Eastern Door Volume 4 Number 43

Volume 4 Number 43

December 1, 1995

Bishop at Church 150th Anniversary
By: Father Louis Cyr

Bishop Bernard Hubert, bishop of our diocese since 1978, will be making his first ever official pastoral visit of our Catholic community this Sunday, December 3. Why this Sunday? First, because it is the feast of our first patron Saint Francis Xavier; secondly, because it will be exactly 150 years to the day that our present church was blessed and officially opened. Bishop Hubert will preside over the Solemn Eucharist at 10:00 a.m. (instead of the usual 11:00 a.m.), have a light lunch with us afterwards at Kateri Hall and then sit around with all those of us who would like to share with him our hopes and suggestions for the future.

Our bishop is really no stranger in our midst, quite the contrary. Every year except this past one (for health reasons) he has presided over our Kateri Day celebrations. But he more than made up for his absence last April by joining the more that 1,000 Tekakwitha Conference pilgrims converging on Kahnawake last August 4 to honour Blessed Kateri. Many of our 5th graders were confirmed by him in 1978, 1981, 1984 and 1988. He has also shared many other happy moments with us: traveling to Rome in June 1980 for Blessed Kateri's beatification; presiding over the official unveiling of the 17¢ Kateri postage stamp here on April 26, 1981; officially declaring her second patron of our "Blessed Kateri Shrine" on April 1983; ordaining Fr Jacques Nicole to the priesthood on Dec. 15, 1984; or daining Ronald Boyer a permanent deacon on Oct. 11, 1987; presiding over the Radio-Canada telecast of the Sunday Eucharis April 17, 1988 (it was later re-broadcast on CBC's "Meeting Place"); and presiding over my induction as your pastor on October 7, 1990. Let us not forget the sad moments he also shared with us at the funeral celebrations of Fathers Beaudoin (April 20, 1985) and Bechard (March 23, 1990). He has quite a track record of which many of our sister parishes would be quite envious. Each one of these rather formal occasions provided him nonetheless with an ever widening vision of our community, while allowing us some fleeting but meaningful moments of mingling with him in turn...

Since 1989, Fr. John Walsh has been his right hand man for the English speaking parishes of our diocese. Fr. John has taken care of all Confirmations since then, and he has been a keen participants in many other celebrations as well as in launching our Native ministries' program. But the turning point in our community was his pastoral visit in May 1993. For three whole days, officially mandated by our bishop, Fr. John reached out to many individuals and groups of our community listening to the wisdom or the people here. He was actually laying the groundwork for bishop Hubert's own personal visit here on Sunday.

Since this fall, our bishop has been visiting the English speaking Catholic communities of the diocese, and he is climaxing his tour here. So now we have the chance to meet our Pastor (with a capital "P") first hand, without any "go-be-tweens". His purpose is simply to listen to what we have to tell him (and question him) about ourselves, about the unique and special fights of the Spirit at work in and around us. He expects us to share with him our worries, fears, growing pains and challenges. But he is especially interested in our dreams, our own hopes and visions, our suggestions and recommendations for coming in to our own and gradually assuming the responsibilities of our own church community. He in turn might want to share some fresh impressions from his recent elsewhere.

Thus it is in a spirit of gratitude for the past 150 years, of realistic assessment of our present heritage, and of confident planning for future generations (right down to the 7th), that we will gather around our bishop this Sunday. However hazy, blurred and unsure our vision of things ahead might still be, we need your input. Don't hesitate to come; we'll all be richer for it!

Niawenko:wa!

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Editor responds to allegations
By: Chuck Barnett

In recent weeks an entity known as the Mohawk Nation News Service (MNNS) has released statements to the general public in which personal attacks have been launched against several community members with regards to a wide range of topics. Of these are some rather bizarre conclusions on behalf of Audrey Kahn-Tineta Horn that The Eastern Door Editor, Kenneth Deer is currently seeking political power and influence thought his position on the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations. There are also inflammatory statements in which Deer is associated with an "ultra-right wing religious cult." Although these recent statements have been focused primarily on Kenneth Deer, several other community members have been focused primarily on Kenneth Deer, several other community members have been cited as well. The MNNS press releases continue by insinuating that Mr. Deer has been meeting "secretly" with U.N. Human Rights Center employee Julian Berger at his residence in Kahnawake. After carefully reviewing these recent fax transmissions, The Eastern Door decided to sit down and discuss the implications of these somewhat unorthodox "journalistic" methods and explore the issues set forth by the MNNS.

