Eastern Door Volume 8 Number 6

On a hot summer day, it is cold when you first step out of a pool, so just imagine how cold it was on Saturday with the temperature hovering around 0 C, when 13 brave souls made the Polar Plunge.

There were many people on hand to witness the new Winter Carnival event at the Kahnawake Youth Center. It was thought that the "plungers" would be jumping into a hole in the St. Lawrence Seaway, but that was not the case.

The participants for this event were Davey Diabo, Jamie Kirby, and Kaia'tano:ron Mayo of the Kahnawake Youth Center, Kenneth "Speedo #1" Montour and Geena Deer of the Kateri Memorial Hospital, Christine Taylor (who was late) and Joe Delaronde of K103, Lindsay Leborgne of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, Arnold Lazare of the Kahnawake Fire Brigade, Lisa Skye from the Caisse Populaire Kahnawake, Geraldine Skye, who wore a bikini, of KSDPP and The Eastern Door's own Sharon Thompson.

The Kahnawake Fire Brigade placed a collapsible tank inside the outdoor rink next to the KYC, and filled it with water earlier that morning so it would be nice and cold by the time the participants were ready to jump in. If that wasn't enough, KYC decided to fill the tank with ice cubes a mere half hour before the event began.

First in the tank was Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Chief Lindsay Leborgne.

Apparently, the participants were inside the Youth Center arguing who would go first. While they were debating, Leborgne slipped out and made his way to the tank of water.

Once the rest of the participants saw that Leborgne was already outside getting ready to jump into the icy water, they all ran down to the tank.

After being in the cold water for several minutes by himself, Leborgne was joined by 11 other people. They jumped in one after the other and everybody stayed in until the pool was full. Once everyone got out of the water, Christine Taylor of K103 finally made it to the event. When she jumped in, everyone else went back into the frigid water. Lindsay Leborgne was the first one in and the last one out of the pool.

Everyone had loads of fun and they raised over $2,000 in pledges for the Kahnawake Youth Center. Many, if not all "plungers", said they would do it again and it's been rumored that other people have said they'll do it next year too. We'll have to wait and see.

Four Kahnawake PKs Honored At Quebec City
Robin Skye Saves The Day!
By: Dan Rosenburg

Four Kahnawake Peacekeepers were honored for long and distinguished service at the Conference on Police Services Within Quebec Aboriginal Communities Feb. 22-24 at Quebec City. But they came within an eagle's wing span of turning down the invitation to attend.

Receiving commemorative plaques and medals for 20 years' service were Assistant PK Chief John K. Diabo and corporals Warren White and Pat Phillips. Their Chief, Warren Lahache, was honored for 18 years' service but was on holidays and thus was unable to participate in the ceremony. The awards were presented jointly by the Quebec Solicitor General and Quebec Public Security Ministry.

"We feel really good about this," said Diabo upon his return. "We had known about it well in advance. But at first we weren't going to go, and I'll show you why."

Diabo then left his office to retrieve his medal in the next room. When he returned, he pointed to a Surete du Quebec insignia on the case containing the medal.

"This emblem makes it look as if we're S. Q. employees," Diabo indicated. "When we signed the policing agreement with Quebec, we did so as a distinct police force. The First Nations Chiefs all agreed the symbol should be changed."

The emblem wasn't changed per se, but it was decided that a second insignia should be added to make the award more meaningful to the PKs. Enter Kahnawake resident Robin Skye, sister of the aforementioned Phillips. She designed an emblem bearing a turtle and an eagle with two feathers on each side depicting the balance of justice. Two figures symbolizing the Peacekeepers appear on the outside ring.

A compromise was reached between the Solicitor General, the Quebec Public Security Ministry and the First Nations Police Chiefs Association (of which Lahache is a vice-president), and Skye's submission was accepted
"We're proud of the award now," Diabo says. "With four people recognized, we were the largest contingent to be honored. Also, with our dress tunics, we were the best-dressed police officers there."

"This is the first time Quebec has honored Native Peacekeepers across the province," noted MCK rep Peggy Mayo. "I felt honored to be there," said Mayo, who took the opportunity to attend a plenary session on local leadership and collaboration between police services.

"You're always proud when people honor your service to the community," said PK Chief Lahache upon his return from a Disney World vacation. "The plaque from the First Nations is a nice conversation piece to put on your wall. And the medal is a bridge-building step by the S. Q. We're not about to block that bridge," he quipped, "as evidenced by the fact that all Native communities voted in favor of accepting (the abridged medal)."

At the conference there was also a presentaton by three panel members on the expectations of Aboriginal groups representative of the communities. The speakers were Jackie Kistabish, president of the Association of Native Women of Quebec; Helen Sioui, elder from the Huronne-Wendat community, and Berti Wapachee, chairman of the Cree Nations Youth Council.

