Mohawk Nation News

News and Articles by kahntineta, Mohawk Nation News Publisher

Mohawk Nation News

Tag Archives: Spitting Bears Published 2024/03/12 at 10:43 am 43/100 72/100 Title : IEWIRANEH March 12

SUSPECT SEEKS BUT DOESN’T SEE

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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.

Published Apr 12, 2024
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

Nestled on Mount Royal’s southern slope, the 19th-century former Royal Victoria Hospital towers over downtown Montreal — a symbol of the city’s past and future.

Despite two years of court hearings and archeological digs, there is still no answer. Read on . . . 

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

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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….” 

 mohawknationnews.com    MohawkMothers.ca.  kahnistensera@sunrise.net 

NO REDEMPTION” FOLLOW UP

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kahnistensera@riseup.net

MohawkMothers/ca

mohawknationnews.com

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kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

ILLEGAL INCEPTION

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MNN. April 1, 2024. Time to review the 2016 coverage of how McGill University and its appendages came into existence on kanienkehaka land and using rotinoshonni trust funds.  

Usurpation of Kanionkehaka Land and Funds to Build McGill University; 

 Our Resources are not for War:

Military Research at McGill University;

Mining Companies Covet Mohawk Niobium for US/NATO War Machine; 

Support the Kanonkehaka Demand for Justice and Peace at McGill University by the Mohawk Women Titleholders.

2 

The power lies within the people. When the people put their minds together, there comes great power. Let’s keep a good mind and stay on the path: “I speak to you now proud and brave. Remembering the lessons our ancestors gave about acknowledgement and respect and the four races as they intersect. From the path behind us, the one that lies ahead, let us walk softly on the road we tread. But hold our heads high as we move along thinking with one mind as we sing our song. We are glad to say and we say loud and clear through all of this sadness, we are still here. Power to the people. Missionize, Christianize, socialize, minimize, legislate, assimilate, economize, genocide”. [thahoketoteh of kantehke, Project for Peace. thahoketoteh@ntx.com]

HOODWINKED BY FISTFULL OF DOLLARS

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CENSORED NEWS: New! Hoodwinked By a Fist Full of Dollars — The Runaway Train of Non-Profits in Indian Country

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/03/hoodwinked-by-fist-full-of-dollars.html

MNN. Apr. 1, 2024. A billionaire’s fortune from the most polluting industries in the U.S. — aluminum manufacturing and oil drilling — now quietly funds non-profits in Indian country. This means big money in a few pockets for salaries, homes, and lavish expense accounts.

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, March 31, 2024

While searching for a non-profit’s info, we stumbled across this foundation. It funds many in Indian country, and here’s where its money comes from.

The money comes from the man who “commandeered the use of an entire element of earth — aluminum — through his control of the monopoly aluminum producer Alcoa,” according to “The Rise and Fall of Andew Mellon.”

 
At one point, five Fortune 500 companies owed their lineage directly to Andrew Mellon: Alcoa, Gulf Oil, Mellon Bank, Carborundum, and Koppers. He controlled a network of ninety-nine banks. And Alcoa is cited as one of the top air polluters in the U.S.

Today, the Andrew T. Mellon Foundation shows $7.5 billion. It gives out grant funding for Arizona university projects, Native projects across the U.S. and many more. Most grants range from $500,000 to $90 million.

 
Censored News year-long investigation into non-profits in Indian country reveals some of those who benefit from the secret process of grant writing.

1. Selling Ceremonies — Some are selling ceremonies in other countries, performing ceremonies which people must pay to attend.

2. Non-Indian Exploiters — Non-Indians in the U.S. are using cultural ways such as traditional foods and ancient seeds without permission, and making a profit.

3. Secretive Grant Writing — Grant writers use peoples names and causes without their permission, and conceal the grants, which are often hundreds of thousands, or millions of dollars.

4. A Quarter of a Billion Dollars Stashed — Millions are stashed in the non-profit’s salaries, bank accounts, real estate, and stock investments — and never distributed to the people the funds were donated for. There’s a quarter of billion dollars stashed in a handful of non-profits in Indian country.

