A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
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At the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne’s next general meeting (Oct. 21), Kana:takon District Chief Larry King will be presenting information to the community about a ferry project MCA is considering and currently seeking funding for. The multi-million dollar project is in predevelopment status but models have been drawn and a pre-feasibility study was conducted by a Quebec company which indicated the project is feasible. Chief King said it’s going to come down to what the community wants. “I think it’s a matter of getting what we call ‘marchi...
Three years ago, Randall “Mann” Jacobs’ kidneys failed as a complication of Diabetes II. Every second day since then he’s had to visit a kidney dialysis center (in Massena and Ogdensburg) for regular dialysis treatments to do the job his kidneys once did. Those who have also suffered the loss of their kidney functioning or who have had a close relative experience it know the hardship and stress it can cause, and being required to visit a dialysis center several times a week can be a burden....
Dozens of families attended a reading event Thursday evening that brought millions of children and their parents onto the same page - literally - across the world. The Read for the Record event, hosted locally by Learn and Bloom and the St. Regis Recreation, brings people together at different locations around the globe to read the same book at the same time to break reading records. “Our goal is to promote early literacy and provide an evening of family fun and togetherness,” said Ste...
Tara Jacobs Tarbell has spent years playing with the idea of opening a spa - after having a hair salon with her sister Tisha for many years through the 90s. She put her business ideas and ambitions on the back burner in order to home-school her two children, Rhoades and Mya, for the past eight years. Now that they’re older and in public school she has had time to put her mind to opening Indigenous Spa inside her beautiful home on Library Road. “I’m going back to my roots,” Tarbell said. Tarbell...
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police held a meet and greet event last Thursday evening to celebrate the addition of several new police officers to the force. The new police are Taylor Smoke, Glen Hill, Wahiio Jacobs and Ted Cook Jr. The ceremony also included the formal introduction of Kristen Jacobs, who joined the Tribal PD two years ago. “Being a police officer in a tribal community, especially a small community, is not an easy job,” said David Staddon, the SRMT’s director of public infor...
Nearly a hundred people packed into Cornwall’s provincial courthouse last Thursday, Sept.30, to hear the long-awaited-for verdict in a trial against two Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service officers. Sgt. Kenneth “Kuy” Chaussi and Cst. Michael Biron were criminally charged following a 2008 police pursuit that ended when the suspect vehicle crashed into a car carrying an innocent elderly couple. The couple as well as the suspect died at the scene. During Judge Charles Anderson’s reading of his decision, the accused remained somber as did the rest of...
In recognition of Disabilities Awareness Month (October) Indian Time will be featuring articles on community members in Akwesasne who have a disability they’d like readers to better understand. Our first featured community member is Aaron Jock, who has Down syndrome. Jock is 34-years-old and a well known man in Akwesasne. He is active in many programs and events and lives a life that he and everyone who knows him thinks is completely normal. Down syndrome develops in a fetus when there is an e...
Salmon River Central junior and senior high students returned to school this fall to a few new faces in administration. Alison Benedict, the school’s 7th grade English teacher until last year, was hired as the new assistant principal for the junior/senior high in a school board vote on Aug. 9, 2010. For years at Salmon River the principal oversaw the school’s high school grades, 9-12, while the assistant principal oversaw middle school - grades 7 and 8 - and was therefore considered the “middle...
The 3rd Annual Seven Miles for Seven Generations Walk/Bike/Run brought together more than a hundred Akwesasne community members Saturday to battle Type 2 Diabetes together. Participants gathered pledges or made personally monetary donations to support diabetes research and care while others participated for their own personal health and diabetes prevention, and also to raise community awareness about the disease. The event was organized by the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s Let’s Get Healthy Pro...
The Jacobs Tobacco Company organized and hosted the 3rd Annual Scavenger Hunt for Charity this past month with 15 teams of three people competing for a week in fun, challenging, hilarious and mind-boggling events for a chance at winning cash prizes for themselves as well as a charity of their choice. Teams met at the JTC facility in Frogtown on Friday, Sept. 17, to receive their instructions packet. Then the challenge was on for each team to complete all the tasks (such as have their photo...
Akwesasne-native Dan White has been practicing portraiture painting for the past ten years and he recently been exploring the art world and all it has to offer. A recent portraiture he completed of the famous Chief Joseph photograph was accepted into the Frederic Remington Art Museum’s New York Juried Art Show in Ogdensburg. White is excited about having his work seen and judged and will find out when the show ends in January if his piece wins any prizes. He said there are many nice pieces in t...
One of Canada’s most beloved children’s books, “Love You, Forever” by Canadian author Robert Munsch, was translated into many Native languages several years ago and became a symbol of language preservation efforts within the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The Ahkwesahsne Mohawk Board of Education’s Kanienkeha Specialist Margaret Peters oversaw the book’s translation into Mohawk and it was a hit in Akwesasne. Now, Peters is even more excited that AMBE had produced a new version of the book that i...
New York State’s plan to impose taxation on tobacco sold on reservations has been delayed once again. On Sept. 15, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe filed a restraining order with the U.S. District Court to prevent the state from enforcing its controversial law to force Indian tobacco retailers to charge tax on major brand cigarettes sold to non-Natives. On Sept. 16, U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn granted the request for a restraining order and ordered the state to refrain from enforcing the taxation law until Oct. 1. In light of recent court filin...
