties to the agreement, essentially electing themselves as sole decision-makers. Kahnistensera did not and would not have agreed to such a short and limited mandate for the Panel.

Third, the Panel insisted that it was their professional and ethical duty to access the data of the Appellant’s service providers and to oversee the implementation of the techniques they recommended. Section 13 of the Agreement binds all parties to the Panel’s recommendations, which techniques were to be used and how. The Appellants’ alternative interpretation is absurd. 

Fourth, Section 17 of the Agreement states that the Panel must be involved in case of any “unexpected discoveries”. In a letter which McGill’s attorney Doug Mitchell addressed to Justice Moore on June 14, 2023, McGill posed that what the Historic Human Remains Detection Dogs first alert was dequalified as an “unexpected discovery” and therefore triggered Section 17 of the Agreement. The Appellant’s agreed with the women’s request for a Case Management Conference following the discovery. Then the SQI later argued that Section 17 is only triggered after an actual burial is discovered. They stressed that if bodies were found the police and coroner would take over, explicitly stating that neither the Kahnistensera nor the Panel would be involved. Thus, Section 17 is either meaningless, or blatantly deceptive.

Fifth, the women submit that Section 17, and the spirit of the Agreement as a whole, necessarily involves the Panel to disentangle conflicting opinions about the techniques and how they are implemented as soon as problems are encountered. McGill and the SQI are not archeologists, and nor are the women. That’s why the Panel was jointly selected to replace the injunction that was not appealed. It was to allow, on one hand, the Appellants’ construction to continue while giving the women the assurance that a thorough and credible archeological investigation would come first.

This is the crux of the matter: The Kahnistensera would never have signed an agreement which would cause irreparable harm to them, to survivors and to their communities. This irreparable harm is in the SQI’s submissions, which state that the settlement agreement provided for the SQI and McGill to investigate unmarked graves by excluding the Kahnistensera from the process that they initiated at great pain and effort.

The Agreement replaced the injunction, which no party contested, and that the investigation should be Indigenous-led, which halted all excavation work on the site. By signing the agreement, the Kahnistensera made a considerable compromise, giving up Indigenous control of the investigation in exchange for the oversight by an independent and jointly-appointed third party Panel of experts to search for unmarked graves. The Agreement bound all parties. Due to this compromise, McGill and SQI were able to proceed with their construction work. By using the way of the kaianerekowa, such as the consensual decision-making protocols and wampum-based diplomacy, an agreement must be based on “being of one mind,” which is a true shared understanding.

There are some parallels between our ancestral ways and Canadian contract law. We have to make sure that we signed the same contract with the same meaning and that both parties understand it the same way. In this case, the Panel was meant to act as an independent third-party capable of resolving disagreements on best practices and techniques throughout the investigation. The Appellants dismissed these. We saw the irreparable harm that occurs when the Appellants are not under the supervision of the independant Panel: For instance, the Appellants excluded the investigation of the portion inside the Hersey building which was part of the 10-metre radius zone. The Panel recommended excavation around the target where search dogs alerted, which was next to the wall. Our cultural monitors then witnessed the Appellants’ contractors doing demolition work on the flooring on the other side of the wall. They never responded when asked what was happening. The Appellants barred access to the inside of the building even though the dog handlers said the dogs can smell through stone walls. •

The Kahnistensera cultural monitor Lloyd Benedict states in his affidavit that he found a century old child’s shoe left on the sidewalk in zone 11, the absence of care in handling potential evidence, and reported that excavation happened there without any archaeological monitoring, though monitoring was mandated by the Panel. Thirdly, the Panel’s recommendation to immediately and manually sift the soil where the dogs alerted were ignored, and the soil was left to the elements for several months before being inappropriately passed through a mechanical sifter made for mining, not archaeology. According to Mohawk archaeologist Benedict’s affidavit, this most likely would destroy the fragile bones of children. The Appellants’ contractors then concluded that the bone fragments were now too small to identify. This is the irreparable harm we have to prevent: the destruction of the very evidence this whole investigation is about!

We now fear that the same will happen with the TWO OTHER targets the dogs identified since then, including one next to the Allan Memorial Institute, where a S4 probe also confirmed compounds in the soil consistent with human decomposition. These will be destroyed if the Appellants proceed without the Panel’s oversight. The purpose of this investigation is to find the truth. Every archeological scholar we talked to was appalled at the details of the archeological investigation which proceeded unilaterally under the Appellants. They fell so drastically short of best practices. In fact, they’ve never seen anything like it.