Opening speech was delivered by Reginald Rock, president of the Quebec Association of First Nations Chiefs of Police. Ensuing speakers were Ghislain Picard, president of the Assembly of First Nations of Quebec, and Michele Audette, president of the Native Women's Association of Quebec.

Closing speeches came from Jacques Brind'Amour, Deputy Minister of the Quebec Security Ministry, and Christiane Ouimet, Assistant Deputy Solicitor General responsible for the corrections policy and Aboriginal Policing directorate of the Solicitor General of Canada.

There are two unusual things about the Sounds of Blackness music award won by K103 radio disc jockey Hiio Kirby at Montreal's St. Denis Theatre on February 20.

First of all, he's not black. And secondly, Kirby missed the presentation because of illness and none of his confreres were on hand at the ceremony to accept the award on his behalf for Best Anglophone Radio Hip-Hop program for 1998.

"We're waiting for the SOBA trophy to be delivered this week," said K103 program director Joe Delaronde last Monday. "Unfortunately, Hiio was unable to attend because of the flu. The organizers said we were only entitled to two tickets, so we thought it was like the Academy Awards. We didn't know you could buy tickets at the door.

"It's too bad we weren't there but we hear it's a beautiful trophy and we're excited for Hiio," whose program Street Sounds (which airs from 6:00 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday) has built up a large following both on and off the reserve.

According to Delaronde, Hiio "put a ton of work into it so he deserves the recognition. He's thrilled to get this award. The fact that he's not black might rub a couple of people [the wrong way], but it shows that the black community is as open-minded as we are. It proves that people really like us and it's a tremendously positive achievement."

"I guess they moulded the award so that it's not meant strictly for black people," Kirby said when reached last Wednesday. "Anyone out there promoting music is eligible."

Especially anyone out there as prominently as Kirby is? "All right, you can use the word prominently if you want to," he replied modestly. "But the real story here is that we've got under the skin of major stations in Montreal. They'll never go on camera and admit it, but the truth is we're kicking their butts.

"That's because we've stolen listeners from them and we've cultivated other listeners. If we keep them, K-103 will have a solid listenership for years to come."

Eva Johnson of the Kahnawake Environment Protection Committee agrees with most observers that the return of commuter trains to the area would ease traffic tie-ups on the Mercier Bridge, but what about the impact on the environment?

According to Johnson, that would be the biggest reward of all. "Just think of all the carbon monoxide fumes (from cars and buses) that would be reduced," she said. "Besides that, it would relieve stress.

"Travelling by train is a calming experience that is good for one's well-being," Johnson said. "It's a relaxing way to travel. In my case, I catch up on my reading, reflect and put my head back. I feel as if I've left all my cares of the day behind."

Johnson contrasts that to the "road rage" exhibited by motorists who "cut each other off because they want to get home 30 seconds sooner. Some of them use cars as a weapon. Trains are a wonderful alternative to the status quo.
"Every day we see 100,000 automobiles with one person per car driving through the reserve. If you happen to be stuck behind a bus, you can practically get asphyxiated. A giant vehicle with a giant engine, such as a bus, emits deadly fumes. Motor vehicles are among the biggest polluters in the world, and it's a well-known fact that carcogens in the environment cause cancer.

"All in all, there are 100 good reasons to bring back passenger trains," Johnson says. "For one thing, you don't have to worry about finding (downtown) parking facilities. Some motorists leave home so early to drive to work, they have no time for a good breakfast. With trains, that would be rectified.

"In addition, roads won't require as much maintenance if trains keep people off the highways. Each city should take responsibility for reinstating a commuter train system. You gotta start somewhere. If (Ste. Catherine Mayor) Jocelyne Bates is willing to do it, people from St. Remi, St. Isidore, Mercier and Chateauguay should get after their politicians to do the same."

MCK Chief Philip Jacobs last summer rode on a demonstration train run that included various invited mayors from surrounding municipalities.

"I like the idea because it would not require too much new construction or further loss of Mohawk land," Jacobs said. "The trains would solve the traffic problem on the bridge and it would take passengers only 20-25 minutes to get to Montreal during morning rush hour, with a couple of stops along the way."

"If we go ahead with this, it's thanks to the support we've been getting from Kahnawake, Delson, St. Constant, Ste. Catherine and LaSalle," said Michel de Bellefeuille, who is representing the St. Lawrence & Hudson Railroad. "Money is no object since the government has already put funds aside for this line and also for the Mascouche-Terrebonne run."

De Bellefeuille says train service for this area would "be only logical because it would improve the traffic situation on the bridge. This would involve the creation of a brand new corridor."

Asked to divulge the stand of Chateauguay Mayor Bosco Bourcier, long considered to be against the resurrection of commuter trains because of what he has repeatedly termed "the prohibitive cost involved," De Bellefeuille seemed mildly surprised at the question.