The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne recently learned that the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Bruce Power, a Canadian nuclear generation company, are in discussions to have 16 radioactive steam generators sent to Sweden via the St. Lawrence River. The controversial materials would begin their transit at Owen Sound, through the Great Lakes and up the St. Lawrence River where they would pass through Akwesasne waters before continuing east toward Europe. However MCA said they have not been consulted and will not give permission for harmful...
In a ceremony attended by hundreds of Akwesasronon, a 200-year-old wampum belt was returned to Akwesasne after being in the possession of the New York State Museum until a few months ago. It’s been kept in a bank vault awaiting last week’s ceremony. The Wolf Belt signifies friendship and unity, but it has been interpreted in different ways by various scholars. Only the belt’s purple and white beads know it’s original purpose, but Akwesasne people are embracing it as a symbol of the communi...
A new restaurant on Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island) is providing a homey lunch option for islanders who don’t want to cross a bridge and report to Customs just for a quick lunch. Patina is a one lunch special a day eatery that opened two weeks ago in the childhood home of its owner, Luz Benedict, near the abandoned toll booth. Benedict attended culinary classes in Ottawa and said it is her love of cooking that’s inspired her to open Patina. She prepares each meal for the day, usually deciding jus...
The Mohawk Healthy Heart Project is reaching out to the community to teach people healthier ways of eating and preparing food. Earlier this month the program offered two classes aimed at getting people on the right track and into the older, less processed and healthier ways of cooking. The first class held was a canning workshop in which fresh spaghetti sauce was jarred up for storage. The process gives families the opportunity to eat unprocessed food all winter long. The second class was a...
A unique service is being offered to Akwesasne and the surrounding communities by a Mohawk woman with a natural touch and a love of home improvement. Alexandra David has started a private business called Better Your Home Design. David said she has always loved decorating and reorganizing her home and recently decided to dive right into making it a business. She studied some home interior courses through schools in Ottawa and Toronto and is now licensed for interior decorating, interior...
The Peterborough Lakers Senior A Lacrosse team had a long, hard season pay off this past weekend when they captured the league’s Mann Cup Championship – the highest prize for the league and its dedicated players. Akwesasne’s Mike Thompson was in nets during the series and when they defeated the New Westminster Salmonbellies on Sept. 17 to capture the cup, the team had Thompson accept it. “The whole experience was something I’ve wondered about for the past 8 years since I’ve been playing Sen...
Peter Back Sr. has been doing some traveling around the state lately and he can now proudly proclaim to be New York State’s Senior Horseshoe Champion, as well as New York State’s Doubles Champion (any age.) On Sept. 3, Back celebrated his 77th birthday by traveling to Waterloo, NY where he competed amongst and against other horseshoes players from the around the state and showed he is a true competitor. He came home with the first place trophy, which he won three times in the past as well. Thi...
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council announced Saturday at their monthly meeting that a random compliance check conducted on Sept. 9 at the All Inn Poker Room on Route 37 revealed the business to be in possession of electronic gaming machines. Tribal Council said that the All Inn Lounge is violating federal law. On Sept. 13. St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police arrested Anthony Laughing Jr. for his alleged involvement in operating the illegal poker room. He was charged promoting gambling and possession of a gambling device, both misdemeanors. The All...
Feathers, jingles, moccasins, drummers, hand-made crafts and food were just a few sights for powwow-goers who walked through the grounds of the Akwesasne International Powwow this past weekend. The community was also celebrating the 10th anniversary of the powwow that has brought countless guests from far and wide to the A’nowara’kowa Arena on Kawehno:ke (Cornwall Island), where it has been held every year since 2000. “We hear often enough that we have a great location, next to the St. Lawre...
Two men charged for the murders of Peter Benedict and Jade Benedict in 2005 have been convicted of their crimes. Jason Maestrello, 34 and Michael Boyle, 36 both of Sudbury, Ontario were charged for their roles in arranging a fake drug deal with the two Benedicts in order to rob them of $160,000. The Benedict men were both shot to death at the meeting spot they had arranged. The bodies were found in an isolated parking lot in the city of Cornwall early on July 16, 2005. That same day, a third victim, Andy Paul, was found bleeding of a gunshot wo...
The Akwesasne Mohawk Casino announced this week that they are now allowing minors inside the facility during certain hours as part of their family dining plan. Beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010, guests under the age of 18 can visit the casino but will be required to stay on specially colored carpeting connecting three of the casino’s four dining areas - the Native Harvest Buffet, Rapids Food Court and Sticks Sports Bar. Due to alcohol sales at the Maple Room Steakhouse, minors will not be permitted there. However, the change in casino p...
On Sept 13, a state appellate court ruled that New York State’s enforcement of a cigarette tax law could move forward despite being stalled as a result of a federal lawsuit filed by the Seneca and Cayuga nations. While that case is still in federal court, the state court has lifted its temporary stay, allowing the law to move forward. The Senecas and Cayugas will continue to be exempt from the law’s enforcement until Sept. 28. The cigarette tax law requires stores on tribal lands in New York to charge state tax on major brand tobacco sold to...
