Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe June Monthly Meeting

The June Tribal Monthly meeting began promptly at 10:00am with Chief Eric Thompson chairing.

Review of previous action items were read:

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

2. Tribal Council to report on March Tribal Meeting motion from the floor for “Tribal Council to enact in investigation (fact finding) and evaluation of the correlation and relationship between the original Elders Benefit Group and the anonymous propaganda, which is an indirect contradiction to the benefit (to) Elders. Work in Progress

3. Community member requested the Tribe work with National Grid to get a better rate. Tribal Council has set a closed meeting with National Grid on July 10, 2017.

4. Request to get an assessment to see how many seniors in need of services.

5. To reach out to Mohawk Council of Akwesasne to see of they are willing to share in the cost of road upgrades. Subject of Akwesasne roads will be placed on the next leadership meeting.

Student Recognition by Stephanie Cook

Seven Akwesasronon were recognized by the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe for their outstanding academic achievements, they are; Tatum Lafrance, Kyran Sunday, Morgan Phelix, Mackenzie Phelix, Mary Ann Gray, Rhianne Rushing and Tianna Back.

Presentation by Urban Forest Management Plan by Leslie Benedict and Abe Francis

Abraham Francis, a graduate student at Cornell University, is currently working on his Master Degree in Biology and is developing the “Haudenosaunee Forest Stewardship: Bridging biological and cultural knowledge for community empowerment.” His research objective is to the ‘Articulation of Social-Ecological Values’. Francis will begin meeting with Akwesasne community members and conduct individual interviews throughout the summer. His second objective is ‘Spatial Mapping: Human and Ecological Mapping and Social-Ecological Mapping’ where he will meet with focus groups and continue with individual interviews. His third objective is to “Provide a collection of biologically and culturally inclusive options for Forest Stewardship through research validation and community presentations.

Francis’ “Anticipated Outcomes” include; creation of maps for community use to make informed decisions, developing biologically and culturally inclusive forest stewardship strategies and to strengthen the relationship between Cornell University and Akwesasne. As well, he plans to provide a framework for engaging in research with other Indigenous communities.

Mr. Benedict explained the need for a forestry team and their objectives. ‘Urban’ was simply described as any piece of land that is mowed and all else is considered forest. The objectives for developing a Forestry Resources Urban Plan; what is an Urban Community Forest, trees within a human population, their function and value, and an Urban and Community Forest Planning Team.

Within this team their objective are to develop the Vision, Goals and Objectives for the Community forestry plan through community engagement, reconnect the community with trees by acknowledging the benefits of trees and how to best care for them, Increase the community’s knowledge of the benefits of urban trees and how to help manage the urban environment. The goal is to complete a Tribal Urban and Community Forest Management Plan within nine months.

He also explained why we need to develop a plan; establish steps toward our vision for a healthy Urban and Community Forest (effective utilization of funding and personnel, and to identify funding resources to support their efforts), adapt to changing conditions, improve the success for reaching goals as a community.

In addition, he conveyed the Urban and Community Forest Benefits, Benefits of Urban Trees, Energy Efficient Landscapes, What is a Urban Forest Management Plan and the Current Status of Urban Forest.

Mr. Benedict informed community members they are conducting a survey; the Akwesasne Community Forest Survey. This survey can be found online at the SRMT website and their Facebook page.

Economic Development Presentation by Christopher Thompson

The SRMT focuses on four areas; business development, community economic development, labor force development, and economic development. Mr. Thompson provided three updates; Cultural Tourism, Soyway, and the Patent Project.

Cultural Tourism developed a Akwesasne Tourism Strategic Plan (ATSAP), they have hired for three positions, Tourism Industry Development Manager – Penny Peters, Tourism Business Incubator Manager – Latoya Rourke, and Akwesasne Heritage Complex Project Director – Gail McDonald.

Mr. Thompson reported Mohawk Soy LLC is an investment in St. Lawrence Soyway. The project has doubled in size; the production will crush 750 to 800 tons of soy per day. This is a $42 million facility that is expected to provide 42 jobs. Initially $2 million has been invested in this project with two ‘tranches’ being released. The third tranche of the investment will be released once all funding and investments are in place.

He also reported on the Patent Protection Project where the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe will exercise Tribal Sovereignty for Patent Holders to generate revenue under two streams; Patent Enforcement (partner with Patent Owner and share backend) and holding patents in a Patent Vault (hold ownership of patents for a set fee).

He spoke of the advantages of this project, which include an income stream, building internal capacity for back-end handling (training and jobs), and developing a SMRT Technology Transfer Office to manage acquisition, maintenance, and licensing of legally protected intellectual property whose main objective is to spawn wealth, create jobs, and sponsor research and economic development opportunities.

Community members questioned the $10 million bond – which is still there and hasn’t been used. Who are the major investors to Soyway - which can not be revealed until all investments are in place. Where is the business located – in Massena. Will this generate jobs – yes, but will it be exclusively Akwesasronon. Do you have a purchaser for this – yes a guaranteed 10 year buyer. Is there a possibility to produce (grow) soy here – yes, and possibly organic soy. What is the timeline for this project – within this year.

The Patent Project generated discussion around losing tribal sovereignty, after several explanations, additional questions and comments it was explained the Tribe is practicing Tribal sovereignty.

After a lengthy discussion, it was agreed a stand alone meeting will take place on the Patent Project.

Mohawk Networks Presentation by Allyson Doctor

Ms. Doctor, who is the interim CEO, reviewed the mission of Mohawk Networks as well as explain ‘fiber’ and ‘wireless’ terms and solutions. Mohawk Networks is currently working on Empire State Development (Lewis County), MCA Connect to Innovate, Massena Fiber Activation, Snye Tower and Proposal: Smart Schools. She also reported Mohawk Networks will increase bandwidth from 2Gig to 4Gig in August of this year. They are also developing training opportunities in collaboration with AMBE/Iohahi:io a ‘Redundancy Plan; a disaster recovery plan. They are connecting Akwesasne TV and Mohawk Networks, developing vendor relationship and networking with Economic Development to promote services throughout the North Country Region.

The SRMT Elders Benefit Working Group provided an update

Jim Ransom provided community members with an update since the creation of the Elders Benefit Working Group in April, they have met weekly trying to secure ‘realistic and reasonable options for an Elders Benefit program while protecting services’. It was stated a new revenues source must be secured in order to leave all other existing program funding intact. The Tribe would need approximately $4 million dollars annually to provide Akwesasne elders a Seniors Benefit. The Seniors Working Group has a goal of providing the Tribe with options and recommendations by August 2017.

Community members asked for a report on projected cuts in the near future with the present political climate. Another community member asked if the Casino can provide this money and the answer is, “No, the Casino has flatlined’ and they are not generating sufficient money.”

New Business

A community member stated she is being harassed by another community member and the Tribal Police had at one point refused to assist her. She then proceeded to share her complaint with the NYS Police. The State police referred her back to the Tribal Police. Tribal Chiefs suggested she bring her complaint to the Police Commission whose next meeting is July 21, 2017. She also brought up the Tribal residency code and when will this take effect.

Next Monthly meeting: Saturday, August 5, 2017.