Theft and Vandalism
Written by Jeremy Zafran on 27 February 2024
An unfortunate incident involving people taking advantage of free food. Ashley Ross is a Volunteer at the Mohawk Cree Teepee Iah Teiokaraien. She says they prepare meals each Friday and Saturday for upwards of 200 community members in need:
“We were just informed that there were community members were coming to the ‘Free Food for Everyone’ and picking up food and that it was being sold to people and elders in the community. We are very disappointed because we wanted to have more of an open approach like how traditional people and native people used to welcome people and share and come into a base or a home and be able to give what they’ve had. So we kind of just left the door open for people to come when they needed it.”
Instead, now they say they may begin instituting hours and locking the doors. The owner of Camila and Co. restaurant in Kahnawake has spent the last couple of days cleaning up and making repairs after a break-in and serious vandalism on Saturday night. Lisa Williams is the restaurant owner. She says she locked up the shop on the 138 not far from the Chateauguay border. Then Sunday morning the Peacekeepers called her:
“So we got a call, somebody noticed that our door was open, so they went to get check it out and all of our windows were busted out. And I was like, ‘what, seriously.’ So, they were like yeah, we have officers on scene and they’re checking it our, So, I got there and I just checked everything out and I was like wow, this is vandalism, this is damage. They were not going there to rob me, because my machines were still there, the cash register was still there, they didn’t try and take it. I just didn’t understand why, because I’m a very easy going person, I don’t have issues with anybody.”
Williams says she has been in business for about 3 years. She moved to the location on the 138 last August. She estimates the cost of repairs to be in the neighborhood of $8000 dollars. Help from She says she is moving forward and hopes to reopen sometime this week. Part of her plan is to install bars on the windows and security cameras as a deterrent.