"He's in favor, as long as the train station is situated between the reserve and Ste. Catherine, along highway 30. But to have the train actually extend as far south as Chateauguay, well, that might come eventually. But it would be more of a long-term project."

They did it! They did it! They did it! The Kahnawake Mohawks have staved off complete annihilation by winning their last game of the regular season.

The most important thing of the season, was the one going up in the win column.
It was the team's first win of the year, despite losing their first 19. They had lost every period, every exhibition game, and hadn't won a tournament game.

In other words, the only other team that had a worse record than they did, was the 1-28 Dawson Blues back in 1988-1989.

Forget about it! Throw the old record out the window! These guys played their butts off and did awesome.
The coaching staff before the game saw one thing in big gigantic letters, lose this one and you'll set a record in futility.

The record before the game, 0-19 with 15 goals for and 99 goals against.
They beat Huntingdon by a score of 8-5. Eight goals in one game! Half of their total output in the entire season came in just one game!

And the kids were pumped, especially when they took the lead, a word that hadn't crossed their minds all season long.

"It happened so fast!" exclaimed Peter 'Pitt' Jacobs, assistant coach with the team. "I was amazed at how these guys could come together and win one not only for themselves, but for ourselves as well."

The sparkplug in this game, was the performance of Travis Stacey, a Novice B netminder that had not seen game action all season long.

He played his first of two games on that day with his B team, and lost.

The highlight of the game occurred when the Mohawks were down 5-3, and fearing their 20th straight loss.

Something must have kicked in to their Corn Flakes a little late, when all of a sudden, they became puck possessed and launched an all out assault on the Huntingdon netminder, scoring five unanswered goals.

"We were jumping up and down, all of us, after the game was over. The kids piled up on the goalie and starting singing "We are the Champions! It was a sight to behold," exclaimed Jacobs.

The five or so parents in attendance, roared as if it was a parade of 500.

The key to all of this, was a certain few items not talked about before the game.
"We didn't have any diagram board, nor did we have a speech for the kids. I think the kids needed a boost, and they came out flying. And we were short four players!" said Jacobs.

One thing the kids weren't short on, was heart. They played like a complete team. Cole Sky had a goal in the game and so did Mark Jacobs.

But the double hat-trick went to Thawennoken Jacobs. Six goals in the game! Unreal!

They needed this boost to head into the playoffs, which start Saturday, March 6 in Ste. Martine.
Way to go, guys! You did your community proud!

KSS Wrestlers # 1 In Quebec
Grapplers Win 10th GMAA Title Then Become Provincial Champs
By: Greg Horn

Less than two weeks after making history in the Kahnawake Survival School Gym, the KSS squad won the provincial championships in St. Cesaire on February 27 and 28.

This two-day tournament is more competitive than the Greater Montreal Athletic Association Championships. The wrestlers here are more serious about the sport and want to go to the Canadian Nationals. There were approximately 160 grapplers competing in St. Cesaire from all over the province.

KSS crowned seven provincial champs in four age categories and the girls division. Nine KSS wrestlers placed second and two finished third. KSS won the Junior, Juvenile and Cadet divisions of the provincial tournament and came in third place for the girls tournament, just one point shy of first place.

The KSS contingent is expecting to do well in at the Canadian Nationals.
"Karla McGregor will do well, she is coming off an undefeated season," commented Head Coach Dave Canadian.

They are also bringing with them a wealth of experience to the National tournament, Tiio Hemlock has been to the Nationals three time before, Chubb Hemlock once placed fifth in Canada and Jonathan Rice is a former Canadian champ.

Onawiio Two-Axe is the only KSS wrestler to win in the bantam category and will be competing at the Bantam Nationals which are being held in Fredericton, NB in May.

Jonathan Rice will be also travelling to Fredericton for his Canadian Junior Nationals in a few weeks.

Following the tournament, Dave Canadian was named Head Coach for Team Quebec at the Canadian Nationals to be held in St. Catherines, ON, April 8-11. In the past, the KSS wrestling team placed 7th in Canada in 1994, 6th in '95, 5th in '96 and 10th in '97.

Coach Canadian believes that this team is one of the strongest teams that he has ever coached.
On March 20, a benefit dance will be held at the Penalty Box to help send the KSS wrestlers to the Nationals.

Medal Standings

Gold
Winston Goodleaf
Tiio Hemlock
Onawiio Two-Axe
Kahne McGregor
Karla McGregor
Jonathan Rice

Silver
Ostha Jacobs
Nihawenna'a McComber
Dan Phillips
Shayden Diabo
Chad Cross
Mitch King
Devon Barnes
Tiio Hemlock
Rorhare Rice

Bronze
Wajas Hemlock
KinseyHemlock

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