Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Tribal Monthly Meeting

The tribal monthly meeting was held on Saturday June 10th, 2017 at the Community Building Lobby. The meeting began at 10:00 am. The meeting was chaired by Chief Beverly Cook.

The meeting began with a moment of silence for anyone who has recently passed away and to those who are ill or are taking care of the ill and elderly.

The first topic that was addressed at the meeting was the review of previous action items:

1. Community member requested information on the future plans for the former IGA building. Ongoing.

2. Community member requested Tribal Council to check into the 1990 Cold Cases in Akwesasne – Completed.

Tribal Council met with the New York State Police, Violent Crime Investigation Team Senior Investigator on May 17th. The NYSP did not have any files on the 1990 cases referred to. If the community has any information or further questions, the contact information for the NYSP Senior Investigator is John H. Donohue (518)-897-2042, cell # (518)-312-8599 or e-mail: [email protected] .

3. Tribal Council to report on March Tribal Meeting motion from the floor for “Tribal Council to enact an investigation (fact finding) and evaluation of the correlation and relationship between original Elders Benefit Group and the anonymous propaganda, which is an indirect contradiction to the benefit [to] Elder.” Ongoing.

4. Community member requested the Tribe work with National Grid to get a better rate. Ongoing

5. Community member requested the Tribal Council find out where all the money is going to New York State from the Casino and exploring the Compact.

It was stated that 25% of the Casino profits go to NYS, and it is split evenly with Franklin and St. Lawrence County (12.5% to each county). 75% goes to the NYS general fund. 10% of profits are spread out to 7 counties total surrounding Akwesasne. Which gives Akwesasne exclusivity (none of those 7 counties can have a gaming establishment.

What does NYS give back? Exclusivity.

The next topic discussed in the meeting was a student recognition by Samantha Phillips. The student recognized was Jade Jackson, who won 2nd place for her artwork, which was submitted to a contest in Albuquerque. The artwork will be shared on the Facebook page of either SRMT or Salmon River Central School.

The next topic discussed in the meeting was the Excelsior Scholarship, information provided by Stephanie Cook. A Power Point presentation was given and questions were answered throughout the presentation.

The next topic discussed in the meeting was Project Good Mind, which was presented by its co-founders Shannon Hall and Kim Terrance. They both spoke of the history behind Project Good Mind and its true meaning. They allowed community members in attendance to share their concerns and ask questions. They gave out real wampum beads to the community members who filled out their questionnaire.

The next topic discussed in the meeting was a presentation for the Office of The Aging’s Open House. The presentation was given by Director Lora Lee Lafrance; she spoke about the different services that are offered at the Office for the Aging. She also stated that they are in need of more advisory board members. She stated that the open house would be on July 15th, 2017.

The next topic discussed in the meeting was the Annual Roads & Infrastructure update (2017-2020). The presentation was given by Power Point, and showed different roads that are on the list to be fixed in the upcoming years. They stated that they have not yet received the monies for 2017 from NYS, so their funding is low.

One community member asked about Terrance Road and why it was not on the list. They were reassured that Terrance Road would be added to the list.

The next topic discussed in the meeting was the SRMT Elders Benefit Working Group update. James Ransom was there to speak on behalf of the members. The meeting summaries provided:

May 17th – Review of meeting with the Elders Benefit Committee and the presentation at the May Tribal meeting: discussion of community engagement; and discussion of an audit presentation

May 24th - Question and Answer session with the Technical Advisors regarding revenue streams. Discussion of financial commitment required to fund the Elders Benefit at a sustainable level.

May 31st - Discussion with Elliott Lazore, Compliance Officer regarding current revenue streams that go through his office.

June 7th - Two-hour presentation and discussion on the 2016 SRMT Audit and review of TGF to date.

The next topic discussed in the meeting was New Business: Community Members asked

What’s going on with the Exclusion list? How do you get excluded from the exclusion list?

Answer: No one has been excluded from the list. Everyone has been served, except for two individuals. When they are located they will be served.

Why are we putting our youth at risk with the Rites of Passage? I went outside and found ticks on myself, why would they put those kid out in the woods knowing there are ticks?

Answer: The parents are made aware and educated on what to do if they were to find a tick on one of their children. They chose to send their children out there, and they are provided with bug spray and tick removal kits.

Can we get a chronological order of the event that occurred at Salmon River this past week at the next meeting?

Answer: Yes, there should have been a letter sent out to the parents about what happened.

The next topic discussed in the meeting was information on the next monthly meeting, which is July 8th, 2017 with Chief Thompson as Chairperson.

There was a review of the action items.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:30 p.m.