Kahnawake Mohawks Oppose RCMP Escort for Olympic Torch
Olympic torch issue heats up in community
Jordan Standup, The Eastern Door, December 2009
http://www.easterndoor.com/feature/olympic-torch-issue-heats-community
The Mohawk Council’s announcement last week that the Olympic torch would
be passing through Kahnawake on its way to the 2010 Winter Olympics in
Vancouver has become a hot issue.
The Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake (Longhouse on Route 207) issued a statement this week saying that it did not support the Olympic torch run through the community scheduled for next Tuesday.
“We must seriously consider the ongoing struggle of our Indigenous
brothers and sisters in British Columbia who endeavor to prevent the
Government of Canada from further commandeering and expropriating their
traditional territory,” the statement reads.
Monday’s statement goes on to note that the longhouse was concerned over
the possibility of an RCMP escort though the community, which was confirmed by the MCK the following day.
The longhouse said they would use the Warriors to keep the RCMP out but
would not interfere with the torch itself.
The longhouse has also asked that anyone who plans to watch the relay not
fly Warrior or Haudenosaunee flags.
“It’s disappointing to see that the MCK supports the RCMP escort,” said
longhouse secretary Kenneth Deer.
He said the community is also unaware of when and where the negotiations
took place to allow the torch, and more specifically the RCMP, to come
through.
“Who negotiated it and when was it agreed?” Deer said. “It seems to us
that the decision was only made last week at the eleventh hour.”
He also said he felt the MCK has ‘screwed up’ with this issue.
“If the torch is going to come through, since it seems the decision has
already been made, the presence of the RCMP isn’t necessary. That’s why we
have Peacekeepers,” he said. “The MCK should have negotiated that the RCMP
was not allowed to come through.”
Earlier this week, the longhouse sent an invitation to the MCK to meet
tomorrow to discuss this issue as well as the Community Decision-Making
Process, but according to Deer, the request was declined yesterday and the
MCK said it would give the longhouse a list of possible dates to meet.
“They better make up their mind,” said MCK Chief Rhonda Kirby. “What’s the
problem? Is it the Olympic torch? Is it what’s happening to the people in
B.C.? Or is it the RCMP? The need to decide what they really are protesting,”
“I think it’s disappointing that they’re asking the community to boycott
it because they’re asking the community to do their bidding,” she said.
“There’s bigger issues that we need to deal with and if that much energy
was put into solving our own issues in the community, we’d all be in a
better place.”
Kirby said she preferred to focus on the positive aspects of the event,
which is being organized by Team Mohawk Spirit.
“We hope it’s a very successful and safe event for the community,” she
said. “This is something really positive for the community to be involved
in.
Kirby believes that the relay would serve as inspiration for Kahnawake’s
athletes.
“The amount of athletes we have is amazing,” she said. “I wonder how
communities of our size have had two Olympians. It’s something to be proud
of.”
The torch is scheduled to arrive in the community between 12:00-12:30 p.m.
on Tuesday. Kahnawake’s own Olympic gold and bronze medalist Alwyn Morris
will run with the torch from the tunnel to Karonhianonhna School for a
short ceremony.
Torch relay to continue on Quebec reserve without RCMP escorts
By Jason Magder , Montreal Gazette, December 6, 2009
MONTREAL — The Olympic torch run will pass through a Quebec reserve
despite an earlier threat by the Mohawk Nation to stop RCMP escorts from
entering their territory.
The Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake issued a statement last week saying it
would allow the torch to be carried through the reserve Monday but its
peacekeepers would bar the RCMP escorts.
“The RCMP has no jurisdiction in our territory,” said Lynne Norton,
assistant secretary in Kahnawake of the Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy.
It was unclear at the time whether the Vancouver 2010 torch run committee
would reroute the relay, or allow Mohawk peacekeepers to act as escorts.
Norton said she received confirmation in writing Sunday that Mohawk
peacekeepers would act as escorts.
However, there may still be protests. The Mohawk Traditional Council said
it will organize a peaceful protest of the torch.
Norton said many First Nations people are upset the International Olympic
Committee doesn’t recognize the Haudenosaunee Iroquois Confederacy, which
includes the Mohawks, as an independent nation.
She said she’s glad the torch relay committee has understood the wishes of
the Mohawk Nation.
“We worked all week to keep this peaceful,” she said. “I think we did it.
They listened to our issues.”
The Kahnawake reserve is located just south of Montreal.
Montreal Gazette