Grand Chief Recovering From Medical Procedure
Written by Paul Graif on 18 June 2020
Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke Grand Chief Joe Norton is on leave after having undergone an undisclosed medical procedure. He has directed Chief Gina Deer to handle intake and management of the Office of the Grand Chief on an interim basis. “He’s doing well,” Deer said. “He said everything went well. He contacted the office after everything was done so we are confident that things are going good.”
Deer expressed her wishes that the 70-year old Grand Chief has a speedy recovery. But she says it shouldn’t affect the business at Council for the undetermined period that Norton is away for. “We are looking to have things in place in the event it takes a few weeks,” Deer said. “At this point it’s just a wait and see, I guess. I’m accustomed to stepping in for Joe because we work on a lot of the files together. I’ve done this in the past for him and all of Council pulls together as a team when needed and that’s what we’ll do here.”
In the event that the Grand Chief is out for several weeks it was necessary to make the decision to have Chief Deer take on the tasks of the office for now.