In response to accusations that Mr. Deer acted on his own volition, without the consent of the Longhouse, as a representative of the Mohawk Nation at the U.N. meetings, Deer contends that he was indeed supported by not only the Turtle Clan representatives in Kahnawake, but also by the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs in Akwesasne as well as Six Nations condoled chief, Alan McNaughton.

It would appear that the allegations set forth by MNNS, stem from a November 20th fax that originated from the office of Ayonwes at the Mohawk Nation Office in Kahnawake. Phone calls by The Eastern Door were not returned by the Nation Office by press time.

The apparent purpose of the document was to notify the members of the United Nations working Group on Indigenous Populations, that Mr. Deer was not to be recognized as a representative of the Mohawk Nation while attending the function in Switzerland. The press releases go further to suggest that Mr. Deer was co-opted by the Federal Government to the part in the proceedings with the intention of undermining the authority of the Six Nations Confederacy. With regard to this matter, Mr. Deer offers that he did not seek authorization from the office of Ayonwes, due to his own conviction that the office of Ayonwes, in it's current state, is no longer true to its own form. Although the office claims to have an international mandate, Deer feels that the past inefficiencies and inappropriate actions taken on behalf of the office of Ayonwes in the international politics has undermined the integrity of Native People, by providing organizations in opposition To the advancement of Native causes with insight into whatever internal divisions might exist.

Additionally, Mr. Deer feels that since the office of Ayonwes has been supporting the efforts of "traditional" people running for office in MCK elections, as well as voting in said elections, they are not only contradicting their own mandate to uphold the constitution and laws of the longhouse, but promoting the breaking of such laws. To date, no representatives from the office of Ayonwes has approached Deer personally in an effort to clarify the matter regarding his most recent trip to Switzerland.

When asked about his "secret" meeting with Julian Berger, Deer categorically denies that any such meeting took place. He clarifies the issue by recounting the fact that he and Mr. Berger did give a joint presentation before the International Center for Human Rights and Democratic Development in Montreal, but no such meeting ever took place at his house. Deer takes exception to this manner of speculation on behalf of MNNS by saying, "If someone should desire to be greeted by a representative of the Mohawk Nation, then there is an official protocol that must be observed, but so far as my personal acquaintances are concerned, they are always welcome to come and visit me, as we are not yet living in a police state at this time."

Regarding the provocative and adversarial approach taken by the MNNS on this matter as well as other issues taking place within Kahnawake, Mr. Deer offers his opinion that, "The MNNS is there simply to bash individuals who do not share the same viewpoints as those maintained by the Mohawk Nation News Service's editor, Audrey Kahn-tineta Horn." When asked to give his professional opinion on the research methods employed by the MNNS, he is quick to offer, "I believe that the term news service is a misnomer, when describing the type of product put out by Ms. Horn." He continues, "It is not really a news service at all, as it relies primarily on hearsay, and consistently fails to cite it's sources, rather choosing to cite a source as "a person" or "a reliable source" instead. It can only be called Yellow Journalism at its worst. The Mohawk Nation News Service lacks any kind of credibility, and I believe that anyone with a journalism background can see the hate that is contained within it, and recognize it for what it really is. By seeking to defame other native people who do not share the same soci-political views as her own, Ms. Horn is in short, attempting to drive a larger wedge between people who are already divided. Unfortunately it reflects badly on all of us, as Mohawk people and Native journalists in general."

Another implication of the use of the name Mohawk Nation News Service is that it intentionally misleads people into believing that it is a news service which represents the view points of the Mohawk Nation, when in fact it represents the viewpoint of the one individual who operates it.

Finally, Deer states that he is not, nor has he ever been a member of a religious cult.

The offices of Ayonwes could not be reached for comment in relation to this story, as our telephone calls were not returned.

