Latest news with #Kanienkehaka
CBC
12-08-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Cannabis megastores stoke tensions in Oka Crisis First Nation
35 years ago, the Kanien'kehá:ka of Kanehsatà:ke squared off with the Canadian army to defend their territory, culminating an armed standoff now known as the Oka Crisis, or the Siege of Kanehsatà:ke. Now, some community members worry that same territory is being threatened by an out-of-control boom of unregulated cannabis megastores with alleged connections to organized crime. And a governance crisis exacerbated by that siege in 1990 has left the community with no clear way of resolving the growing tensions. CBC investigative reporter Jorge Barrera — who has covered the community extensively — explains how the deep history of Kanehsatà:ke has led to this pivotal moment, and what it could mean for its future.
CBC
31-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Akwesasne artist wins juried art show with salute to ironworkers
An Akwesasne artist's sculpture celebrating Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk) ironworkers won the top prize at his community's juried art show and market last weekend. Karhatiron Perkins won Best in Show for his Lunch on a Highbeam sculpture, which is his take on a famous 1932 photo of 11 ironworkers having lunch on a beam 260 metres off the ground in New York City. "Growing up, I always thought those were all Mohawk men," said Perkins, about the famous photo. In Perkins's bronze and metal cast piece there are nine ironworkers sitting on a beam in ribbon shirts representing the nine Haudenosaunee clans: turtle, wolf, bear, snipe, beaver, deer, hawk and heron. Instead of lunch boxes, they have bowls meant to represent a Kanienʼkehá:ka staple, corn soup. Perkins comes from a family of ironworkers; his father and grandfather were in the trade. "I wanted to do a piece just like highlighting the Native men who were ironworkers," said Perkins. In the late 1950s, Kanienʼkehá:ka ironworkers made up about 15 per cent of New York's ironworkers and had a hand in the construction of many iconic buildings like the Rockefeller Center, Empire State building and Chrysler building. There are believed to be three ironworkers from Kahnawà:ke, a Kanienʼkehá:ka community near Montreal, in Lunch atop a Skyscraper, according to community members. The men are thought to be Peter Skaronhiati Stacey, Joseph Jocks and Peter Sakaronhiotane Rice. All artists from Akwesasne The Akwesasne art market and juried art show, which took place July 25-26 in the community straddling the Ontario, Quebec and New York state borders, was hosted by Akwesasne Travel and gives out a grand prize of $2,500 US (about $3,400 Cdn.) This year there were 44 artists who displayed work in the show, said Randi Barreiro, a marketing specialist for the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe Office of Economic Development and works with Akwesasne Travel. "This year's Best in Show was just a phenomenal piece," said Barreiro. "I'm a daughter and a granddaughter of ironworkers so I immediately could recognize his inspiration." All of the participants in the show were from Akwesasne. "It's really a spotlight of the talent that we have here in the community," said Barreiro. Cultural elements Perkins is a recent graduate of the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, N.M. and made the sculpture for a class. This was the first time he had submitted to an art competition. "It felt unreal; I didn't really believe it," said Perkins about winning the show. Perkins is a multi-disciplinary artist in drawing, painting, ceramics, and making digital art. Right now he is busy selling his work at markets. "Most of my art that I make has to do with cultural elements," said Perkins. "[I] mainly create to empower people to practise their culture and be interested in it." Perkins said he would love to see the sculpture one day in a museum or on display at a community building.
