A Voice from the Eastern Door
A Voice from the Eastern Door
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By Mary Annette Pember. Reprinted with permission from Indian Country Today. Native Americans have always known they are "something else." Something else as in extraordinary. Something else as in a force to be reckoned with. And something else that's often missed as being part of the national conversation. CNN's Election Day poll of voters' ethnicities and its "Something Else" designation - is just the latest version of a longer story. CNN listed voter ethnicities as White, Black, Latino and...
All schools in Franklin County will shift to fully remote learning through Jan. 4. Franklin County Public Health officials strongly recommended making this change because COVID-19 infection numbers have risen exponentially in the last week, calling it an epidemic within a pandemic. The county has reached a point of community spread, meaning officials aren’t able to identify where every case comes from. In a Monday morning video call, health department leaders asked for help containing the virus from superintendents of each of the seven s...
"If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." Mother Teresa. Jessica Shenandoah intends to do just that. Shenandoah has been busy organizing, gathering, preparing, and packing Elder Care Packages. Each package will include locally grown, whole and organic foods, dried medicine and salves, and home canned foods. She worked on a similar project in early fall with summer interns using harvested food from Mohawk Council of Akwesasne Kaienthohsera Initiative/Garden Project. The Garden...
Democratic nominee Joe Biden has prevailed over incumbent President Donald Trump, winning 279 electoral votes over Donald Trumps 214 electoral votes. Joe Biden ushered in his win with a call for unity as he emerged victorious from the often fierce, long and drawn out battle for the White House. In his victory speech Biden declared “this is the time to heal in America” after four tumultuous years of Donald Trump’s presidency. Trump’s lies, false statements, racist rhetoric, narcissistic and xenophobic rants were and continue to fill the airways...
Audrey I. Ransom, 80, a longtime resident of Ransom Lane, Racquette Point, passed away Sunday evening, November 8, 2020 at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital after a brief illness. Audrey was born on October 27, 1940 in Cornwall, the daughter of late William G. and Minnie (Skidders) Oakes. She first attended schools in Kanatakon before graduating from high school in Cornwall. Audrey continued her education in Ottawa, achieving her nursing degree from Ottawa Civic Hospital Nursing Program. In... Full story
Rusty willows whisp thru early breezes As they greet the golden glow of the morning sun Blanketed by peachy-pink and pale-yellow skies Beneath illuminated rainbows Thy heart radiates gratitude Warmth and love As thy child nurses at thy breast Tears mirror rains Gentle mid fall gifts The calmness of thy neighbor’s horses As they nourish upon the grasses Life & beauty upon Mother Earths gardens The birds chirp & sing Niawen:kowa I join in... In the grace of creation. - herbi m. francis-tatro...
November 10, 2020. AKWESASNE. The Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe's Emergency Operations Center announced that no new active cases have been reported today - keeping the total number of positive cases at 20 under the Tribe's jurisdiction. No new cases are a much-needed relief from the outbreak the community has seen in the past week, but community members are asked to remain vigilant, as there remains a high-risk of ongoing community transmissions. There are still twenty (20) total positive cases in...
By Mary Lafrance As the holiday season is fast approaching and with COVID-19 firmly on all our minds it begs the question, how can I continue to enjoy the holidays while keeping my family safe? One thing that makes us all feel good is when we find the perfect gift for someone and it supports a good cause. Shopping local is a great way to find those unique gifts for your family and every purchase goes to support the local economy, small business owners in your community and their families. Here...
By Dalton Walker. Reprinted with permission from Indian Country Today Thirteen Natives from eight states were vying for 11 House seats Tuesday. Six won their races, meaning the next U.S. House will have a record number of voting Native members. Among the familiar faces in Indian Country who will be returning to office: Rep. Deb Haaland, Laguna and Jemez Pueblo, and Rep. Sharice Davids, Ho-Chunk, the first two Native women elected to Congress. Reps. Tom Cole, Chickasaw, and Markwayne Mullin,...
By Andy Gardner CANTON. St. Lawrence County’s Board of Health president says the recent surge in coronavirus cases in the county threatens the progress with reopening schools and the economy, but it’s not too late for the public to embrace preventative measures and reverse course. Dr. Andrew Williams made the comments during the St. Lawrence County legislature’s Operations Committee meeting on Monday, Nov. 9. “We need to take this opportunity to reset and regain the ground we’ve lost in the last few weeks,” he said. “The best way to do this is...
November 5, 2020. On CNN’s live election night coverage, an on-air graphic used the phrase “something else” to refer to voters who are not white, Latinx, Black or Asian. This type of language continues the efforts to erase Indigenous and other voters who don’t neatly fall into the race categories listed in the graphic. Being Native American is a political classification — not merely a racial background. Native nations have had a government-to-government relationship with the United States since the country’s earliest days. To refer to Indigeno...
Reader Comic...
By Tara Lohan. Reprinted with permission from Ecowatch Election Day 2020 - the day before the United States officially left the Paris climate agreement - didn’t deliver an immediate rebuke to President Trump or relief for environmentalists. That would have to wait. “The election hasn’t produced the outcome that the planet badly needed,” Bill McKibben of 350.org summed up in The New Yorker the following day. But as the votes continued to be counted in battleground states, the mood shifted from despair to hope, and finally, on Nov. 7, to celebra...
