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The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) is taking steps to return to a form of traditional government in the community.

The Council of Chiefs has directed the Governance Project to engage with Kahnawa’kehró:non on the issue. This follows the 1979 Mandate to restore traditional governance in Kahnawà:ke, and the 1982 Mohawk Council Resolution to re-establish traditional governance, the MCK approved the third phase of the project.

“Trying to carry this out at what we always refer to as more of an arms length type of project so that there’s as much impartiality and neutrality to the way that it’s conducted and the engagement that takes place with the community,” said Ietsénhaienhs Tonya Perron who is on the Governance portfolio at the MCK. “Very exciting. Long overdue and definitely hoping for a lot of participation from the community in creating this path forward for the restoration of the traditional governance in  Kahnawà:ke.”

This phase of the project will start immediately and continue through June of 2024. Gerald Taiaiake Alfred will continue in his role as manager of the MCK Governance Project.

The current State of Recovery for the COVID-19 pandemic has been extended by The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke for a thirty (30) day period from November 19^th to December 18^th. The Executive Directive was passed by consensus at yesterday’s duly-convened Council meeting.

Until the community is in a state of normalcy, the State of Recovery will be reviewed every thirty days, and renewed as needed based on the Kahnawà:ke Emergency Preparedness Law. The Public Safety Commission will maintain authority and continue working together with Kahnawà:ke Public Health in monitoring risk, the impacts of reopening phases on community health and well-being, and the overall state of the pandemic.

The Moderna vaccine booster shots will begin on Wednesday in Kahnawake for those 70 years of age and older. It applies only to those who received their second dose at least 6 months ago.  Appointments must be made by going on-line www.kmhc.ca/covidclinic or by calling the Kateri Memorial Hospital Centre 450-638-3930 Ext. 2295.  The clinics for Moderna are:

• Wednesday 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Friday 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, November 23  1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, November 24  1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.  The Pfizer vaccine boosters begin today.  All vaccination clinics are being held at the Knights of Columbus.

Iakowennaiewas Falen Jacobs has been appointed as the Associate Director of Education at the Kahnawake Education Centre (KEC). She will begin the job in the new year. Jacobs is currently serving as the interim Principal at Karonhianonhnha School and will stay on in that job as Lauren Jacco returns from maternity leave on December 6th.

“It really has been a dream of mine since I was a young girl to be able to give back to our community especially in an educational leadership capacity,” Jacobs told K1037 News. “I’ve been actively seeking out opportunities and experiences over the last few years in order to foster that goal.”

Jacobs has been involved in the education system on various levels for 16 years. She is currently also enrolled in McGill University’s educational leadership program,  certificate 1.

“Falen comes to the KEC in this position with a vast amount of expertise and experience in areas that covers all areas in education from teaching assistant, to a teacher, to a resource teacher, and now she’s currently in a combined role as associate principal and principal. Those are all definitely key positions in our education system.”

Vaccination for 3^rd doses, booster shots for Covid-19, will start tomorrow in Kahnàwake. Lisa Westaway is the Executive Director for the Kateri Memorial Hospital Center:

“We are now, starting tomorrow, able to vaccinate with booster shots, people who are 70 years of age or older.”

You must have a 6-month interval between your 2^nd and 3^rd dose and have received either Pfizer or Astra Zeneca for at least 1 of the 2 doses. Westaway saying that the different vaccines will be done on different dates to avoid confusion:

“We just don’t like to mix giving this, the vaccines, on the same day because they are administered differently with different dosages depending on the type of vaccine and we don’t want to cause any confusion for the nurses or the potential risk of making an error. So we’ve released a date for Pfizer to start and Moderna’s dates will be coming shortly.”

Appointments can be booked by calling: 450-638-3930 ext. 2295. You must bring your paper or electronic proof of vaccination with you, if you have one. When the third (3^rd) doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are made available, the KMHC will update the community.

A Gold medal sweep for Team Haudenosaunee at the International Indoor Junior Lacrosse (IIJL) World Championship three-team tournament in Massena, NY. U-17 Haudenosaunee take Gold after beating Canada 14-10. Kaymen Diabo of Kahnawake with a goal in the win on Sunday. The day before the attack man had five goals to lead the Champlain Lennoxville Cougars to a 15-3 win over John Abbott College in the U-18  RSEQ CEGEP league field finals.

“It feels amazing,” said Diabo. “It was a lot of fun, that’s the most important part. Just playing with a great group of guys, on both teams, for school and Team Haudenosaunee, is amazing.”

Kaymen’s father, Kirby Joe Diabo was an assistant coach for the U-15 Team Haudenosaunee. They beat the Americans 16-8 in yesterday’s gold medal game. Darris Jones, Shako Rice, Shatekaienthon Van Dommelen, and Chaz Norton, all of Kahnawake part of the winning squad. Head coach Al Jones, one of his assistants was Kirby Joe Diabo.

“It’s awesome,” Kirby Joe said. “I was honoured to be part that team. We had a great coaching staff: Al Jones Head Coach, Garrett Cree and Cam Hill. They did an awesome job. We had a great bunch of kids. They did awesome.”

A reminder that work to dismantle painting and sandblasting equipment will require the complete closure of the R-132/R-138 west service road under the Mercier Bridge on Monday, November 15^th, from 5am to 4pm. A local detour via Depot Road and the CP Tunnel is in place for passenger vehicles. Trucks will be detoured via the Montreal-bound Mercier Bridge via Clément and R-138 west/ Kahnawà:ke Mercier bridge.

MCK Ratitsénhaienhs are in the process of gauging community members opinions through community engagement, inviting Kahnawa’kehró:non to share their concerns and feedback regarding the remains of Father Leon Lajoie. The second of those 2 engagement sessions will be held at the Kahnawà:ke Moose Lodge tomorrow, Saturday, November 13th, between 11am and 2pm. Social distancing, masking and hand washing protocols will be in place and observed for the get-together.

In the interests of transparency and in order to assist in the discussions, the MCK has made a timeline of events available on-line detailing the issue from the date of the original decision to present day and is available at: www.kahnawake.com/timeline.

A notice has been published for anyone who is being asked to re-submit their Indian Day School claims. Those Kahnawa’kehró:non who have received letters from Deloitte advising that their Indian Day School (IDS) Settlement applications have missing information or if you have received a Reconsideration letter, you can receive assistance from Kahnawà:ke’s IDS Coordinator, Louise Mayo. According to Deloitte, over 90% of claims exceeding estimated timelines for settlement are due to errors on the claim form that need to be rectified and Ms. Mayo will be able to assist with navigating the requests for information and resubmissions. As of November 3^rd, on the Deloitte website, it is posted that there are over 10,000 claims requiring additional information. A claim that has been submitted twice slows down the process as Deloitte must cross-reference the forms to ensure they are, in fact, the same.

If you have not yet submitted your claim or are still in the process of submitting it, you can contact the IDS Coordinator at 514-793-0662 or via email at: louise.mayo@mck.ca.

The Mercier Bridge will be affected by a ramp closure this coming weekend. The Jacques Cartier Champlain Bridge (JCCBI) authority says the High 132 up ramp in Kahnawake, from La Prairie to Montreal will be completely closed From Sunday at 8 p.m., until Monday 5 a.m. In a release JCCBI says it is for inspection work.