Longhouses meet on cannabis
Youth were well represented at the April 23 march in opposition to the introduction of cannabis dispensaries in Kahnawake. File Photo
Amid a wave of opposition to licenses for cannabis dispensaries being issued after years of planning, there are signs the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) may be reconsidering.
“We’re kind of in a mode now where it’s kind of a sober second thought, is the perspective that’s being applied,” said MCK chief Jeffrey Diabo, who said there are differing opinions being expressed at the council table in the face of vocal community dissent.
The Kahnawake Cannabis Control Board is currently considering applications from community members who want to open cannabis stores on the territory. A maximum of three licenses are to be issued, but this number would be subject to regular review, with the possibility of more to come.
Diabo’s own stance has not wavered, he said. He believes the cannabis industry has the potential to harm Kahnawake, especially when it comes to security concerns. He suggested there are already too many outsiders in Kahnawake neighbourhoods and that dispensaries are potentially an invitation to trouble.
“If we’re getting to a point now where people are saying, well, it’s the 11th hour, well yes, maybe it is the 11th hour, but it’s not too late to reconsider what needs to be done, what should be done, or maybe what shouldn’t be done,” Diabo said.
He was one of four Council chiefs who attended a Mohawk Trail Longhouse meeting on the issue of cannabis on Monday - the others were David A. Diabo, Jeremiah Johnson, and Arnold Boyer.
“The Council is responsible for hearing all sides of issues, not just certain ones, so it’s important for us to have a relationship with that component of the community in order to hear the feedback, regardless what it is,” said Jeffrey.
He said most of the community members who turned up to last week’s community meeting held by the MCK shared the view that bringing in cannabis shops is a mistake.
The Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake (207 Longhouse), which organized the well-attended April 23 march to the band office in opposition to the cannabis plan, held its own meeting on Saturday.
“Both Longhouses are on the same page as far as cannabis is concerned,” said Joe Deom, spokesperson for the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake.
He said the 207 meeting generated ideas that will be implemented, but that the Longhouse is not yet ready to reveal them.
“There is momentum, and we’re looking to get more participation from the community at large,” Deom said.
Mohawk Trail Longhouse member Ka’nahsohon Kevin Deer was present for a portion of the 207 Longhouse meeting and took part in Monday’s gathering. He is emphatic that welcoming cannabis stores on the territory is a grave mistake.
“For me, I don’t want to see it in Kahnawake, that’s it, plain and simple. It doesn’t matter what arguments they’re going to bring to me to the contrary to try to prove it,” he said. “I don’t want it in Kahnawake, period.”
Those in attendance at Mohawk Trail were unanimous in their opposition to cannabis stores in the community, he said.
“As a Longhouse person who totally follows the Great Law, and what these teachings are all about, the teachings are clear. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about all this stuff,” he said.
Deer, who said he has always participated in protests to prevent drugs from entering the community, shrugged off the argument that the current policy is many years in the making.
“It’s unfortunate to say, but a lot of times, things have to come to a head or a crisis, and then a lot of people get off their rears and say, ‘well, I have to get involved now.’” He suggested all corners of the community now have to engage one another.
“When do we ever come together as a community and say alright, let’s really have these hardball discussions where we can come in a peaceful manner, and you don’t see that happening,” he said, adding that some people take advantage of this division to their own ends.
He portrayed the question of what happens next as an essential governance issue.
“Alright, so you want to go traditional government? Here’s your first big test,” he said.
“There are things in the Longhouse belief system that there’s no give and take, and there’s no condoled chief that I know that will ever support the mind changers,” he said, referring to mind-altering substances.
He invoked the $220 million lawsuit against the MCK launched by Magic Palace, blaming the introduction of facilities like that into the community in the first place for the situation.
“Some of our people got in bed with dogs, and now they’ve got fleas,” he said. “Now we’re all going to end up suffering the consequences because of ‘oh, we want to be like them.’ When do we put the brakes on? For me, it’s now.”
Kaherihshon Fran Beauvais voiced her opposition to cannabis stores in an interview with The Eastern Dor, but emphasized that she is speaking only as a private community member and that she would not share anything about the meeting at the 207 Longhouse, as she had not asked to speak on the Longhouse’s behalf in this context.
“It isn’t over, and we’re still going to pursue this and ensure the voices of the people are still heard,” said Beauvais of community opposition. She lamented her feeling that the youth, some of whom walked all the way from Kahnawake Survival School (KSS) to take part in the April march, are being disregarded, as they’ll be most affected by what happens next.
“Why do we need this here?” Beauvais said. “We have to just look at all of our other sister communities and see what that has brought, what destruction, their safety concerns.”
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Council needs to do more to engage with the community, she said.
“I would really encourage them to engage with all factions of the community and hear everybody’s voices. If they have to go house to house, then do that.
“But let’s look at it really seriously before you make up your mind and say ‘we polled people’ and ‘we did this, it’s enough.’ No. It’s not enough. You have to do better.”
No applicants have yet been selected, according to the Kahnawake Cannabis Control Board, although the body has eliminated some of the 14 applicants that were named on the most current available list.
Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