5. Used Clothes and Expired Food — While receiving millions, some non-profits are distributing used clothing and expired donated foods, especially in South Dakota.

6. Huge CEO Salaries — The salaries of executives are most often $100,000 to $300,000. At non-profit hospitals, the salaries soar up to $1.2 million in Indian country.

7. Attorneys Missing in Action — Attorneys at non-profits in Indian country receive millions of dollars of funding. However, the majority are not responding to the widespread need for attorneys in the most important cases to defend Native human rights and protect sacred places.

8. The Takeovers: Hostile Takeovers — Some non-profits are receiving funding because of their longstanding good reputation. However, the funders appear to be unaware that the non-profits have been taken over in fraudulent schemes by CEOs or board members. The executives do this by first taking over the funds, and then oppress, bully and threaten while forming their own boards. The traditional founding Native elders are usually the first to be thrown out.

9. Non-profits Ignore Reports of Fraud — Even when the fraud is reported to funders, it is usually ignored and denied. This big-money making racket uses those who are in need and victims and their families. The industry profiteers from those who actually live on the land and keep the traditions alive and those on the frontlines of struggle.

10. United Nations Profiteers and Plagiarizers — The non-profit racket includes non-profits involved in Indigenous forums at the United Nations. It includes college professors who plagiarize grassroots Native People for U.N. reports and books, and non-profits who use victims and their families for lucrative grants.

11. Tribal Governments are Protected from Abuse Reports at U.N. — Non-profits making reports to the U.N. have forbidden tribal members from naming their tribal governments in their testimonies about human rights abuses, such as the militarization of the southern border. The testimony described how their tribal government is allowing the U.S. Border Patrol on their sovereign lands. They said the U.S. Border Patrol is now an “occupying army.” The non-profits who have entered into agreements with the tribal governments are compromised.

12. The Spin-off Non-Profits — There’s also another scam. The non-profit creates spin-off non-profits, which the public is unaware of. In these piggy-back non-profits, the CEOs give personal loans to themselves, and give money to family members. Real estate is often placed in a business, under the same CEOs name, where it can be sold. In fact, some non-profits have a string of non-profits and commercial businesses which are difficult to detect.

Huge salaries, with money flowing to children and family members

The non-profit tax record shows the amount paid to board members. However, the staff salaries are only shown as a lump sum.

 
All the ones that Censored News looked at have grants and salaries going to the children and family members of the top executives. The money flow to relatives is supposed to be shown on the tax return as “interested parties,” but some don’t do this. The cash flow to relatives sometimes shows on their websites, in the staff employees and contractors. Other times, whistleblowers expose them.
 
The Frauds: They are Suddenly Indians
 
There’s no way to know from the tax return if people are actually Native American. The current fraud involves people who have never identified as Native Americans, suddenly identifying as “Indigenous” or “Indian.” They most often claim to be Yaqui, Cherokee or Apache and they take funds, and jobs, designated for Native Americans. The fraud includes university professors.
 
Some of the people who are distributing the funds are not familiar with the communities, and are not verifying whether people are actually Native American. In the ones examined by Censored News, the money is donated by foundations specifically for “Native Americans.” However, millions are sprinkled around in various countries for others.
 
The U.S. tax law states that anyone can go into a non-profit’s main office and request the financial records and must be provided with those.
 
The Media is Compromised
 
The media, too, appears to be compromised by grants, and the money pipeline from Las Vegas casinos. There is a lack of investigative reporting. The reporters reliance on plagiarism, rewrites and phone calls, deceives readers into believing the reporters that they are out covering the news. Meanwhile, the non-profit media receives grants of $100,000 to $1 million — to cover Indian country.
 
The dirty money doesn’t always fund those it was intended for. Others have found a way to take it.
 
And finally, there’s no free money. They will own you.
 
Read more
 
The Andrew T. Mellon Foundation grants are listed on its tax returns, toward the bottom, and are posted on ProPublica Explorer. The multi-million dollar grantees include funds donated for Indigenous at Arizona universities and projects throughout the U.S.
 
The Mellon Foundation awarded $2 million to Black Hills Area Community Foundation for Rapid City Indian Boarding School Project, in 2021.
 
