Our Top 5 wish list

It can be fun to make a Top 5 Christmas wish list for the entire community, but this one isn’t about chocolate and a train set, although Kahnawake should be getting money for the actual train tracks that litter the community, but we digress on that, at least for now.

Instead, we will focus on tangible things that can change our lives for the better, and pull our community, sometimes kicking and screaming, into a better place. Colonialism is tough enough on its own, so dealing with those who profess to want the best for the community yet disguise their own gain as that of the collective, is who everyone needs to be wary of.

Number 1: Landback.

Sure, that may be a catchphrase to some, but to the people whose land was actually stolen, land that continues to be built upon by squatters, well it’s about righting a wrong and making a brighter future for all.

No one is doing much of anything about the land claims that exist. How do we know that? Well, the land is still not in our possession, so until it is, nothing real is being done to benefit our people. Besides, look at what happened with the 500 acres given back as part of the Highway 30 build – out-of-touch mayors fought it to try to stop it, so with an attitude like that, they won’t just give it back.

There are many roads to go down to try and change that, but council after council seem too scared, too ignorant, or just plain too out of their league to make any real inroads on a file that opened up in 2003 and is going on 22 years and counting.

Number 2: Language.

We grow up hearing when your time finally comes on this Earth and Creator speaks to you, if you can’t speak back to him in Kanien’kéha, how will he know you’re Onkwehón:we?

It may be a metaphor for language loss, colonial impact, and yearning for a more fluent population, but it’s one that has stuck with us and makes us think of what was and what could be.

Only roughly 3,500 speakers of our language exist in the world. What will we do to change that?

Our language connects us to who we are but also to the natural world around us in a way colonial languages cannot. Learning it in any way you can is a form of taking back what was lost, and of honouring our ancestors who died speaking it.

Number 3: Our mental health

Here’s a little secret: If we aren’t mentally well then none of what we say here will matter because we’ll be missing the key ingredient to put it all together.

That means getting the help and support you need to work through your traumas (we all have them) and treating others with a good mind while honouring and respecting all of those who walk this Earth, Native and non-Native alike; animals, plants, the air we breathe, the land we walk on.

If we think gossip and targeting others is power, then Ka’nikonhrí:io will forever be a meaningless word.

We have to fix ourselves so we don’t just raise a nation of whatevers, but one of powerful, prideful people who live in harmony as we used to, with everything around us.

Number 4: Family values

This goes along with mental health, but it goes further. If you cherish your family, you will do anything in your power to protect them. However, along with that way of thinking are the values you hold for your larger families: Kanien’kehá:ka, Onkwehón:we, and people of all colours and backgrounds.

If you treat your family with the dignity and respect they deserve, you have to remember family isn’t limited to a few people.

And that’s what your children will see and learn from.

Number 5: Unity

This follows treating others with respect, and as family, but it goes further as well because true unity means forgiving those who hurt you. Real unity means putting the collective above your interests, and it means stepping outside of your comfort zone to achieve much larger goals than just a new car or house.

Unity means respecting other communities and fighting like hell for their ambitions, instead of against each other out of selfishness.

Unity is not achieved without a ton of sacrifice, but a unified nation is a powerful one, and when you have power, they listen.

For now, we are divided, we fight each other too often, and we have no collective vision to get us out of this rut.

Only once we realize we’re the frogs in the boiling water we joke about, and truly understand what that means, will we be able to jump out, once and for all.

Steve Bonspiel

The Eastern Door