McGill and the SQI misinterpreted the Agreement in every way to resume construction, while disregarding their responsibilities by depriving the Kahnistensera of the guidance of independent experts. By excluding both the Panel and the Kahnistensera – except for periodic email updates and a few tokenized cultural monitors whose only power, it seems, is to burn sage and tobacco , the Appellants have determined that they will investigate the crimes allegedly committed by their own employees in their own institutions in the past. Sincerely, Justices, this cannot be what Reconciliation looks like. When the women signed it, it was clear that all parties wanted to replace any unilateral endeavour by any party with a jointly-appointed independent body, the Panel.

Justice Moore read the entire Agreement. He decided to homologate it within the Superior Court, giving it the force of a Judgement. The SQI then tried to object. Justice Moore’s Judgement is now under appeal. The Appellants’ interpreted that it  was too narrow and did not make sense. We applied to enforce the homologated agreement as the Appellants found the whole investigation was seriously compromised, which created a situation of utter helplessness for the survivors of the crimes and our communities. Justice Moore simply tried to enforce the implementation of the Agreement as it stands, to prevent further irreparable harm. His ruling was to preserve the status quo and to allow the investigation to continue so it minimizes the harm done to all the parties. Once human remains are destroyed, they cannot be repaired. Once land is excavated, the soil cannot be put back. The Judgment now seems moot given the several months that have passed,. The situation is just as urgent now as it has ever been. The urgency is to restore human dignity after so much dispossession and neglect. Reconciliation, if it means anything, must mean this much.

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/mcgill-quebec-clash-with-mohawks-over-possible-buried-bodies

Tommy Tucker’s song “Hi Heel Sneakers” could be about some of the ‘clashes’ that go on in the courts of law that indigenous people are forced into: 
  
Put on your red dress, babyLord, we goin’ out tonightPut on your red dress, babyLord, we goin’ out tonightAnd then wear some boxin’ glovesIn case some fool might wanna fight
Put on your hi-heel sneakersWear your wig hat on your headPut on your hi-heel sneakersWear your wig hat on your headAnd I’m pretty sure now, babyDon’t you know, you know you gonna knock ’em dead?

Court Reporter Thahoketoteh@ntk.com

MohawkMothers.ca

Kahnistensera@sunrise.org

mohawknationnews.com

box 991, kahnawake que. canada J0L 1B0

kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

REMATRIATION OF TURTLE ISLAND – McGill Grads Statement

MNN. JUNE 6, 2024.

 

CONCORDIA & KAHNISTENSERA MOHAWK MOTHERS

“Good Medicine Talks Series” 

Indigenous Knowledge Chair

Lead by Dr. Catherine Richardson Kineweskwen

The McGill graduation remarks at the Bell Centre in Montreal reflects how our young people see things. The kahnistensera Mohawk Mothers wish you love, freedom and peace.

 Bob Dylan sees it your way.

 MohawkMothers.ca

mohawknationnews.com

Box 911 – kahnawakw – quebec – cabada – J0L 1B0

kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

KANIENKEHA:KA REASSERT LAND RIGHT TO BARNHART ISLAND

From The Peoples Voice

MEDIA RELEASE – Barnhart Encounter (05-22-24) 

Yesterday (May 21st 2024) at 10:30 am, individuals went to Niionenhiasekowá:ne (Barnhart Island) to begin construction for a residence in a grass clearing on Beach Marina Rd. The three Kanien’keha:ka men that were on site were unmolested for three hours until five state troopers, six NYPA security, and one St. Lawrence County Sheriff appeared. The encounter was described as amiable. The troopers asked the purpose of their activities to which one man responded, “We are here to build housing for our community. This is Onkwehonwe land.” The troopers, and Sheriff, then simply notified the men to be careful of specific lines, indicating where they were. The gas, water and electric lines were all far from where the men were scraping the dirt. No warning, notice or injunction was provided and the men continued their work.

Later, six additional Kanien’keha:ka people came to the area, one of them with the press. Within 15 minutes of their arrival at 8:00 pm, approximately 35 personnel (including law enforcement, troopers, US Border Patrol, Homeland Security) armed with automatic rifles surrounded them at the site- issuing a brief warning stating that the individuals were trespassing and to move away from the premises. The individuals refused to move. The troopers proceeded to arrest all who were present, including a minor (who was later released).