After initially agreeing to be interviewed or comment on this story, Ms. Horn ultimately declined, stating that she does the interviewing, and is not normally interviewed.

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Communal Alcohol Law Passed
By: Tom Dearhouse

The Mohawk Council Of Kahnawake voted unanimously to accept the Kahnawake Alcoholic Beverage Law during their weekly Monday Council Meeting. "The 31 page law passed pretty much as is with careful discussion throughout, some clarification was made on three articles to help better describe the whole process' said Chief Michael Sky in a telephone interview the day after the meeting. This document is 'unique' and "very attuned' to the community because there was so much consultation done.

Grand Chief Joe Tokwiro Norton complimented the diligent work of the Task Force. "The law captures much of the sense of diversity of the community. The next step is to introduce the documents to Quebec to show we are establishing our laws," said Joe Norton. The council's technical team will be meeting with the Public Security Minister and his team. Joe Tokwiro Norton said "I don't anticipate any difficulty with Quebec, in the sense that similar principles are being used that resulted in the Policing agreement."

Frank "Mel" Jacobs, a local businessman, made two points. He said "The Council does not have the mandate (to negotiate), they are only an administrative council. They (council) are insulting the intelligence of their band members... taking their power away.. The people have to be involved."

Another point of view was held by Peter 'Boy' Rice, owner of Studio U.S.A., concerning the rules about sales of alcohol: "By having the Band regulate it, it's a step in the right direction... if we have to get a permit, we'll get one...we'll abide by the rules."

The law allows for an alcoholic beverages control board composed of seven community members that has jurisdiction over manufacture, possession, transportation, consumption, and sale of alcoholic beverages in Kahnawake Mohawk territory.

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Editorial

The Eastern Door sticks to its values
By: Kenneth Deer - The Eastern Door

When a group of individuals in Kahnawake decided to start a newspaper, the idea was to have an unbiased platform of news and information that the community could depend on for accurate and factual data. The idea was not to take political positions that would further fuel the divisions in the community. We realized that divisions will probably always be with us ands that by siding with one faction or another in the reporting of news, a newspaper would only deepen these divisions. A result would be that only one side of an issue would be presented. That would be presented. That would not serve the community well. Our readers need to hear all sides of an issue in order to form an intelligent opinion.

Independent press must remain free of political entanglements if it is to serve the community fairly. A newspaper is a business and it is good business to remain unbiased and politically neutral in its reporting.

And so it also fits that the highest standard of journalistic ethics and objective reporting fit hand in hand with the financial survival of a newspaper. Fair and balanced reporting are what people most need from a news outlet. Readers make decisions every day and the information provided by a newspaper must be accurate and easy to read so these people can make informed decisions.

It has been the hallmark of The Eastern Door to present clear and precise information as much as humanly possible. Within the limits of the hours in a day, the days in a week, and the skills of our people, The Eastern Door produces a quantity of news and information that we feel is vital to this community.

And the community of Kahnawake has responded. Sales of our newspaper are brisk and consistent. Kahnawake has grown to appreciate a good source of news and information. It was not too long ago that the only source of written information came from the mainstream press or from notices in your mailbox. Many of us can remember the unsigned poison pen letters that occasionally would circulate around the community, especially around election time.

Poison pen letters usually targeted an individual or group with the objective of discrediting or destroying the person's character or reputation. The accusations were generally outlandish and highly improbable. Any truth in the matter was lost in the vile rhetoric of the writer.

While these letters were once found on your door step or in the mailbox, today you may find them on your fax machine or the internet. The Eastern Door has come under attack in this manner with unsubstantiated and scurrilous accusations. The Eastern Door still maintains its right to express its views and opinions on the editorial page. At times we will be critical of the actions of our community members regardless of who they are or who they represent. Our main focus is to attempt to provide positive, pro-active commentary.

We also allow people with different points of view to express themselves freely in their letters to the editor.

There are still people who believe we are too pro-warrior or pro-Longhouse and others who believe we are too pro-band council. When the extremes in this community believe this, then you know The Eastern Door is providing balanced news coverage.

This newspaper will not lower its standards to respond to hearsay and gossip. We stand by the quality of our work and the respect we have for the intelligence of the people of this community.

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