Stories by Marcus Bankuti

Decades ago, Kanehsata’kehró:non Lynda Nicholas asked her children to promise never to sell the plot of land that had once belonged to her father.

On a week that thrust Kanesatake’s troubles into countrywide headlines, Wanda Gabriel guided a cohort of McGill University students through the aspects of the community that are a source of pride.

The efforts of an anonymous group of Kanehsata’kehró:non has brought a deluge of attention to Kanesatake with the urgent message that the community has fallen into a “state of lawlessness and danger.” An open letter circulating amongst journalists and politicians names scourges such as toxic dump sites, dangerous criminal activity, and land “being stolen piece by piece by land developers and assimilated Mohawks treating Kanien’kehá:ka Homelands as if they were all for the taking.” In part by providing a trove of related documents, the group sparked a La Presse investigation into G&R Recycling that brought the issue roaring back into mainstream discourse.

More than 30 months after Quebec revoked its permit to operate, G&R Recycling is again in the headlines for its yet unresolved environmental damage, forcing politicians to answer for why more has not been done on a file that has plagued Kanesatake for years.

Like many community parents, Fran Morris watched as her son, Koleton Marquis, grew up slinging a lacrosse ball at games here, there, and everywhere.

As the Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) continues to mull over the years-old question of an “ecological gift” of Pines land from Grégoire Gollin, an attempt by municipality of Oka lawyers to leverage Kanesatake land claims against him has been rejected.

Kanehsata’kehró:non with homes on the water are dealing with flooding and anxiety this week as water levels have risen, but the devastation of the 2017 and 2019 floods is expected to be avoided.

Two of the largest Indigenous lobby groups in the province have joined forces to launch a legal challenge against Bill 96, now known as Law 14, citing the ancestral rights of First Nations in education.

What song does one choose to honour a man remembered for his humour, his kindness, and a rare musical gift that he shared so freely?

It has been revealed that Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) grand chief Victor Bonspille signed a document attesting to a band member’s ownership of a Kanesatake lot, seemingly overstepping his authority and sewing confusion over land that already belongs to somebody else.