Previously at Censored News:
 
Millions Sinking into the Rabbit Hole of Indian Country Non-Profits
 
One non-profit in Indian country ended the year with $100 million in its bank accounts and assets at the end of the last tax year.
 
The Money Pump: Non Profits in Indian County: Fraud, Secrecy and Deep Deception
 
Secretive grant writing results in huge funding. Traditional foods, culture and farming ways are exploited.

Notes:


Aluminum Production and reserves

“Tens of millions of metric tons of bauxite are mined each year. The leaders in bauxite production include Australia, China, Brazil, India and Guinea. The United States has small amounts of bauxite ore located in Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia.” — The Aluminum Association.

“During almost 60 years of operation the Alcoa Aluminum Smelter that was located in Sandow just 6 miles southwest of the city of Rockdale, Texas produced approximately 26 billion pounds of aluminum.” It is northeast of Austin, Texas. Source

Copyright Censored News. Content may not be used without written permission.
Permission given by Censored News to Mohawk Nation News to reprint.
mohawknationnews.com  Box 991 kahnawake que. canada

NO REDEMPTION

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“NO REDEMPTION”, TRIBUNE ANNUAL JOURNALISM CONFERENCE,

McGill. – Mar. 27, 2024

The Women’s Nomination Belt

authorizes the Women to Nominate and Guide the Male Members

of their Clans and the Rotinoshonni Confederacy

MNN. Mar. 28, 2024. There is no redemption, no forgiveness for the genocide of indigenous people on turtle island. We are all suffering from the killings of our people so the settler colonialists can benefit. This land has always been ours and no one has ever defeated us and we have never surrendered.

Who’s land is this? Ours. The genocide is so well planned so no one can ever be charged or punished as they were enforcing  the genocide laws of Canada.  Creation remembers, and we are part of creation. We loved and laughed before as one people. This society carefully smothered our true selves. They tried to make us crave and yield to their hierarchical order. They planned how to force us to go deeper into their way, or else we were eliminated. They accuse us of being psychotic because we crave freedom. They took everything away and gave us nothing. The law of the corporation has to persist.  A system where the top 1% is taking 99% of the money, profits and benefits is toxic and unsustainable. 

They will never stop genocide until creation stops them. They keep trying to lure us back into subservience. 

Our resistance is changing the course of history. The intruders made turtle island into the filthiest toxic war-mongering place on the planet. They call our resistance delusional, hysteria, memory problems. We are always looking for the truth. The reports on the murders of our people are full of misleading information. We are classified as dangerous and not entitled to their secrets about the genocide program that is inflicted on us. We are told there is no other way for us but to comply with them. In fact they say we are trapped, like keeping an animal in a cage. 

The intruders created a false world to control us. They even call us selfish, pampered whiners feeding off their programs which are created from our Iroquois and Indian trust funds. We don’t trust the settler colonialists and they need to leave. They cannot keep what they stole and continue the devastation of us, our land and resources. They’ve done everything to hurt us since they’ve been here. But we are still here.  

If they do not follow the great peace, they must “pack up their troubles in their old kit bag and we will smile, smile, smile” and then turtle island will heal.

In every decision we make there are only two choices, fear or love?.  Turtle island is the land of peace which the settler colonialists have turned into the republic of war.  Mother earth will clean herself with one wave or shake. We’ve been told that when the sky world returns, there will be a frequency from the earth that turns on everyone’s past life memories and then the world will know peace.    

Kahentinetha, kahnistensera Mohawk Mother

Merle Haggard sounds like an injun when he sings “You are walking on the fighting side of me”: “I hear people talking bad about the way they have to live here in this country, harping on the wars we fight, crying about the way things ought to be. I don’t mind them switching sides and standing up for things they believe in, but when they are running down our country, man they are walking on the fighting side of me.  Running down a way of life our fighting men have fought and died to keep. If you don’t love it, leave it. Let this song that I am singing be a warning when you are running down our country cause you are walking on the fighting side of me. . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrLkMR7nUUI

MohawkMothers.ca

kahnistensera@sunrise.net

mohawknationnews.com

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“WORLD’S STRONGEST MEDICINE”

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Please post & distribute.

