Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer. Still image from KahnawakeTV / YouTube
Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer, a member of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake in Quebec, defends the community's right to determine who lives on the reserve, even if means making mixed-race couples move out:
Years of multi-generational traumas caused by oppression, racism, attempted assimilation, residential schools, Oka Crisis have made it difficult for many in the community to trust non-natives. We can peacefully coexist, but a good majority of people in Kahnawà:ke don't want non-natives living next door and in their neighbourhoods because this is all that we have left. Is it too much to ask to keep our "reserve" reserved for the use and benefit of our people? People on the outside just don't understand us Mohawks. We are who we are — which is not Canadian. We are stubborn and we are fighters for what we believe in. The people who are violating our law need to ask themselves: fight against your own people by defying our law, or abide by it, leave with your partner and maintain the peace? To make matters worse, 16 people are bringing this lawsuit to Quebec Superior Court without giving our internal law-making process a chance to see change. This has caused many people in the community to become very angry. If you try to do "everything in your power" to get your way, you just might get it, but at what cost? This lawsuit can be detrimental to all First Nations' jurisdiction across Canada.Get the Story:
Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer: Marry out, move out: Member of Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke speaks out (CBC 6/3)
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