CTV News
26-06-2025
- General
- CTV News
Kahnawake peacekeepers hired in the shadow of the Oka Crisis ready for retirement
Kahnawake's two longest-serving peacekeepers are retiring after 34 years and a wealth of experience and knowledge dating back to the shadow of the 1990 Oka Crisis. (Daniel J. Rowe/CTV News) Two Kahnawake peacekeepers are retiring this weekend after 34 years on the force. Clint Jacobs, 59, and Walter Montour, 56, began their careers a year after the 1990 Oka Crisis when the Kanien'kehá:ka community on Montreal's South Shore was in a different era. 'When I was hired on, and after the crisis, we had to struggle to keep our jurisdiction because there were other police forces that were patrolling the territory, and there was always jurisdictional issues,' said Montour. 'There were times when those same policing organizations would try to contest our jurisdiction, but we're always here.' Walter Montour Kahanwake peacekeeper Walter Montour is the third generation of his family to serve his community. He is retiring after 34 years of service. (Daniel J. Rowe/CTV News) 'It certainly was not a popular job at the time,' said Jacobs. 'Within the community, there were a lot of divisions. We had the Oka Crisis that just occurred a year before, and our council was ... feeling they were going to be losing jurisdiction within the community, within the territory.' Jacobs is the longest-serving Kahnawake peacekeeper, joining in July 1991. Montour was right behind him, getting his badge in October of the same year. The two men felt called to the job. For Montour, it was a family legacy. 'My father before me, and his father before him has been a peacekeeper here in Kahnawake,' he said. 'As long as there's been police in Kahnawake, there's been a Montour on duty here.' Montour's brother, Kenneth, serves on the force and will continue in the family tradition. Montour took his father's advice for the job seriously. Clint Jacobs Clint Jacobs retires as the longest-serving Kahnawake peacekeeper working on the force from July 1991 to June 2025. (Daniel J. Rowe/CTV News) 'When I was hired on, he sat me down and he imparted wisdom to me. He said, 'You know, you're going to be a police officer now. You're going to be wearing a uniform, you represent the Kahnawake Peacekeepers. You're here to protect the community and make it safe,'' he said. For Jacobs, it was about moving home from Pointe-Claire, where he was living and giving back to his community. 'During the Oka crisis, when the blockade started in Kahnawake here, I felt so distant from my own community,' he said. 'If you looked in Pointe-Claire, it was like it didn't affect them one bit. And some people [asked], 'Why do you even want to live there?' You know? 'Why do you want to associate with that there?' And they just didn't quite understand.' A wealth of knowledge and experience follows them as they leave. 'With that many years of service, 34 years, you lose a little bit of the history,' said Chief Peacekeeper Dwayne Zacharie. 'They were here at a time when it was difficult. They went through times where there weren't as many resources as there are that are available now. They kind of weathered the storm over those years, and they've always been good standing members.' Kahnawake Peacekeepers station Kahanwake Peacekeepers station. (Daniel J. Rowe/CTV News) Unlike many police officers, Kahnawake's peacekeepers work and live in the same neighbourhoods as the people they are called on to protect and even arrest at times. 'We know everyone,' said Jacobs. 'I think that gives you a bigger insight about the people you deal with. You also live here, outside of your work, you're interacting with community members. You're part of all the processes in society here. So I think that that has a lot of advantages. It's not just anonymous faces you're working with.' Jacobs added that this familiarity reduces the cynicism some officers fall into. 'To me, Kahnawake is a model of community policing,' said Montour. 'It's because we live where we work, and it'll affect your thinking processes. You're always looking ahead, and I think that's that's the big difference. You have a sense of community.' Both men, as all peacekeepers, function as ambassadors to those outside of the community. Montour recently worked on the multi-force anti-gun trafficking task force with the Montreal police (SPVM), and Jacobs works as a liaison officer with the Superior Court in Longueuil. 'Every peacekeeper, no matter what position they hold, is an ambassador of First Nation policing, and, at the same time, they represent our service and they represent our community,' said Zacharie. Both men are leaving proud of their work. 'What I'm most proud of all these years of service, I would have to say, is again, successfully living my father's legacy, being a peacekeeper on the reserve that we know and love,' said Montour. 'People have come up to me and they said, 'Hey, Clint, I know it was kind of hard, but thanks. Thanks a lot,' he said. 'I can take some gratitude that even though, in the face of it at the time, it's kind of difficult, that extension I gave is kind of reciprocated now, and I think that lasts longer because it's also your reputation.' Jacobs had some advice for young officers entering any police force. 'Try not to get cynical. Really look at why you're doing the job, and always go back to that original desire,' he said. 'Ultimately, it's to help your community.'
