Sports Complex recognized as accessibility leader

Decades ago, on a mission to pick up extra crispy fries, June Delisle drove her wheelchair on the side of the road, avoiding the valleys and cracks in the walkway. “Ha:ke, auntie Junie,” her great-niece Alana Atwin. “You’re going to get bumped - get on the sidewalk!”

To this day, Atwin remembers how her great-aunt replied: “Nope,” she said. “This is my Kahnawake, too.”

Atwin, now the co-chair of Connecting Horizons, recalled the story as her great-aunt’s legacy was honoured this week with the first-ever June Delisle Award, which was won by the Sports and Recreation Unit for the strides it has made in supporting accessibility in recent years.

“Sports should be for everybody,” said Roiahtate Horn, director of the Sports and Recreation Unit. “No matter your ability, your socioeconomic status, whether you have a disability or not, you should be able to access sports. Traditionally, it’s healing for us.”

The event was held outside the Kahnawake Sports Complex, but the Sports and Recreation Unit, which runs the arena, was kept in the dark until the big moment, adding to the fun.

Recent changes to the Sports Complex include new automatic doors and accessible viewing areas for those in wheelchairs and elders. Upgrades are also being discussed for playground infrastructure in town.

“We’re hoping to inspire other organizations and offices to follow suit and to make Kahnawake more accessible,” said Horn.

Additionally, the unit has provided funding for youth with diverse abilities to participate and compete in sports, such as the annual Challenger baseball game and the recent Tournée À Vos Marques tournament in Mont Tremblant, where Kahnawake was welcomed with open arms last month.

Resources were also donated to the autism stim bag initiative, and new broomball shoes to allow more Kahnawa’kehró:non to partake in the pastime.

“It’s always proud when one of your units is recognized for listening to advocacy groups, especially Connecting Horizons, and trying to incorporate those changes,” said Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) portfolio chief Ryan Montour.

“It’s easy to talk about it, but to put it into action is a lot harder.”

Iris Phillips, advocacy program coordinator for Connecting Horizons, remembers meeting with Horn shortly after he became the unit’s director a few years ago, and she’s been impressed with how he has followed through on the organization’s recommendations.

“I don’t know if I scared him into it, but he got some of it done, and in a really timely fashion, too,” she said.

Connecting Horizons set the bar high with this year’s recipient, Phillips said, but in future years the winner will be chosen through nominations.

“The importance of the award cannot be overstated,” said Phillips. “It’s to help show a beacon of light for people with diverse abilities, and to also set an example for other organizations within the community to bring up their game, so to speak, and make the community more welcoming, in their organization or even in their personal business and homes.”

Delisle lived from June 30, 1929, to June 24, 1999, and the ceremony was held on her birthday in her honour.

Among her accomplishments, such as helping to make the Kateri Memorial Hospital Centre (KMHC) a reality and serving as its first executive director, she is remembered as a tireless advocate for those with diverse needs.

“Living with muscular dystrophy, auntie Junie understood firsthand the challenges faced by people who are differently abled, but she never allowed those challenges to define or limit her,” said Atwin.

“As we continue her work of building an inclusive Kahnawake, it is important to remember that meaningful change does not happen overnight,” said Atwin.

“For me personally, since coming to work with Connecting Horizons around 2015, I have often expressed my frustration that we are still having the same conversations, seeing the same obstacles, making the same demands, asking the same questions, and pushing for the same kind of change that auntie Junie and The Advocacy Group were advocating for more than 40 years ago.

“And today, we are here celebrating an organization we now consider a leader in making that commitment toward an inclusive Kahnawake.”

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Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter