Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

December 2, 2014

Mohawk Nation News 'Stir the Mind'

STIR THE MIND

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MNN. Dec. 2, 2014. The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake is calling for a one-day community consultation on the supposed loss of the Seigneury of Sault St. Louis SSSL by the Mohawks of Kahnawake. It was not lost. We always knew where it was! We are not the intruders. Yet we are being asked if we want to stay on our homeland. To ask that question means they know it’s ours. Discussion is being restricted to accepting the loss of our lands, whether it’s possible for its return and will we be removed.
Deganawida calls the people together for a meeting of the minds.
Deganawida calls the people together for a meeting of the minds.
These remarks are those of elders who are of like minds, based on our teachings before the coming of the colonizers.
The band council framed the question as though we are accepting the loss of our land. It can’t be returned to us, as it’s already ours. We can’t give up something that belongs to our children. it’s our duty and responsibility to protect the birthright of our children for their free use and right to our homeland.
This international issue must include all Rotinoshonni. SSSL is part of Kanienkehaka, “people of the flint”, which is part of the Rotinoshonni/Iroquois Confederacy, the 49 families of the Confederacy and our friends and allies. The entire area is Kanienkeh. All of our brothers and sisters should be reminded that our lands are not for sale. We continue to adhere to those teachings.
The issue is the illegitimate occupation of non-Ongwehonwe communities on 45,000 acres of a small portion of our massive land tract. The Canadian government is responsible for the centuries of use of our land and resources, disrupting our way of life and the existing problems we have had to endure. How can the non-Ongwehonwe make this up to us? Are those who wish to remain going to cooperate with us? Do the occupiers want to stay or leave? Do they want to live under a council of our People?
Do they wish to follow our law and live in peace with the Ongwehonwe or not? Those settlers who wish to remain must live according to the Kaianerehkowa. Those who do not must vacate and reside among those of like minds. The MCK, an arm of Quebec and Canada, may join us or leave with those who don’t want to comply.
The “legal fiction” is that in 1680 French King Louis XIV gave our land to the Jesuits. In 1762 General Gage of the British military dispossessed them and affirmed the land is that of the Iroquois, their friends and allies.
On October 25, 1924, the colony of Canada illegally turned Kahnawake into a POW camp. Now they want to relocate us. We are here to stay! The settlers who are on the Seigneury will compensate us as they did before the genocidal event of 1924.
The whole economy of US and Canada is based on them continuing the lie that our land can be monetized. As soon as we agree to this fraud, the bankers win. This meeting is meant to put a dollar value on our land. We refuse to participate in this illegal scam.
We are here to stir up your minds. As Charlie Pride says: “Oh, the snakes crawl at night. That’s what they say. When the sun goes down, then the snakes will play”.
MNN Mohawk Nation News kahentinetha2@yahoo.com For more news, books, workshops, to donate and sign up for MNN newsletters, go towww.mohawknationnews.com  More stories at MNN Archives.  Address:  Box 991, Kahnawake [Quebec, Canada] J0L thahoketoteh@hotmail.com for original Mohawk music visit thahoketoteh.ws

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