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Kateri Memorial Hospital Center (KMHC) Executive Director Lisa Westaway says the Task Force has adopted a model that will help to keep the community safe as they slowly reopen for business. “The model we are putting in place will minimize the risk, but the risk will still be there,” Westaway said.

We have contacted over 50 percent of the Kahnawake Telephone Directory. The results from the Health Check show that seven to eight percent of participants had at least one symptom of Covid-19, that is an improvement from the survery from April.

Among those contacted, the average age is just over 60 years old for those showing the symptoms. The data shows that for those in that age group the risk of developing complications from Covid-19 are significantly higher.

“We have increased our testing significantly as a result of the calls,” Westaway said. “This data will help us as we reopen business. So this data is extremely important.”

The KMHC has been really strict about not allowing any deliveries for patients, but they are loosening up that directive temporarily. “We want to open that up a little bit for Mother’s Day. So on Sunday, May 10th between 10 am and 1 PM, the testing site location will be available for you to drop off items, from your car, for your family members. We will have a team of staff members who will take the items from you and wash it down. But no food will accepted. You could deliver flowers but they have to be from local vendors. They can not come from vendors outside of the community.”  

Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) Grand Chief Joseph Tokwiro Norton appeared via video conference on the Kahnawake 911 live update on Facebook on Wednesday. He delivered a message in Kaniekeha first before speaking about the role of the Covid-19 Task Force as a completely apolitical body.

“If you have an issue that is of a political nature, in reality that should be directed to the council (MCK). You should address the Chiefs with those kinds of questions. We shouldn’t be burdening the Task Force with those questions. They have enough to do. They have enough on their hands. Don’t turn it into a political issue.”

Commissioner of Public Safety Lloyd Phillips, said there was a Task Force meeting that focussed on the economics and they continue to work on a plan for the economic revitalization of the community. “I’m glad to say that the plan is coming together. There are many moving parts. It’s important to have the mechanism in place for the businesses,” Phillips said.

There will be a boil water advisory for Châteauguay and some surrounding communities early next week. Residents will be required to boil their water for at least one minute before consumption as the municipality works on its water system. The work will take place on Monday May 11^th beginning at 8 A.M. The advisory will be in effect for between 24 and 36 hours. It will also affect nearby communities who rely on Chateauguay for their drinking water: Mercier, Sainte-Martine, and sections of Léry, Saint-Isidore and Saint-Urbain.

On the 50^th straight day of Kahnawake 911 live updates on Facebook, the Kahnawake Covid-19 Task Force. Kateri Memorial Hospital Center (KMHC) Executive Director Lisa Westaway says the community Health Check has been going very well. The team has completed 595 calls and so far 369 homes have agreed to participate. “It has led to a significant increase in testing (for Covid-19) of our community members,” Westaway said.

She said the Task Force is working on the plan for businesses reopening in the community. The Kahnawake Economic Revitalization Committee (KERC) will have an update for the Task Force on Monday, May 11.

Westaway said they are working on health standards and providing packages to businesses.  She says it will be a phased in approach to minimize the risk as much as possible. All of the measures that have been put in place will have to continue such as hygiene, hand washing and social distancing once the businesses reopen.

KSCS Clinical Supervisor/Secondary Prevention Rebecca D’Amico provided an update on the Let’s Talk Kahnawake program. Originally launched in July, 2019, it was meant for people to drop in or call in if they just wanted to talk. It was meant for easier accessibility. But when the pandemic began KSCS pivoted and created  simple phone access at 514-235-9607. You can dial in and be directly connected to a counselor if you need to talk. You are not required to give your name. It is available Monday to Thursday between 5PM and 8 PM.  D’Amico said they have simplified the process. There is also a Facebook page at Let’s Talk Kahnawake with more information.  “For a lot of people taking that first step is the most challenging,” she said.