One individual was charged with a felony and all were charged with trespassing violations and conspiracy misdemeanors. The court date appearance has been set for June 11th, 2024, 1:30 pm at Massena Town Court. The individuals encourage people to witness the hearing and attend in support. 

Sent from my iPhone
SEE ‘THE PEOPLES VOICE’ FACEBOOK FOR FURTHER NEWS

QUEBEC STATE OF CHILD ABUSE

 

REMARKS

MNN. May 15, 2024. This is about accountability. That is what reconciliation is about. We were given by creation the ability to protect ourselves, our people, the kanien’keha:ka, and all peoples and to love and care for our mother earth. Presently we are trying to find our missing and murdered children. We find that no public institution in Quebec has the mandate to be accountable for state abuse and genocide of children and people.

Our kaianerekpwa teaches us to hold ourselves accountable to our past traditions, our ways that foster dialogue and harmony to create balance and equality: the two row wampum, the dish with one spoon, the kaianerekowa (great peace). We first met the SAQ [Quebec Liquor Board] after writing them a letter in January 2024 about our concerns that the former cemetery on the property of the St. Jean de Dieu Hospital contained our ancestors who were patients there. We always seek to find all our children. Before the beginning of our relationship with the Europeans we held onto the spirit of loving and caring for our children. We find no one accountable for torturing and murdering them. They have benefitted from the genocide. This is a crime against humanity. 

The Duplessis orphans were mistreated and eliminated because of money. Only the corporation’s rights have been upheld, not that of the people. Our way is to hold ourselves to the truth. The Quebec government and its institutions like the SAQ [Quebec Liquor Board] have to be held accountable for their part in criminal actions to our people and to the orphans of all origins. What are we supposed to do when no corporate or religious institution seems to have the mandate to hold groups like the Sisters of Misericorde, the Quebec government and the SAQ accountable for the atrocities that were committed here and from which they are benefitting – the lobotomies, the pigsty cemetery, over which the first SAQ warehouse was built in 1975, transporting bodies in black plastic bags [we have seen the photos] of those bodies found by accident. The SAQ now inexplicably refuses to allow search dogs to survey the area to ensure that no burials or human remains will be destroyed or hidden. Refusing this recommendation from the leading national body of experts in searches for unmarked graves is immoral, unethical and inhuman., and pure evil.

The Quebec government made money changing the status of these children, most of whom were stolen from their families and designated as “mentally retarded”. What happened to us and to them is arguably one of the worst crimes against humanity that occurred in the Western world after the Second World War. The surviving Duplessis Orphans here are primarily witnesses to the horrors and atrocities they experienced which they tried to make public. They have been denied and betrayed every single time. I went to a funeral of three orphans. Hervé’s group doesn’t have enough money to put names on their gravestones. The orphans became family together and we are family with them. Many of them were Indigenous and had been hidden away as orphans, simply taken away, or sold for adoption if they were lucky, used for psychiatric experiments if they were not.

People’s power was taken away so they could not fight back or protect themselves. Our children and families were taken away to disempower us. The SAQ built its warehouse over the cemetery where more than 2000 people were buried. By refusing to let in search dogs who are capable of detecting the zones containing human remains, the SAQ is inferring that it will not account for the wrongs, even if it means infringing on human rights, breaking Federal and international law, and  breaching the ethical framework of a just society. Our ways are different, we respect everyone, we trust true dialogue and strive for understanding.

Yesterday, I asked to stop our meeting with the SAQ after they announced that the search dogs could not be used. The  voice of the orphans was ignored, as was their demand for search dogs to be used as recommended by the top experts in this country to make sure no grave will be desecrated or destroyed. It was very hurtful, insulting and abusive. In our ways we cannot speak with such dissonance. We must have a consensual discussion which is based on truth, peace and complete respect so we can arrive at a complete understanding. When sharp words and dealings happen, we must close the meeting and the parties must come back to the table when our minds agree to understand each other. If that mindset cannot be reached by state institutions like the SAQ, Quebec will have to reckon with the way their dead are being treated. This is very alarming.