MNN. Mar. 20, 2024. A Mohawk Mother spoke these words at McGill.

“The settler colonists are realizing that their corporate genocide culture is unsustainable with the rules of nature. Kanrokwatsera, love, is the most powerful medicine in the world. It is a power, a frequency, that comes from the earth, our mother. Good feelings produce good medicine, through our treatment of our mother, our words, our festivals, dances, songs and the way we live. Everything we do is karen’na, a song. Kaianere’kowa, the great peace, comes from this power to create science, music, love. 

We are here again to protect ourselves and our mother earth. The representatives of the settler colonialists have admitted they caused genocide of our minds and bodies. They planned everything so that no one could be prosecuted. Not even one settler colonialist has ever been prosecuted for murdering an Indian.  Rather the government had a bounty on Indian scalps. they were paying the settlers to murder the Indians under the moto “the only good Indians is a dead Indian”. None ever wanted to hear about what they did to our people but they did know they were coming to occupy stolen Indian land. 

Our way is harmony and balance. kasatstensera’kowa saoiera is the great natural power. On the other hand, the heirarchical corporate power structure creates ‘dissonance’, illness, hatred, wars. The only sadistic animal on earth is man. 

Canadian representatives are now apologizing for carrying out the crime of genocide. It is so well planned and covered up that no one can be charged in the Canadian Admiralty court system for the murders of millions of indigenous people. To this day these intruders swear allegiance to a foreign autocrat and his corporations, instead of swearing allegiance to the people they purport to represent. They want “reconciliation” with their victims which is impossible with genociders, unless the perpetrators provide the whole truth and nothing but. 

On October 25, 1924, we were officially kidnapped to be cannon fodder according to the “Indian Lands Acts”, the “100 year business plan”, now called the “Framework Agreement”. The plan is to wipe out our existence by disappearing us or turning us into Canadian government slaves. In 1982 they enacted Section 35 of their present Constitution Act, acknowledging and affirming our existence on turtle island since time immemorial until infinity. Section 52 acknowledges that all other laws are “null and void”. Creation does not recognize the genocidal government of Canada. We are still in the POW camps called “reserves” while the settler colonialists occupy most of our prime land.

Do Canadians mind being cursed worldwide? After. trying to kill us off, they go after each other or kill others in other parts of the world! 

From the beginning they planned to kill us without punishment or accountability, to be rid of the Indian problem forever. Our responses to their vicious plan is on Mohawk Nation News entitled “The Spitting Bears”. At this time we continue to refuse to let them build on top of our dead bodies. 

They cannot escape their dastardly deeds such as outright murder, experimentation, kidnapping, residential school death camps,  pigsty hospitals, orphanages and classing us as mentally deficient. They may have something terrible inside them that they cannot hide which is revealing their OTKON. They are very concerned about getting caught and how to save themselves. They expect to continue to benefit from our torture and deaths.  The settler colonialists will continue to carry that guilt for as long as the Corporation of Canada continues to exist or until the Canadian people stand up and come to the indigenous fire. Their genocide of us is deep in the worldwide mind. 

Our minds are made by creation. The settler colonialists kidnapped us, murdered us and hid us so no one can ever see us or find us. They make us fear those who try to take down those walls. 

The root of the Canadian code of law is genocide. Canada is a fiction. We on the other hand are the people of reality. Our families and nature are real. The Crown incorporated the “metis”, “first nations” and “Inuit” to make them their corporate accomplices, to administer the genocide laws, “The Indian Act” and the “Indian Lands Acts”. We natural indigenous are front  and centre victims.  

The “Indian Lands Act” of Oct. 25, 1924 is the “100 year business plan” for the complete genocide of the indigenous people by this year, Oct. 25, 2024, so corporatism can prevail. In fact we prevailed. Some of us would like to have the statues, memoriials, and writings of the architect of the genocide plan Duncan Campbell Scott sent back to Scotland where he belongs.  We are of turtle island. Creation did not allow us to be totally annihilated. Why? Because creation wants the invaders to tell the complete truth.