By Andy Gardner CANTON. A recent malware attack and a steadily increasing number of COVID-19 cases are having an impact on getting people their test results and contact tracers doing investigations of positive cases. Drs. Andrew Williams and Dana McGuire discussed those issues with the St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators Services Committee during their Monday, Nov. 9 meeting. Dr. Williams is president of the St. Lawrence County Board of Health. Dr. McGuire is director of the St. Lawrence County Public Health Department. The recent malware...
Continued from last week Election Members of the Grand Council Wampum 54. When a (Chief Statesmanship) title becomes vacant through death or other cause, the Royaneh women of the clan in which the title is hereditary shall hold a Council and shall choose one among their sons to fill the office made vacant. Such a candidate shall not be the father of and (Chief Statesman). If the choice is unanimous the name is referred to the men relatives of the clan. If they should disapprove it shall be their duty to select a candidate from among their own...
1. _____ na'tewakohseriiá:kon - Age: I am __ yrs old 2. _____ nitewákien - Age: I am __ yrs old 3. Kken'tstarakè:tote - I am bald 4. Wakia'táhskats - I am beautiful 5. Kkowá:nen - I am big 6. Keniátshonte - I have braids 7. Tekhnenhsakà:ron - I have broad shoulders 8. Keksà:'a - I am a child 9. Keksa'tí:io - I am a nice child 10. Teionkiatekháhshion - We are divorced/split up 11. Tekahonhtowá:nen's - I have big ears 12. Wakekstén:ha - I am elderly 13. Tekkahrowá:nen's - I have big eyes 14. Tek...
The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne’s Community Health Program reports that there are six (6) new active cases of COVID-19 in the northern portion of the community as of Nov. 9, 2020. This brings the total active cases in MCA’s jurisdiction to 10, with 16 cases overall since the beginning of the pandemic. Six (6) cases have been resolved. Cases of COVID-19 continue to climb in areas around us, including in the Eastern Ontario Health Unit’s jurisdiction (EOHU.ca) and St. Lawrence County, New York where a state of emergency was declared this week....
By Levi Rickert. Reprinted with permission from Native News Online Opinion. Back in May, I talked to a Navajo woman, who gave her time as a volunteer to elderly Navajo citizens who were impacted by Covid-19. In addition to her full-time job with the federal government she volunteered her time to help get much needed supplies, such as water and other basic needs, to the Navajo elderly. She relayed a story to me about an elderly Navajo grandmother who followed all of the lockdown guidelines. She told me the grandmother washed her hands and had...
When CNN recently put “us” in an ambiguous racial category as “Something Else,” Native Americans created a firestorm across social media, fighting back with a weapon that has helped us survive for centuries: humor. Native Organizer Alliance launched the “Something Else Survey” of Native voters to challenge our erasure in voting data and demonstrate the strength and influence of our diverse peoples and Nations. The link to the survey is here: https://tinyurl.com/SomethingElseSurvey You have until Tuesday, 11/17 to take it. Native Organizer A...
Submitted by Paul Hetzler For thousands of years, the American elm (Ulmus americana) was the go-to tree for building supplies and home furnishings, kind of a Home Depot of the forest. For the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and other First Nations peoples, it provided roofing and walls for longhouses measuring over a hundred feet long, as well as for smaller dwellings and outbuildings. Elm also furnished top-notch material to make items as diverse as ladles, canoes, trays, snow shovels, grain scoops, baskets, and containers of all sizes. Before Dutch...
By Doug George-Kanentiio On September, 30, 2019 the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation released a list of the names of the 2,800 children who died while in the custody of the various residential schools in Canada. When I was interred at the notorious Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario there were rumors of unnamed victims buried in secret somewhere on the school grounds, but we could not find those alleged graves. We were also told of children who died by accident and were returned to their home communities but the only death I...
By Andy Gardner A recent explosion in COVID-19 in the North Country has led to all Franklin County schools going all remote until Jan. 4. Franklin County Public Health officials strongly recommended making this change because COVID-19 infection numbers have risen exponentially in the last week, calling it an epidemic within a pandemic. The county has reached a point of community spread, meaning officials aren’t able to identify where every case comes from, Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES said in a news release announcing the decision. The a...
Where: Spanky’s Diner 3 N Main St, Massena NY 13662 Date: Sunday, November 1st 2020 Time: 10:30am – 11:30am Where: Walmart 43 Stephenville St, Massena NY 13662 Date(s): Tuesday, November 3rd through Friday, November 6th Time: 4:00am – 1:00pm Individuals who were at Spanky’s Diner or at Walmart at the above location during the day and time listed have a potential risk of exposure to COVID-19. If you believe you were present at either location on the dates specified it is recommended that you be tested for COVID-19 and monitor how you feel. P...
By Amee Vanderpool. Reprinted with permission from SHERO On Monday, Attorney General William J. Barr distributed a memo to federal prosecutors within the Department of Justice, granting them the ability to inquire into Trump’s manufactured election controversy and to pursue “substantial allegations” of voting irregularities. Barr’s two pages of instructions, obtained by The Associated Press, essentially detail how he will be using the Justice Department (DOJ) to help him in the quest to find a single allegation that favors Trump, to be used ag...
Franklin County continues to be in a State of Emergency due to COVID 19. Franklin County Schools recently made an announcement to go remote later. After weighing multiple factors school superintendents in collaboration/consultation with the Franklin County Health Department and other officials made the decision to move to a remote system to minimize the risk to the students, employees and community. Franklin County businesses and agencies are requested to ensure compliance is occurring. In order to protect your employees and customers and...
