Banishment Act requested

The Kahnawake Legislative Commission (KLC) has officially received a request to create a Banishment Act, a piece of legislation that Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) chief Jeremiah Johnson says could fill a clear gap in the types of recourse the community has when it comes to sex offenders.

The proposal for the act was made by Shatekaroniase Cross, and it remains to be seen what exactly the legislation could look like - that will be up to the community.

The request comes on the tail of community uproar following the reveal that an anonymous account had been posting inappropriate videos of men masturbating to ordinary images of women and girls from the communities. Though no arrests were made, many community members identified individuals who they believed to be alleged perpetrators, showing up in person to their houses in protest. One arrest was made after an alleged perpetrator threatened protestors with a knife.

The scandal prompted further discussion on the topic of banishment, and at the time, Johnson advocated for community members to come forward with proposed legislation that could result in a proper procedure for future banishments.

“It came out of the issue with sex offenders so that’s what it’s really addressing,” Johnson said.

He said a Banishment Act could make it easier to address these types of situation in future.

“Currently we don’t have anything on the books that gives us the teeth to be able to handle this sort of thing in a legal fashion,” he said. “When these things happen, it’s a grassroots movement and community members go out and protest at houses, and although I love seeing my community stand up and express their voices, and their power, and their strength, it’s not the safest and best way to approach these types of issues.”

Upon receipt of the request for a new law, the KLC will undertake research into other existing legislation to identify what is and isn’t already covered, before being sent to MCK lawyers for further review.

Typically, a law like this then goes to the community for consultation, so that the people can decide what exactly the law should entail.

Right now, there’s no details about what it could look like.

“This is just a request to create that kind of legislation, what the legislation looks like in the end is a mystery. It’s really up to the people to decide what the scope and purpose of the law will be,” Johnson said. “That’s what I like about our legislative process, the people create the laws.”

[email protected]