Tribe questions spokespersons group

Less than a week after a group of community members organized an election for five “spokespersons”, the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe publicly questioned the group and their election, reiterating their position as the federally recognized form of government on the southern side of Akwesasne.

“The current tribal council is the only government officially recognized not only by our Native community in general, but by the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Department of the Interior, the Congress of the United States and the Office of the President of the United States,” said Tribal Chief Lorraine White. “The current tribal council is the only governing body that has the authority to deal on a government-to-government basis with the federal government, the state government and local governments.”

The spokespersons elected were

Melvin White, Mark Terrance, Roger Thomas, Cindy Smoke and Thomas Johnson. The group is said to be committed to community members through social contracts, and that they will act on the will of the people. Their primary purpose is to question the current 3-chief system of government at the SRMT.

“We are not clear exactly what they are attempting to accomplish,” said Tribal Chief James Ransom. “We have always maintained an ‘open door’ policy for the input of tribal members on issues. They have the opportunity to initiate personal contact, to attend tribal meetings, to write letters and to participate on committees and boards to be heard in a positive manner to effect change. We, as officially elected Tribal Council members, have always been willing to listen to our constituents.”

The day after the tribe’s release, the spokespersons group retaliated with their own press release.

“The Community Spokespersons would like to take this opportunity to correct, counter and clarify as a matter of public record the many misleading statements and characterizations contained in the recent press release issued by Saint Regis Mohawk tribal members....” the release said.

The group said they take issue with being characterized as a “disaffected group.”

“Let it be known to avoid any further confusion that the term ‘Community’ means the members of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe,” the release continued. “However, although members of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, we used the broader term ‘Community’ to include not only the Saint Regis Mohawk tribal members resident south of the River, but also those Saint Regis Mohawk tribal members residing on the north side of the River. Therefore, Community Spokespersons means the interim official representatives of the members of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe wherever they may reside. We the people are the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe.”

The group also criticized the assertion that the community election was “unofficial,” stating that the members of the federally recognized St. Regis Mohawk Tribe held the election – a “free and fair election.”

The press release concluded that while the group and spokespersons have never intended to “govern” the community, their spokespersons were elected to serve as representatives. “We have publicly stated and published our position which is to call for a referendum so that the members of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, wherever they may reside, may ultimately decide the question of the validity of the ‘traditional Three Chief form of government.”