SAQ obviously have never had a dog and they show their hatred by disallowing our blood hounds to go onto the land and be good dogs. As Red Foley sings about dogs:

When I was a ladAnd old Shep was a pupOver hills and meadows we’d strayJust a boy and his dogWe were both full of funWe grew up together that way
I remember the time at the old swimmin’ holeWhen I would have drowned beyond doubtBut old Shep was right thereTo the rescue he cameHe jumped in and then pulled me out
As the years fast did rollOld Shep, he grew oldHis eyes were fast growing dimAnd one day the doctor looked at me and said“I can do no more for him, Jim”
With hands that were tremblingI picked up my gunAnd aimed it at Shep’s faithful headI just couldn’t do it, I wanted to runI wish they would shoot me instead
He came to my side and looked up at meAnd laid his old head on my kneeI had struck the best friend a man ever hadI cried so I scarcely could see
Old Shep, he has gone where the good doggies goAnd no more with old Shep will I roamBut if dogs have a heaven there’s one thing I knowOld Shep has a wonderful home

 

mohawknationnews.com

MohawkMothers.ca

kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

GREAT PEACE IN SOLIDARITY WITH PALEST’INDIANS


These words were shared by participants of the 50th Anniversary of the Geniengeh Land Back Celebration that happened last weekend.

MNN. May. 13, 2024. The attempt by McGill University, which is on indigenous land, to move the Palestinian student encampment from McGill through colonial court action cannot happen as they come under the protecto o0g the tree of peace. Should Canadian colonial authorities try to invade them, they will be trespassing on Mohawk land. They pretend to have a legal and moral right to be here. But they do not. According to the great peace, which encircles turtle island, any who follow the great white roots of peace to their source are welcome to sit under the shade of the tree of peace with us. The kahnistensera/council of women is the basis of peace on earth. All life on earth has a right to seek survival and refuge under the great peace, which supercedes any foreign laws brought to turtle island. If their minds are clean and follow the kaianerekowa, they are welcome. Kasastensera kowa sa oiera is the great natural power of creation which gives them the right to seek refuge under the great tree of peace. It is all about kanonkwatsera, which is about love, the most powerful medicine on earth. Every child knows to love a stranger like a friend. Love a friend like family.  All those protecting their people and all life are following the great law of peace. The fire in our minds to survive and be free comes from creation which applies to all life.  
 
Part 1
Kanien'keha:ka at McGill Encampment for Palestine (Part 1)

Part 2

Kanien'keha:ka at McGill Encampment for Palestine (Part 2)

Part 3

Kanien'keha:ka at McGill Encampment for Palestine (Part 3)

Robbie Robertson tells the story: t

The general rode for sixteen daysThe horses were thirsty and tiredOn the trail of a renegade chiefOne he’d come to admireThe soldiers hid behind the hillsThat surrounded the villageAnd he rode down to warn the chiefThey’d come to conquer and pillage
Lay down your armsLay down your spearThe chief’s eyes were sadBut showed no sign of fear
It is a good day to die (It is a good day to die)Oh my children dry your eyesIt is a good day to die
And he spoke of the days before the white man cameWith his guns and whiskyHe told of a time long agoBefore what you call historyThe general couldn’t believe his wordsNor the look on his faceBut he knew these people would rather dieThen have to live in this disgrace
What law have I brokenWhat wrong have I doneThat makes you want to bury meUpon this trail of blood
It is a good day to die (It is a good day to die)Oh my children don’t you cryIt is a good day to die
We cared for the land and the land cared for usAnd that’s the way it’s always beenNever asked for more never asked too muchAnd now you tell me this is the end
I laid down my weaponI laid down my bowNow you want to drive me outWith no place left to go
It is a good day to die (It is a good day to die)Oh my children don’t you cryIt is a good day to die (It is a good day to die)
And he turned to his people and said dry your eyesWe’ve been blessed and we are thankfulRaise your voices to the skyIt is a good day to die
Oh my children don’t you cry (don’t you cry)Dry your eyesRaise your voice up to the skyIt is a good day to die
ROBBIE ROBERTSON - It is a good day to die

 Kahnistensera@Uprising.net

kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

MohawkMothers.ca

MOHAWK KNOWLEDGE KEEPER PROVIDES GUIDANCE TO “PALESTINIAN ENCAMPMENT” @ MCGILL

TODAY, MAY 3, 2024, AT 3.00, KANIENKEKAH WORDS WILL BE. PROVIDED BY TEKARONTAKE, A KEEPER OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, AT THE MCGILL ENCAMPMENT ON MOHAWK LAND FOR ALL INDIGENOUS PEOPLE OF THE WORLD.

