A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
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Dozens of totas from the community found themselves sitting at teeny tiny desks Monday afternoon with their teeny tiny grandchildren who are in the first grade at St. Regis Mohawk School. In honor of Grandparents’ Day, recognized on Sunday, Sept. 12, the first-graders invited their grandparents or other role models into school for fun classroom games and visiting. Some classes played bingo and others sang a pretty song about grandparents. The children were excited to show their new teachers a...
Smokers who purchase their cigarettes from Indian reservation stores around New York State may be able to continue doing so for the time being, if a federal order granted to the Cayugas and Senecas on Aug. 31 is applied to all tribes. On Aug. 30, a state court lifted a previous order that had halted the New York’s plans to force tax collection on cigarettes sold to non-Natives on Native territory beginning Sept 1. The Senecas and Cayugas appealed the decision and won a temporary restraining o...
Buying school supplies can be a burden to many families when fall rolls around and there are sneakers, winter coats and new jeans to purchase for the whole family in addition to school supplies. This fall, 115 Akwesasne students will get a break and all of their school supplies – books, pens, rulers, calculators, etc. – will be purchased for them. Earlier this year, Massena’s Salvation Army contacted Mohawk Vision, owned by Dr. Hillary Pyke, about a lack of response they’d been receivi...
The Akwesasne Freedom School’s annual summer fundraiser was held this past weekend with two days filled with outdoor activities, entertainment and opportunities for the community to donate to the private, Mohawk immersion school. “It went really well,” said Principal/Administrator Aronhaies Herne. “We made a lot of money and we had a lot of people here.” The 2-day event was held at the school’s grounds in Raquette Point with a full agenda of activity geared at both raising money and providing a...
Indian leaders and representatives from around the state met in Rochester last week and again this week to discuss New York State’s plan to enforce tax collection on tobacco sales at on-reservation stores. Previous administrations had opted not to enforce the law, but the state is now looking to address its deficit issues in part by planning to collect millions of dollars in cigarette sales tax at reservation stores. The state plans to enforce the law at the wholesale level, and any major brand tobacco products in Akwesasne after Sept. 1 w...
Motorcyclists from around the North Country showcased their bikes and had a chance at cash prizes Saturday at the Brass Horse Lounge’s Bikers vs. Cancer fundraising event. Just over $5,000 was raised in a day from biker registration, admission donations, vendor registration fees and a few other fundraisers held within the event. The money will be donated to a cancer research organization. More than 50 bikes were registered and divided up by class and model, displayed throughout the Brass Horse e...
The Akwesasne Eagle Watch took their caravan and anti-Oxycontin posters to the Onondaga Nation this past weekend to help their fellow Haudenosaunee community combat drugs and violence like they’ve been doing in Akwesasne since springtime. The Akwesasne guests joined up with members of the Onondaga Nation and marched along one of the nation’s main roads. ““We are sick of the of the drug dealing, the drug using and people coming out here and thinking they can do what ever they want,” Onondaga resident Michelle Jacobs-Thomas said. “We have a lot o...
The A’nowara’ko:wa Arena has been the community’s only sports arena since 1995 and many athletes have walked through the doors as have spectators. In celebration of their 15th anniversary the arena held an end of summer fun day with activities for families. Outside carnival games, cotton candy, bounce houses, and horse rides set the relaxed tone for the event and families made their way around the grounds to explore and take advantage of the free activities. Inside, kids could make friendship br...
The Snye Recreation’s Junior Golf Program wrapped up last week after a summer-long crash course on the game of golf for the community’s up and coming golfers. Part of the golfers’ motivation to learn and practice was based on their knowledge of the tournament they would play with their parents at the end of the program. On Aug. 17, the golfers invited a parent, grandparent, uncle or other golfer in their life to join them as their partner at the Cedar View Golf Course, where the program had b...
An Akwesasne woman convicted of murder and impregnated while in jail has given birth and paternity tests revealed her boyfriend and fellow murderer is the father. Rhonda Amber Dufoe, 25 and Richard “Dickie” Oakes, 39 were arrested in 2008 for the murder of 44-year old Thomas Hathaway, of Helena Road, Akwesasne. Hathaway was found shot to death in his home when police on patrol noticed his house on fire in the early hours of September 3, 2008. Dufoe, who had been transferred to a New York City-area jail gave birth on July 28, 2010. The Fra...
Twenty teams of twenty-two people competed all day Saturday in the Sun Life 1st Annual Cornwall Waterfest Dragon Boat Race. Dragon boats are 22-person canoes dating centuries back to China. The boats are molded with dragon designs and have become a popular tourist-type event in recent years. Two paddlers sit two-per row and one person sits at the dragon’s head to drum a rhythm for synchronization. A helmsman sits at the tail and steers the boat. The dragon boat races were the most widely a...
As of Sept. 1, 2010, New York State will begin enforcing a law to require on-reservation businesses around the state to charge tax on tobacco products sold to non-Native customers. Along with being one of the most controversial laws to affect Natives in recent state history it also comes with requirements and expectations that have left tribes frustrated. The enforcement will fall at the wholesale level – meaning the state will ban wholesalers from delivering major brand tobacco to Akwesasne and other territories unless state tax has already b...
