Kanesatake’s year that was

A divided Mohawk Council of Kanesatake is the norm these days, and sadly not the exception, but one chief separated himself from the pack and went too far this year, in attacking The Eastern Door to try to silence us.

And it happened to be the grand chief.

Victor Bonspille had made a career out of not returning our phone calls or deciding, arbitrarily, that his personal feelings and ego about what we write, including direct, recorded, and verified quotes right from his mouth, was “fake news.”

So, he pouted. But along with that pouting came a very dangerous press release telling the community we were wrong.

This attacking the media thing, in Kahnawake and Kanesatake especially, is old and tired. It’s counter-productive. It’s ludicrous. And it has to change.

We report for and to the people, about the people. We are the truth-seekers, the ones who uncover things elected officials would rather we didn’t. We are the ones who hold council after council accountable.

That’s certainly not what Victor or any of the chiefs do. They have other fish to fry, but sometimes the fish we fry is them. And they don’t like it, of course.

The “press release,” put in quotations because it was a unilateral hack/attack job, was, to put it plainly, a joke.

But it did a few things.

It set a bad precedent for future relations with media, especially local.

It exposed Bonspille as vindictive, clueless as grand chief, and spiteful.

And it distracted from the real issues.

You need skin seven spans thick, the old saying goes, but Victor Bonspille demonstrated his is paper thin, and as a result, is unfit to lead.

As we said in an editorial addressing this matter last month, it isn’t about who will replace him. We have no horse in the race. We don’t really care who gets in, as long as they can lead without the plethora of issues that has plagued Kanesatake: nepotism, ego, childish antics, misogyny, idiocy, revenge, and other attributes we should never prop up on the biggest stage.

We merely want a Kanesatake that can rely on leadership to lead, not with egos and fear, but with pride, dignity and power.

You’re not powerful if you write things like this:

“….I find it appalling that the Eastern Door (Marcus Bankuti and Steve Bonspiel) continue to disrespectfully mention my deceased Mother’s good name. A shameful means of journalism that is solely based on the fact that “I” am the Grand Chief of Kanesatake. Respectful journalism is attainable when you take into account all the facts and truths. The Eastern Door has only accomplished hurtful propaganda, which has caused more division within my Community of Kanesatake,” the “press release” reads.

We mentioned his mom, whom we adored when she was still with us, because that connects him to the whole dumping issue on paper. It’s pretty important to know your leader has never mentioned that fact, isn’t it? Without our reporting, you wouldn’t know that.

People need to know as much of the truth as they can find to make informed decisions on who will lead them.

Appearing in court to then try to undermine an injunction on dumping also makes him either complicit or incompetent. Who’s advising him to do this? Or is this all on him?

People have been waiting for so long to solve all dumping issues, especially G&R Recycling, yet here’s the grand chief interfering.

Something doesn’t add up.

This is the second editorial we had to write recently on “leadership” attacking the media, one here in Kahnawake and now Kanesatake.

That’s not a good record for both councils – issuing, within weeks of each other, bogus “press releases” to supposedly set the record straight.

If you want to set the record straight, return our calls and messages, swallow your ego and work with us to get more information out to the public, and, most importantly, lead.

Leading comes in many forms, but it does not include kicking, screaming, and attacking.

It means, even if you don’t like us, it’s imperative to sit down, give us your time, and get your point of view across so we can in turn tell the community.

Whether we agree or not, like you or not, we will print what the community needs to know and what you said. Because that’s good journalism.

That’s how this works. We play a role and you play a role, grand chiefs of our communities.

Let’s hope 2025 isn’t as tumultuous in terms of MCK-Eastern Door friction, but we can promise you this: if we are attacked, we will defend ourselves and our rights, and if we are put in a position to be targeted, we will have no choice but to go on the offensive.

Steve Bonspiel

The Eastern Door