Council to address dumping 

Jeremiah Johnson has never been afraid to pick through garbage for the good of his town, not when he was a private community member, and not now as a Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) chief.

So when people come into the community and dump their refuse wherever they think they can get away with it, Johnson still does what he has done for years as a member of Kahnawake Community Watch – he searches till he finds something with a name on it.

“Our community’s not a dump site.”

He was surfing Facebook when he saw a picture of debris dumped on Seaway Road, a frequent target, he said. So he went over there and found a receipt with a name on it, which he handed to the Kahnawake Peacekeepers. However, the next day, there was another dumping incident, which appeared to be related to the same home renovation project outside the community.

“I take it personally when I see this kind of thing,” said Johnson.

“I struggle to understand the arrogance of people that are doing these actions. To me it’s not comprehensible.”

Johnson wants to leverage the community’s institutional tools against the problem, planning to meet with the Kahnawake Environment Protection Office (KEPO), which he pointed out offers a dumping tracker that people should use to report dumping. Reports can also be made to the office by phone.

“I’m very proud that our community members are proactive when it comes to this,” said Johnson.

A new working group that includes the Peacekeepers, Public Security, and other MCK units has recently been formed, Johnson noted, and he intends to take this issue to this group as well, hoping to invite KEPO to the next meeting.

“Over the years, the issue’s constant,” Johnson said. He wants to see cameras installed in the area to help catch offenders.

“At the very least we need cameras to catch these people because they’re doing it on a regular basis,” he added.

According to Peacekeepers spokesperson Kyle Zachary, no arrests had been made as of earlier this week, with an investigation ongoing.

Meanwhile, a separate dumping incident in St. Remi of multiple garbage bags and wooden structures also caused outrage. Kahnawa’kehró:non Adam Jacco believes the incidents are linked, even taking action by contacting the person he believes responsible.

“I just assumed that the contents that were inside the garbage from that original post are the same contents that were dumped here in the reserve,” he said.

“The pictures of the messages between me and him, he had no remorse what he did. He knew what he was doing, and he didn't care,” Jacco said.

There were 11 reports of illegal dumping in Kahnawake in 2024.

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