The Akwesasne Family Violence Program has partnered up with the Community Information and Epidemiological Technologies to include Akwesasne in a study on how aboriginal communities can or have reduced domestic violence through personal and community resilience. The study is called “Community-Led Reduction of Domestic Violence in Aboriginal Communities: Rebuilding from Resilience.” A local research team consisting of community-based researchers Peggy Francis-Mitchell, Dolores Thompson, Jen...
Thousands of people from in and around the state of New York will travel to Syracuse in droves next week to attend the New York State Fair. Along with plenty of rides, concerts, games, food and entertainment, the fair also boasts an attraction that has been growing and improving for 85 years: the Iroquois Village. The village, inside the fairgrounds, is the main attraction for many who attend the fair, including hundreds of Haudenosaunee who will go specifically on “Indian Day” to enjoy fre...
The Ronathahonni Cultural Centre invited the community and guests to their annual day of friendship celebration at their grounds on Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island). The day of musical entertainment, cultural displays, food and visiting is a relaxing day for everyone who attends and many return year after year. This year’s Friendship Day activities and entertainment included a canoe race on the St. Lawrence, a hoop dance and theatrical performance by the Hotinoshonni Youth Group, art displays, a d...
According to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe, the First Americans IGA is continuing to lose money. The grocery store - acquired by the tribe in a controversial 2008 multi-million dollar purchase - has failed to meet financial expectations despite a number of changes, including a significant downsize in the overall size of the store. Tribal Council informed tribal members this past Saturday of IGA’s position and said they are going to begin a consultation process with the community to decide what the future of the store is. “Those options will be...
The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited announced this week that they’ll be moving ahead with plans to build a low-level bridge over the St. Lawrence River connecting the city of Cornwall to the island of Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island). The current 48-year-old high-level bridge will eventually be demolished. The project had been on hold while the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and Canada Border Services Agency have yet to resolve the bridge and border issue that began in May of 2009 and resulted in a...
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council said they need more time to learn about an electric utility company before they can move forward with plans to develop one in Akwesasne. Council announced at Saturday’s monthly tribal meeting that they’re shelving the idea for now, despite years of research and more than $600,000 spent. Chief Mark Garrow said that while the project is a positive one, there are other priorities at the tribe. “The tribe is currently not proceeding with this project and has stopped work until Tribal Council can be familiarized w...
The Akwesasne Eagle Watch anti-Oxy group moved into action this past spring to do all that’s in their power to stop drug dealers from continuing to illegally sell prescription pills, specifically Oxycontin/Oxycodone which is proven to be one of the mostly highly addictive drugs available when abused. Last week the group hung a sign in the village of Kana:takon (St. Regis) that stated “Notice to Drug Dealers: 1st Warning!” The sign was destroyed by morning. The Akwesasne Eagle Watch held a vigil...
While their younger siblings joined summer programs this year that focused on games and fun, the teenagers of the household had the opportunity to join the Akwesasne Child & Family Service’s 2-week program just for teens. While many of their activities are fun as well, the program offers a number of activities focused on teaching teens valuable life skills, like cooking. “I had nothing else to do and I thought this would be fun,” said teen participant Katsitsaroroks Mitchell. “And it is fun.” M...
A family of Oneidas living in Oneida, Ontario - an Oneida settlement past London - recently decided to look back to the land for sustainability and are now expecting 13 acres of tobacco plants to be ready soon. It’s the first time in decades that the Oneidas there have planted such a large crop and they are hoping to see other Native communities look at similar projects. Alec Elijah, a Native of Oneida, Ontario, has lived in Akwesasne for years and is married to Angela (Swamp) Elijah. T...
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe hosted its annual Wellness Fair this past weekend, providing a place for all community members to learn more about local services and receive an abundance of free merchandise and information. The tribe experiments with different locations for the event and this year it was hosted by the Mohawk International Raceway in Frogtown. Vendors from a variety of organizations and both tribal and non-tribal agencies set up booths at the event and welcomed the crowds of visitors...
The Canada Border Services Agency is considering other options more so than the option to return to their abandoned Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island) port, according to the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder. CBSA spokesperson Sabrina Mehes told the newspaper that they are “focused on options other than the island.” The other three options are to build a permanent port in Cornwall, move to the U.S. side adjacent to the U.S. Customs facility, or to close the port all together. For Akwesasne community members, there are issues with all options. When the...
The aftermath was ugly, but Saturday was a night to remember for thousands who attended the George Thorogood & the Destroyers concert at the Akwesasne Concert Grounds in Frogtown. With great warm up acts and familiar faces all around, fans of the “Bad to the Bone” artist were energized and on their feet by the time he hit the stage. The next day, Jacobs Tobacco Company staff and crew had the difficult task of cleaning up the remnants of a great night. The evening’s entertainment began with a smo...
The Akwesasne Eagle Watch remained committed this week to their efforts to combat prescription pill addiction in the community. Through community meetings and discussions, the group has heard countless stories from community members about the toll drug abuse is taking particularly on the youth. The group is focused and growing, and becoming more aggressive in their approach. Last Friday evening, the group stood in the middle of St. Regis Road south of Johnson Road and asked drivers coming to...
