Caucus meets on pressing issues

The Iroquois Caucus met in Tyendinaga over two days last week, with a packed agenda that included both the inner workings of the Caucus and current events in Canada and the United States.

Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) grand chief Cody Diabo and council chief David Diabo represented the community at the meeting of the Caucus, which includes Kahnawake, Kanesatake, Akwesasne, Six Nations of the Grand River, Tyendinaga, and the Oneida Nation of the Thames.

David said that the question of the Canada-United States border took up a lot of the discussion, with the press releases from Akwesasne and Kahnawake on what to do at the border, as well as the Jay Treaty Border Alliance taking up much time.

“There is some concern about news reports that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been stopping and arresting First Nations (members) in the United States, Navajos in the Southern United States, and in Minnesota as well,” said David, who highlighted that Akwesasne’s territory is situated in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec as well as the state of New York.

Discussions are ongoing within the Jay Treaty Border Alliance to make sure border crossings can be resumed without fear from First Nations members of potentially facing harassment, or worse.

“It moves at the speed of government. It’s a long conversation,” said David.

“We don’t have much say over ICE, but we do have a lot of say over how the Jay Treaty is perceived or ignored by both sides of the border.”

The Border Alliance also released a statement this week, emphasizing the inherent right of First Nations members to freely cross the border.

Partnerships with First Nations outside the caucus was another topic that took up a lot of time, with discussions on the First Peoples Gaming Association project and relationships with Nations like the Atikamekw.

The Gaming Association, a project put forward by MCK council chief Paul Rice, is still very much in its infancy, David said, but it’s been receiving support from caucus members as well as Nations in the United States that have their own similar associations.

“Once it gets more formally developed, then they’ll be ready to meet with provincial or federal entities and try and gain recognition as a valid competitor in the market,” said David.

Regarding a potential relationship with the Atikamekw Nation, David said this is an initiative from MCK grand chief Cody Diabo and Constant Awashish, grand chief of the Council of the Atikamekw Nation.

“They had some conversations back and forth to see if they could come to some sort of agreement on trade, harvesting and a bunch of other items, just to modernize the relationship,” said David.

“Anybody else that’s interested, we’re going to entertain the idea to establish all of these historic trade routes, reestablish relationships, and modernize the relationship, so there is no historical enmity between Nations.”

Modernizing relationships with other First Nations has been a priority of the MCK table, particularly because of how the federal government has been dealing with First Nations historically and currently with the Carney government.

That too was a point of discussion, with the Federal Major Projects Office being on the agenda.

Kahnawake is directly affected by the Contrecoeur port expansion on the St. Lawrence, with more projects in Quebec and Ontario potentially to come.

The reestablishment of an environmental side table was discussed, with Akwesasne potentially taking the lead. David said the plan was brought to the council table for discussion, but no confirmation of participation was yet decided.

Finally, the planned Harvest Summit for this spring will be taking place in Kahnawake, with discussions to potentially hold it at the Knights of Columbus in the community in the works.

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