Category: Featured

The Kahnawà:ke Legislative Commission wishes to inform the community that the Feedback Report for the Regulation Respecting Requests for Eviction has been reviewed and analyzed and is now available for viewing. The feedback was compiled during the 30-day review period of the draft regulation that took place from November 30^th, 2023, to January 10^th, 2024. It was then extended again through February 2^nd.

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK), the Kahnawà:ke Environment Protection Office (KEPO), and Environmental Health Services (EHS) are holding an information session Monday night on the Industrial Oil spill. They have invited those who live on Zachary Road and all others who may be affected to the Kahnawà:ke Legion Branch 219 from 6-9 pm. If you are experiencing any issues call: EHS at 450-635-9945 regarding home water and air quality, and KEPO at 450-635-0600 for Environmental concerns on public or private lands.

The amendments to the Kahnawake election law were passed last night at the Moose Lodge. Only 1 law remains on the backburner, that’s the Blood Quantum” 50% law. With roughly 15 community members present for the meeting, AJ Rice, the MCK’s Executive Operations Officer was a guest on Tetewatharen the Party Line talk show on K1037 today on the election law:

“What happens, it goes through the KLC and they accept any amendments for any law, it’s open for them, for community members for proponents of the law. So that ‘s what happened yesterday, a lot of the recommendations had come from the actual people who are carrying out the process of the elections. Whether that be the Office of the Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawake Law (KKR), the Executive Offices, the owner of the law, because it can’t be owned by the Council. We took all of the proposed amendments, I believe there were 42, a lot of them were changes to language or changes to allow for more time to have the election run smoother, but some of the major changes that we had and we spoke about at the election law, one of the main ones was actually changing the terminology from English words to Kanien’kéha.”

On what AJ appreciated from the meeting:

“Something that I took from last night’s (Wednesday) meeting, is the benefit of hearing from other community members about the different parts of the law that they would like to see changed, even if it wasn’t within the scope of doing last night, it’s the project that’s going to be on-going and it shows that we do need to have our laws go through a thorough process.”

A major water main break in Kahnawake Thursday morning. The main line on Route-132 across from Kahnawake Survival School (KSS) has been out since about 3:30 in the morning according to Kahnawake Public Works. Public Works has a repair crew working on the issue. They say it will take several hours to complete the repairs. KSS does not have water and is closed today. The building is open until 10 a.m. for staff to pick up work items.

The Blackfoot Confederacy visited Kahnawà:ke yesterday. The intention was  to further develop the relationship that was initiated last October when the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke/Iroquois Caucus and the Blackfoot Confederacy signed an Alliance that saw agreements where both parties would work collectively on issues of common interest, such as border crossing. Ietsénhaienhs Jessica Lazare on who was at the meeting and its purpose:

“The meeting yesterday (Tuesday) with The Blackfoot Confederacy was with the Directors that are employed by the Confederacy, Dennis Diabo has been leading on the relationship so far, stemming from the Iroquois Caucus and this was essentially a ‘prep-meeting’ for us until The Chiefs of The Blackfoot Confederacy come down in May to meet with us.”

Lazare in the importance of the gatherings:

“During an Iroquois Caucus that took place in Kahnawà:ke a representative from The Blackfoot Confederacy had come to the meeting and introduced themselves and introduced the idea that The Blackfoot Confederacy wanted a relationship with the Iroquois Caucus and we were agreeable to that.”

Agenda items for the meeting included:

• An overview of the MCK Portfolio structure
• An overview of Blackfoot Confederacy structure and roles
• The Iroquois Caucus/Harvest Working Group
• Discussions on the Jay Treaty Border Alliance
• And, the ‘White/Montour’ Case

The Kahnawake Education Center has unveiled their ‘SafeArrival,’ part of the School Messenger app that is being implemented KEC-wide. The opt-in notifications will be an integral part of KEC’s ability to communicate with parents regarding absences, emergencies and school closures. Darlene Roberts Communications Supervisor at the KEC on how the system will work:

“It’s just an app that we are working with School Messenger on that’s going to provide a convenient method for parents to communicate with the the school. So, if I have a child who goes to 1 of our three schools, who are going to be absent for whatever reason, there’s a drop-down box, you would download the app on Apple or Google and when you go in, you can log-in and create an absence report saying that ‘my child is going to be absent’ all day, part of the day, whatever, for 2 days or something like that and you can say ‘why.’ So, if they’re ill, if you have bereavement, if there’s a traditional day, if they’re going to the Longhouse, let’s say. It’s something that generates an automatic report rather than the person call the school, have to wait to speak with the receptionist.”

Roberts saying this convenient notification set-up will be launched soon:

“We’re going to be rolling it out, it’s not live yet. So, we’re asking parents to just opt-in and we will be giving them more information as well as a video on how to use the app. That’s going to be coming soon and we are going to advise people exactly when we will be going live, so we’ll keep you posted on that.”

The Kahnawake Peacekeepers executed a search warrant at a business in Kahnawake on the Old Chateauguay Road this morning. It was part of an operation led by the Montreal Police. They executed warrants at the same time in Montreal and Beuaharnois as they searched for illegal firearms. The Peacekeepers saying in a release that they did not seize any firearms at the business in Kahnawake when they searched it at 5 a.m.

There is a Boil Water Advisory in effect for Tioweró:ton. According to a release from the Lands Unit at the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK), there is an issue with the Well at the main entrance. A work crew will be on site on Thursday to try and repair the issue. In the meantime, it is advised to boil the water for five (5) minutes, at a full boil, if being used for consumption purposes. For further information, call the Lands Unit at 450-638-8244.

The Mercier Bridge was scheduled to be down to one lane in each direction from 5 am to 9 pm both Saturday and Sunday. The MTQ this afternoon announcing due to possible inclement weather that the Saturday closure is now cancelled, but remains in place for Sunday. Meanwhile, the ramp towards the 20 east and downtown will be closed all weekend beginning at 11:59 tonight until 5 am Monday morning.