 

MNN May 3, 2024.The kahnistensera Mohawk Mothers wholly support the encampment that the McGill students and professors set up to demand that McGill divests from the ongoing genocide of indigenous Palestinian people in Gaza. 

In 2015 Palestinian students at McGill came to see us to share their concerns that McGill is conducting military research in its “war labs” that were used against Paleistinians. As a result one of the Mohawk Mothers issued a notice of seizure of McGill Universsity on September 12, 2012, which sits on Mohawk Kanienkehaka land. Since then the Mohawk have experienced McGill’s ongoing colonial enterprise both against the Palestinians and Kanienkehaka. 

McGill is now using its students tuition money to appeal a judgment the Mohawk Mothers obtained at the Montreal Superior Court to make them respect a settlement agreement signed with the Mohawk Mothers to allow expert archaeologists to search for the potential unmarked graves of the Mohawk and other relatives used as guinea pigs in medical experiments at the Royal Victoria Hospital.

“Why does McGill continue to invest its money to fight us and other indigenous people throughout the world? McGill has to divest all the money it is devoting to fight against the indigenous rights, dignity and lives here on Turtle Island and in the Middle East. We stand with the encampment and the students are here on our unceded territory with our permission. 

The Superior Court of Montreal also agree they are doing nothing illegal. We Mohawks kanienkehaka have our own legal system since time immemorial, the Great Peace, which promotes non-violent peaceful and egalitarian resolution between all peoples regaredless of their race and color. 

McGill would be better to abide by our way which is on our territory, to avoid sowing more conflict and violence as it is now doing.  

niawen”

As the the students resist and persist to end the wars,  Karonhiatajegeh’s Unity flag flies in the middle of it and we can hear whispers of the students saying “God Bless Louis Hall”, as we know that Karohiatajegeh hears it in the spirit world and smiles upon us. “You are you. I am me. He is he. She is she. When we put our minds together, we are  the people, all children of mother earth. We are one . Celebrate. The power of one mind, participate. The power is the people. Not the money or the war. Let’s raise our voices so they hear us. Let them roar. No more killing of our own family. Let’s give peace a berth. ‘Cause we’re all in this together. We the people of Mother Earth”.

 MohawkMothers.ca

Kahnistensera@Riseup.com

mohawknationnews.com

box 991 kahnawake quebec canada J0L 1B0 kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

LIVE. “LET’S TALK NATIVE” WITH JOHN KANE 4/27/24

 

EXPOSING ONKWEHONWENET ‘TURTLE ISLAND’ LAND CLAIM THEFT. 

Tactics being used to place indigenous people in positions to steal our land through frauds. The broadcast is self-explanatory by two onkwehonweh, John Kane and tekarontake Paul Delaronde. Send this out immediaqtely. 

LTN #581 Live from Akwesasne with John Kane and Tekarontake: LAND CLAIMS!

There will be more information on the next broadcasts.

thahoketoteh explains very main principles of the two row wampum applicable to our lives now. “What a magic place this is, the giver of all life and teacher to all. It starts as a trickle in the hills and continues growing wider on its call. Feeding everything on its path and asking nothing but respect from the biggest tree to the smallest insect. It then becomes a highway of fish, men and beast continuing on its journey that will never ever cease. Chorus: The river of life has many falls, twists and turns and steep walls. We travel down it in our own way. The same has been from the very first day. i’ll stay in my canoe. You stay in your boat. I only  hope you stay afloat. I’ll smile at you. You wave at me and we’ll continue on towards the sea”.

Contact:

SUSPECT SEEKS BUT DOESN’T SEE

MOHAWK MOTHERS SEEK & MCGILL DOESN’T SEE CHILDREN’S GRAVES

MNN. Apr. 15, 2024. This is a reprint of a Montreal Gazette article. On Friday, April 12, 2024, there was a case management conference at the Superior Court of Montreal between the Kahnistensera Mohawk Mothers, McGill U and the SQI Quebec government.  The Mohawk Mothers are requesting that McGill and SQI refrain from excavating archaeological zones until the appeal is heard in June 2024.