The Peregrine Falcon protected area at the Mercier Bridge in Kahnawake has been busy in the last few days. One of the two eggs that was laid five weeks ago, hatched this morning. Marilou Skelling is the Director of Operations with Falcon Environmental Services (FES). “We installed a camera in a nest box for the Peregrine Falcon two years ago. The camera is always on in the nest so this way we know when the eggs are laid and when they hatch. And we just learned that this morning the first of the two eggs has hatched so we have a baby Falcon in the nest,” Skelling said. FES shared the photos on its Facebook page. “It’s very exciting because I think we have a very precious moment that we can see with the camera. It’s very nice to see that they are doing well. The male is bringing food for the female to feed the babies. It is something very unusual and we are very lucky to see that,” she said.

Skelling says the second egg is expected to hatch within the next 24 hours. FES monitors the nest at the Mercier Bridge, as well as 3 at the Champlain Bridge.

Kahnawake Peacekeeper Chief Dwayne Zacharie appeared on the Kahnawake 911 Facebook live on Monday to remind the community about vehicle safety, especially now that roads on the territory are mostly clear due to the lack of incoming traffic from other communities.

“ATVs (All-Terrain Vehicles) is a huge problem in our community,” Zacharie said. “There are fewer cars on the roads but there has been an increase in the number of side by sides and four wheelers and that’s not permitted on the roads.”

Zachaire also had some tips for keeping children safe as he discussed child injury prevention. “Young children should not be operating these vehicles,” he said. “Children should always wear helmets when riding bicycles. A number of people are cruising around in their cars and that is ok. But if you drive around, please  make your children wear seat belts or strap them in to child safety seats.”

Zacharie says there has been an increase in Kahnawake of those disobeying traffic laws. “We have noticed that with a reduced number of cars on the roads, there has been an increase in vehicles going through stop signs and speeding,” Zacharie said.

Stores in Kahnawake remain closed and under the directives that the Task Force put in to place several weeks ago. This despite the reopening of retail stores in surrounding communities.

“Just because Quebec is doing something doesn’t mean we’re going to do it here in Kahnawake. The Covid-19 Task force makes those determinations, not Quebec.”

Commissioner of Public Safety Lloyd Phillips said they held a Task Force meeting on Monday and are preparing the plans for the gradual reopening of the Kahnawake economy.

“We discussed the next phase of the pandemic, which is maintaining the measures and planning for the economic revitalization plan,” Phillips said.

The Task Force hopes to have those plans ready a week from now.

There was yet another brush fire in Kahnawake, this one occurring last night. Wishe Stacey is a Lieutenant with the Kahnawake Fire Brigade.

He says the call came in right around midnight:

“It was a brush fire along the Seaway road. It wasn’t a large fire initially, when I arrived as the officer in charge, there was approximately 20-foot flames covering an area of about 200-300 square meters. It was in the area of the old shooting range, so thankfully there was a lot of gravel in that area but there’s also a lot of bulrush so the major concerns at the time was because of the winds and the number of embers being thrown off we needed to extinguish the fire fairly quickly.”

Stacey says it took them about 20 minutes to extinguish the blaze with 5 firefighters from the pumper truck.  Stacey says the fire certainly appeared suspicious:

“My initial was that yes this is some intentional set, but I can’t confirm or deny, there was no evidence that we found, but again, my initial impression was that this set.”

Lloyd Phillips, the Director of Public Safety, joined us live on the Morning D today on K1037 and he commented on the fire:

“As you recall last year, we had a series of people lighting fires consistently over a few week period causing a lot havoc in the community and causing a lot stress and anxiety and work for the fire brigade. Certainly, I hope that this is not a repeat, so whoever is doing that, additional surveillance will be done in these areas and I’ll remind them that this is a criminal offence under normal circumstances, but add ‘Covid’ on top of that, if you get caught deliberately setting fires, it’s going to be a serious charge.”

Before the pandemic hit, eight students were just weeks away from completing coursework in Kahnawake’s first local paramedics training program. 

The 1-year Kahnawake Paramedic Program launched last year and was anticipated to address the shortage of paramedics in the community. 

And right now, the Kahnawake Fire Brigade (KFB) is struggling to maintain proper coverage with a very small staff, according to Commissioner of Public Safety, Lloyd Phillips.

In a daily briefing on Saturday, Phillips said he is looking at options to restart the course so that students can get back out into the field. 

