Recent Dispensary Raids Prompt People to Take Action

By: Jaclyn Hall

With the recent raid on local cannabis dispensaries on Kawehno:ke, community members have formed a “Peoples Meeting, which is open to all Akwesasronon. The meetings actually began the week before the raids at Wild Flower and AK420. On the day of the raid on Wednesday, February 6th, a meeting took place at the Wild Flower Dispensary at 4 pm and later in the evening, community members gathered at the Peoples Meeting at 7 pm. The meetings were well attended by community members giving their input and voicing their concerns. Since the meetings took place one after the other this led attendees to carrying over the topics discussed at the earlier meeting.

One topic of discussion was the license the Wild Flower Dispensary had hanging on their wall which shows the “Onkwehonweh-Neha Kanonhsesene” had issued their license, causing some confusion for outside communities and within Akwesasne. There are presently two longhouses in Akwesasne, one recognized by the Grand Council, the United Nations and other entities. Few have heard of a third leading some to believe the license came from one of the two existing longhouses.

Outside news sources have claimed “Mohawk officials and Traditionalists are at heart of the raids”, focusing mainly on the newly formed longhouse, whose representative is Roger Jock.

According to attendees at the meeting, there are several areas in which our rights as Kanien’kehá were infringed upon. When the Ontario Provincial Police entered onto Akwesasne to assist the Akwesasne Mohawk Police in enforcing local and provincial laws, many at the meeting viewed this as an attack on the Mohawk people’s sovereignty.

The Mohawk Council of Akwesasne was quick to state they have not issued any licenses; meaning the cannabis dispensaries are all unlicensed. According to cannabis businesses owners, they are trying their best to work with Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and abide by their regulations, but they are frustrated in having to wait since October of 2018 for MCA to produce cannabis licenses and regulations.

Some of the issues and topics discussed at the February 6th meeting were:

-As a Mohawk of Akwesasne, formerly known as the Saint Regis Iroquois before its name change, everyone is born with inherent rights. There are numerous treaties which protect these rights, such as the Jay Treaty, UNDRIP, Indian Act and the Kaienera:kowa. The more the community learns about and reads these documents, they will be more unlikely to allow outside governments to disrupt our decisions.

-There is the possibility of a Cannabis Committee being formed by the people of Akwesasne, which would allow the community to make their own regulations and decisions regarding Cannabis.

-Several petitions are being developed to take all of the MCA elected officials out of their positions. One petition for every elected official, with each petition needing one more signature then the number of votes received when being nominated in. The petitions will be surfacing soon.

- Discussion on the Seaway Claim, and information needed to become more informed on the topic.

-The Appeal Hearing, which was upcoming, for Scott Peters.

- Why does MCA use a Cornwall address, Instead of one in Kawehno:ke. Discussions on where exactly the border lies, and what it means for Kawehno:ke.

According to organizers, the Peoples Meetings will take place every Wednesday, at 7 pm. As of now, the meetings are scheduled to take at the Kawehno:ke Recreation. For more information, you can contact the Akwesasne People’s Meeting page, via Facebook.