Teenage Wasteland

Teenage Wasteland
Lame Excuses
Jessica Deer
The Eastern Door

There is no arguing the fact that the eviction letters sent to non-natives have sparked numerous debates, some which have gotten pretty heated over the Internet.
I’ve been meaning to write about my opinion on the issue for a week or so, but I thought there were more important issues to talk about. (Referring to HIV awareness and prevention and not the iPad.)
There have been two main reasons that seem to pop up constantly with people who are in favour of the evictions: Besides the fact that it is against the law, the non-natives living here are endangering the future of Mohawk culture and they are taking advantage of our benefits and scarce resources.
Before I criticize these lame excuses, I wanted to write about how baffling the MCK’s approach on this issue really is. I really hate how they decided to take action based on a hundred or so complaints. That is a small percentage of the entire population of Kahnawake.
Sure, I think it is great that the MCK is listening to community member’s demands, but with such a big and sensitive issue, there was no consultation with the rest of the community.
People keep mentioning that more people were in favour when Chiefs Martin Leborgne and Johnny Montour were asking community members at the Service Complex last week. I was not aware that all the chiefs could predict the future because they only polled the community, after the fact.
Yes it is true that the majority seems to be in favour of the evictions, but do the people who are against have no say?
So with the first lame excuse: Non-natives living in Kahnawake are endangering our culture. I don’t believe these non-natives are endangering our culture whatsoever. I think there are more important issues that are actually endangering future generations in Kahnawake, including drugs and alcohol abuse, HIV, suicide, and what about the entire tobacco industry? How many people who are working in cigarette factories for a long period of time are going to develop lung cancer?
Whether or not non-natives are living in town, our culture is being affected by big bad globalization. Kahnawake is very similar to Ireland, which was oppressed by England for hundreds of years to the point that many Irish did not follow traditional Irish culture nor knew how to speak Gaelic.
What I want to know is why isn’t the MCK focusing on making laws or spending more funding on things that actually does something positive for the community that will help preserve and promote Mohawk culture and language?
The second lame excuse is that these non-natives are taking advantage of our resources and benefits. People have to remember, it is not like 26 non-native couples just strolled into town, cleared some land and built a house. What makes you think just because they leave, there will be free housing or land for people who are in need or it right now?
Not to mention, the MCK did not do enough research on these people before shoving a letter in their face, since some do not even live here full time. I really do think we should have the right to have whoever the hell we want staying in our house for however long.
In regards to our benefits, yes they could be using their partner’s band card to save some money. But “could” is not “is.” Even if they are, how does not paying federal or provincial taxes affect us in a negative way?
These evictions really seem like a band-aid solution to bigger problems that are going on within the community. With these 26 people gone or even the 100 or more that seem to be targeted next, it will not solve the lack of housing, lack of land or the threat of losing our culture and identity as Kanienkeh aka.
I obviously have a lot more to say on this subject, but there is only so much one can write within two columns.

jessicad@easterndoor.com