“They’re very close, they’re very knowledgable people, some of them work to assist,” said Philips. “But if we would have had just a little while longer, we could have had eight more paramedics in our community, out there serving the community.”

Phillips applauded the work of the KFB paramedics and asked them to hang in a little while longer. “I want to underscore the fact that we do have these other medics who will be coming along hopefully very shortly.”

The vast majority of the parents who have been contacted by the Kahnawake Education Center (KEC) say they will not be sending their children off the territory to the elementary schools when they reopen. About 90 percent of the parents, of the 87 children who attend those schools, have responded.

The Task Force also made it a formal recommendation, that parents keep their kids home in Kahnawake. There will be no bus service provided. So if you decide to send your child to their school off the territory you will have to arrange transportation yourself.

The numbers don’t lie. Just one month ago, on April 1^st, there were 36 total deaths from Covid-19 reported in the province of Quebec. Now that number, one month later, has reached 2020. 10 days there were 1000 deaths.  “The more these numbers keep rising the greater the likelihood that our community will be affected,” Commissioner of Public Security Lloyd Phillips said.

The Task Force adopted a matrix on business in the community in order to begin planning how the economy will work when the measures begin to be relaxed.

They have identified 24 different industries in Kahnawake.

They will weigh the health risk versus the economic impact on reopening those industries. They are looking at many factors including how many people they employ. A group will plot on the matrix and come back to the Task Force next week.

Kateri Memorial Hospital Center (KMHC) Executive Director Lisa Westaway says that day two of the community Health Check saw the numbers more than double from Thursday. “We have made 210 calls over the two days,” Westaway said. “Because of these calls we’ve performed 21 tests. This tells me that many people who have symptoms but don’t want to call. So these calls are working.”

If you don’t have a land line then you can call the KMHC and leave your cell number: 450-638-3930 Ext. 2296 or 2275. You can also send it to healthcheck@kmhc.ca. “We hope to reach most of the community members within the next 10 days or so,” she said.

The annual Jesse Deer Memorial Media Scholarship has its first repeat recipient. Tehosterihens Deer is a 21-year-old studying communications and journalism at Syracuse University. He earned a spot on the honour roll last semester with a 3.7 GPA out of a possible 4.0:

“I’m still shocked, it’s honestly a very prestigious award that commemorates a really wonderful man in the community and I’m just really honoured.”

Deer hopes to come back and work in his field in Kahnawake. He has already spent time writing for the Eastern Door in the past:

“Yes, I do plan to work for the Eastern Door, just hoping that jobs will be available, but if there are no jobs I’ll probably do either freelance or just probably get a small contract with them, because I do love writing, I do love informing the community and it’s a really fun job.”

The scholarship is administered and handed out by a board of directors made up from K1037, The Eastern Door and Ioriwase. 

A deal has been struck between the Wet’suwet’en Hereditary Chiefs and the BC Provincial and Federal Governments. They issued a joint statement yesterday. It reads:

“We welcome the confirmation that the Wet’suwet’en clans have completed their review of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) we reached together on February 29, 2020 to affirm and implement Wet’suwet’en title and rights and have given their support to sign it. We look forward to advancing this important work to implement Wet’suwet’en rights and title as three equal governments.”

It’s a situation that is being followed quite closely by the People of the Longhouse in Kahnawake. Kanentokon Hemlock sits as a community Bear Clan Chief.

“We have been waiting for this statement for some time and we knew that they were in negotiations and that an offer was on the table. And so, seeing that Wet’suwet’en people had agreed to portions of what had been put forward, it’s a substantial victory, but it’s also, at the core level of it, the issue of the land is still there and it’s still a point of contention from what we understand.”

Hemlock says they will continue to support their brothers and sisters in BC.

“From our end we’re going to continue to monitor the situation as it moves forward because we know that the pipeline still remains to be an issue out there, so we’re going to continue to show that support for the Wet’suwet’en people as this issue continues forward.”

The Wet’suwet’en have invited BC Minister Scott Fraser and Crown Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett to sign the MOU on May 14th.