The Irish band Nazareth sings as if they were us and the woman they sing about is Canada:

Heart breaker. Sole shaker. I’ve been told about you. Steam roller. Midnight stroller. What they been saying must be true. Red hot momma. Velvet charmer. Time’s come to pay your dues. Now you’re messing with us. Son of a bitches. [4 times]. Talking jive and . . . Poison ivy. You ain’t gonna cling to me.  Man taker. Born faker. Ain’t so blind I can’t see.  Red hot momma —- Now you’re messing with a son as bitch. .  . .

Hair of the Dog (Lyrics) - Nazareth | Correct Lyrics

 

 

 

 

WILD WAMPUM WORLD

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The following letter has been sent to McGill’s McCord Museum 

Re Exhibition:Wampum Beads of Diplomacy

MNN. Mar. 14, 2024.

WOMEN’S NOMINATION BELT

AUTHORIZES THE WOMEN TO NOMINATE AND GUIDE 

THE MALE MEMBERS OF THEIR CLANS  AND THE ROTINOSHONNI CONFEDERACY

From the kanien’keha:ka kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) Kahnawa:ke, Mohawk Territory kahnistensera@riseup.net

She:kon,

We are writing to inquire about the McCord Museum’s collection of Rotinonshon:ni belongings, particularly any wampum belts, beads, or strings that are either in storage or on display. We have also been made aware that many of our wampum presented as part of the McCord Museum’s “Wampum: Beads of Diplomacy” exhibit will be displaced to far-off institutions or into private possession. This is deeply concerning to us given as wampum are not material or cultural artworks of our people.  You did not seek our permission to display these. They are inaccurate misrepresentations.  We request they be returned immediately. 

For example, the Teiohaha:te or “Two Row” wampum is an active, legally-binding treaty between two nations: the Rotinonshon:ni and the Dutch. The fabric of the Rotinonshon:ni Confederacy is made up of hundreds of wampum belts like this one, and as such this necessitates a constant practice of being in relation with them. It is impossible for our people to do so when our wampum are sitting in museums– whether that be in Canada or around the world– or in the hands of collectors, just gathering dust.

As Kahnistensera we are responsible for taking care of the land, and for taking care of the children of the past, present, and future and.making certain whoae wampum belts are available to our  unborn children. It is also our duty to ensure that the Kaianereh’ko:wa or “Great Law of Peace” of the Rotinonshon:ni Confederacy is respected. It is with this understanding that we are reaching out to you. It is our hope that the McCord Museum, despite its historical lack of engagement with the original peoples of this land, the Onkwehonwe, is willing and able to engage in meaningful dialogue with us about our wampum.

We can be available as early as April 1st, 2024 for a meeting with you, whether that be in-person or online. If this works, then we suggest as a next step that we co-create an agenda for our meeting. Onen, Kahnistensera

Fats Domino Ready, sings about being willing and able. “Oh, well, I’m ready. I’m willing and I’m able to rock and roll.  [repeat] Come on pretty baby. We gonna rock. We gonna roll until the broad daylight. Cause I’m ready. I’m willing and I’m able. You better come along with me. We gonna rock and roll til the morning about 3. Talking on the phone is not my kind of speed. Dont send me letters cause I can’t read. Don’t be long cause I’ll be gone cause I’m ready, I’m willing and able to rock and roll ….

O:nen, Kahnistensera

MohawkMothers.ca

Kahnistensera@sunrise.Net

mohawknationnews.com box 991, kahnawake que. canada J0L 1B0

kahentinetha2@protonmail.com

MANIC MASCULINITY?