“How to search for graves at Royal Vic site? Mohawks, McGill, Quebec clash

As distrust deepens over results of archeological digs at the former hospital property, a court decision looms.

Clash over possible Indigenous graves at Royal Vic siteAerial view of the former Royal Victoria Hospital, right, and the Allan Memorial Institute, top left. Are bodies of Indigenous children buried at the sprawling site, part of which is to become an $870-million extension of McGill University? PHOTO BY DAVE SIDAWAY /Montreal Gazette

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/how-to-search-for-graves-at-royal-vic-site-mohawks-mcgill-quebec-clash

Clash over possible Indigenous graves at Royal Vic site
Members of the Mohawk Mothers of Kahnawake, from left: Kwetiio, Kahentinetha, Karennatha and Karakwiné. Kwetiio says McGill and Quebec are rushing the probe of the former Royal Vic site. “It’s supposed to be an unbiased search but it isn’t.” PHOTO BY PIERRE OBENDRAUF /Montreal Gazette.Our story is like a baseball game. Is it true! Probably. John Fogarty explains baseball pretty good with this analogy of a baseball game. We wonder if the game is fixed. We will play to win!

Well, I beat the drum and hold the phoneThe sun came out todayWe’re born again, there’s new grass on the fieldA-roundin’ third and headed for homeIt’s a brown-eyed handsome manAnyone can understand the way I feel
Oh, put me in, coachI’m ready to play todayPut me in, coachI’m ready to play todayLook at me, I can be centerfield
Well, I spent some time in the Mudville NineWatching it from the benchYou know I took some lumpsWhen the Mighty Casey struck outSo say, “Hey Willie, tell Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio”Don’t say it ain’t so you, know the time is now
Oh, put me in, coachI’m ready to play todayPut me in, coachI’m ready to play todayLook at me, I can be centerfield
You got a beat up glove, a homemade batAnd a brand new pair of shoesYou know I think it’s time to give this game a rideJust to hit the ball and touch ’em all, a moment in the sunIt’s a-gone and you can tell that one goodbye
Oh, put me in, coachI’m ready to play todayPut me in, coachI’m ready to play todayLook at me, I can be centerfield (yeah)
Oh, put me in, coachI’m ready to play todayPut me in, coachI’m ready to play todayLook at me, gotta be centerfield
Yeah

NOW READ THE GAZETTE STORY:

John Fogerty - Centerfield

MohawkMothers.ca
Kahnistensera@Sunrise.net
mohawknationnews.com
Box 991 kahnawake que. canada J0L 1B0
kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

GANIENKEH STATEMENT APR. 4/24

 

INDEPENDANT NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN STATE OF 

GANIENKEH

MOHAWK NATION TERRITORY OF THE

SIX NATION IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY

Office of the Ganienkeh Territory Council Fire

Correspondence via: U.S.P.S. P.O. Box 270, 270 Altona  NY,12910

Telephone: 518-236-7100 – Fax: 518-236-7101

Email: info@ganienkeh.net – Website: www.ganienkeh.net

Ennisko:wa 4th, 2024

Swariwa:ke: MohawkNation Council of Chiefs

TO: Curtis Nelson, Angela Elijah, Ernest David, Louise McDonald, Julia Jacobs, Howard Thompson

This communication is written upon the direction of the community. It has come come to the attention of the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs [hereinafter MNCC] projects the impression that they represent the greater Mohawk Nation and the Confederacy on land claims matters. They do not.

The MNCC represent the interests in the land claims lawsuit as the Plaintiff known as “People of the Long House of Akwesasne represented by the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs”, and more specifically only to the house who call themselves the “Mohawk Nation Longhouse”.  

Ganienkeh rejects any greater authority that MNCC claims . . . . 

Please read the entire statement:

   

Download the PDF version of the statement.

Ganienkeh Statement 2024-04-05

The song, “The Tree”, is our absolute agreement with the statement of Ganienkeh on Turtle Island which Thahoketoteh sings: “Now we stand as brothers, let us plant this tree, follow its roots. It’ll go from sea to sea. Watch it grow to the sky and bask in its shade. It represents the unity we now have made. We bury our weapons for all time underneath. And a great order we now bequeath. If any should follow the roots to their source, they may sit with us in the shade of course….”