Letter to the editor:

Letter to the Editor,

An apology was widely distributed around Akwesasne and the World by one of the Tribal Chiefs for unacceptable behavior towards one of our Elders last week. I wondered what the difference was when I was the victim of similar abuse from the same Tribal Chief’s unacceptable behavior. The only remorse he showed at the time was to ask Pam Brown and Monica Jacobs to apologize to me for his behavior.

I was present at last week’s incident and in my heart I know there are other incidents that the community has never heard of, not necessarily from the same person, but the Tribal Council and its administrators. While some Tribal Council members insist on professional behavior from all employees, they don’t have to adhere to the same rules.

The issues that hit the Tribal Council’s nerves were: 1. The firing of two Tribal Employees who were not given a chance to see, question or challenge the reasons for their dismissal. 2. The free flow and smell of human wastes from the Tribal waste treatment facility. This condition prevents families from enjoying outdoor activities (like eating and picnics). Similar complaints were brought up at the meeting by persons living in the area about smells, gases and other unknown particles downstream of the waste treatment facility. People asked what the increase in the amount of waste discharge would result in when Tribal Council adds another Casino (bingo) and a huge hotel’s waste to this facility. The Tribal Council had ignored similar complaints from the Community in the past.

In the past, the Tribal Council made major decisions affecting the People of this Community and the People had no recourse. People all went away frustrated and hurt. The Tribal Council could and would do anything, like a dictatorship, with “Two of Three” chiefs’ voting in favor. If you question any of their actions, you would not get benefits or perks or you may get fired. Budgets are either non-existent or not followed, chunks of money are given to “pets or family projects”.

The difference this time is that the People went to the meeting hoping that with the election of Paul Thompson and Eric Thompson the concerns of the People and the Community would be seriously addressed.

Minnie Garrow

Akwesasne