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Women’s Nomination Belt 

authorizes the women to nominate and guide the male members of their clans and the rotinoshonni Confederacy

MNN. MAR. 12, 2024. Reposted from McGill Tribune 

 

Mason Bramadat

“From hypermasculinity to policy advisor: McGill’s alarming choice for Indigenous oversight

by Concerned McGill Community Members on 

More in Commentary:

In 2022, McGill University began on-site work at the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) site, in service of the New Vic Project. They proposed the expansion project would facilitate “state-of-the-art research”; however, the McGill administration failed to complete a thorough survey of the area and investigate the possibility of unmarked graves from victims of medical experiments and malpractice on the site of the former Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH). The harmful medical and burial practices that took place at the RVH, along with McGill’s involvement with the MK ULTRA experiments, were forms of violence that disproportionately affected Indigenous communities. In Oct. 2022, the Kanien’kéha:ka Kahnistensera (Mohawk Mothers) secured a Quebec Superior Court injunction to ensure a vigilant and culturally sensitive approach to unmarked graves. Taiaiake Alfred’s appointment as McGill’s Senior Policy Advisor in June 2023—which coincided with news of the Historic Human Remains Detection Dogs’ discovery of the scent of potential human remains on the RVH site—prompts scrutiny of the university’s commitment to Indigenous oversight.

Alfred works with the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK), a band council formed under the Indian Act. Attracting very few voters and little support in Kahnawake, the council operates far from the consensus mandated by the Longhouse’s traditional decision-making system. Traditionalists have widely criticized his work on a “new governance project” for the MCK as replacing their ancestral government with band council governance structures imposed by colonial powers. One such criticism is that many workshops associated with this system of leadership did not allow anyone over 35 to attend. Therefore, Alfred’s questionable vision of a new way of governance was shielded from the oversight and criticism of elders and has the potential to mislead younger generations. This problematizes his alignment with colonial structures and indicates concerning implications for Indigenous peoples and perspectives at McGill.

Alfred’s new role at McGill follows his controversial exit from the University of Victoria (UVic) amid accusations of a toxic environment in their Indigenous Governance program.  When //Two Row Times// asked for a response to the allegations, Alfred, who regularly puts forward his U.S. Marine infantry veteran status, said “[I]f you’re asking me if I’m hyper-masculine, well, I’m Mohawk from Kahnawake.” This puzzling assertion raises concerns about his accountability, particularly given the matriarchal nature of Kanien’kéha:ka traditions and that the Kahnistensera are from Kahnawake.

As the Senior Policy Advisor, Alfred’s responsibilities include guiding Indigenous policy development at McGill. But his public history raises serious questions about his ability to represent the interests of Indigenous communities and students. Will Alfred’s appointment only ensure that Indigenous consultation aligns with McGill’s objectives?

Beyond the immediate concerns regarding the New Vic Project, McGill’s track record of sidelining Indigenous voices and resisting court-ordered oversight is abhorrent. Their ongoing defiance against the Kanien’kéha:ka Kahnistensera and their appeal against a court-ordered reinstatement of an archaeological panel reveals the hypocrisy of the administration’s stated dedication to ethical practices and Indigenous rights.

Over the past eight years, the Kahnistensera have engaged in a multi-layered struggle against McGill, the Société québécoise des infrastructures (SQI), and others. Their legal battles, including their landmark injunction in Quebec Superior Court, showcase persistent efforts to protect unmarked graves around the former Royal Victoria Hospital. Despite court orders, McGill and SQI’s actions during archaeological investigations, including the disbanding of an independent expert panel of archaeologists, underscore this process’ lack of integrity.

The New Vic Project uses a destructive and denialist strategy to undermine the stories of survivors who witnessed and suffered the atrocities that occurred at the RVH site. McGill’’s actions suggest a pattern of prioritizing expansion over ethics, and Alfred’s role seems to be an attempt to legitimize disregard for valid Indigenous concerns and shield the university from rightful criticism.McGill must foster meaningful engagement with Indigenous communities on their own terms.   Seeking validation that supports the administration’s opportunist agenda is unacceptable. The university must uphold basic principles of equity, justice, and respect for nature and end its support for toxic, patriarchal behaviours, and extractive practices. Let us seize this opportunity to honour the wisdom of the Great Law of Peace that guides the Mohawk Mothers and the land McGill occupies, and genuinely embark on a journey of reconciliation, unity, and collective well-being.”

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young were right behind Richard Oakes and Jane Fonda when the hippie, peace, love movement started in 1964, based on the great law/kaianerekowa.Tthe hippies wanted to be free like the Indians.
7 - Teach your Children - Crosby, Stills and Nash 1970
box991, kahnawake, que. canada J0L 1B0