Tóta Ma’s pulls out of Kanatahkwèn:ke
This photo from January 2025 shows where workers installed hookups that were expected to provide infrastructure for Tóta Ma’s Café. File photo
Kanatahkwèn:ke, the major new multipurpose cultural arts building set to open this year, will have to look elsewhere for a cafe after the Tewatohnhi’saktha Board of Directors decided not to move forward with a second location of Tóta Ma’s.
“We don’t want to lose sight of our existing location and not be able to put all of our resources that we currently have dedicated there,” said Tewatohnhi’saktha executive director Tammy Delaronde.
According to Delaronde, the decision was made after the organization’s due diligence showed that the plan did not align with the scale and operations of Tóta Ma’s Cafe, a not-for-profit social enterprise on the Old Malone Highway operated by Tewatohnhi’saktha that provides training and jobs, while supporting local businesses that don’t have their own storefront by stocking their offerings.
“We’re a small organization, and we’re stretched a little thin when it comes to operating these types of entities, because it operates as a business, but it has social aspects at the forefront, so it takes extra work,” Delaronde said.
Kanatahkwèn:ke is the future home of the Kanien’kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center (KOR), a state-of-the-art museum, and Turtle Island Theatre, with Kahnawake Tourism as another partner in the project, replete with a landscaped outdoor space and amphitheatre.
In short, it is envisioned as a cultural hub where people will want to spend time - being built with infrastructure for a cafe would seem to support this vision.
According to Delaronde, a cafe of some kind had already been in the building’s plans when Tewatohnhi’saktha was approached about Tóta Ma’s opening a location there, rather than it being purpose-built for the enterprise.
Tewatohnhi’saktha now encourages a private business to jump in and take the place that Tóta Ma’s was supposed to occupy.
“Should a private entrepreneur decide to come and move into the building, we would welcome that and fully support that in any way we can,” Delaronde said.
Tewatohnhi’saktha, which specializes in supporting local economic development, is equipped to help out with services like writing a business plan or helping to look for funding, Delaronde added.
Despite deciding not to open a second Tóta Ma’s location at Kanatahkwèn:ke, Tewatohnhi’saktha continues to be a part of the project through Kahnawake Tourism, which like Tóta Ma’s is also an initiative of the economic development commission.
The Eastern Door contacted the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK) to learn more about how a replacement for Tóta Ma’s may be selected and on what timeline, but comment was not provided by deadline.
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In January, the building committee said Kanatahkwèn:ke, a $56 million project years in the making, is expected to be fully operational by April 1.
Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
