Eastern Door Volume 8 Number 20

Volume 8 Number 20

June 11, 1999

TOP Stories

Stand-Off Ends In Shooting
President's Cup Awarded to Kahnawake For Year 2000
Summer's In The Air - PowWow on Track
Wampum Belt Heightens Diabetes Awareness
Ugh! Kahnawake Seniors Look Horrible After Loss To Valleyfield
Editorial
Comics

Stand-Off Ends In Shooting
SQ To Investigate
By: Greg Horn

The Kanehsatake Mohawk Police were involved in a tense ten-hour standoff with community member Joe David. The stand-off eventually ended with David being seriously shot and injured by a Kanehsatake Mohawk Police officer.

David, 42, known as Stonecarver during the 1990 Oka Crisis, was one of the last Warriors to leave the Treatment Center back on September 26, 1990.

On Saturday, June 5, around 6 p.m. the Kanehsatake Mohawk Police went to David’s residence to investigate a complaint about death threats against a 15-year-old Kanehsatake youth.

According to a statement released by the KMP, when two officers arrived at David’s 1611 Ste. Philomene residence to investigate, they were met by him. He fired shots in their direction with a semi-automatic rifle.

"The two officers were forced to flee the scene on foot. A ten-hour standoff ensued and attempts to negotiate with the suspect failed; at one point the suspect was standing on Route 344 goading police into a shootout," the statement continues. "The situation came to an end at approximately 5 a.m. June 6, when several KMP officers entered the property to force the suspect out of his residence. Once again, attempts to negotiate with the suspect failed.

"The suspect exited his house and fired several rounds in the direction of the officers, who took cover behind some trees. The suspect pursued the officers and once again, fired several times at the officers. The Kanehsatake Mohawk Police returned fire. The suspect was shot and transported immediately to St. Eustache Hospital. The investigation has been transferred to the Surete du Quebec..."

When The Eastern Door contacted Terry Isaac, the Chief of the Kanehsatake Mohawk Police, and asked why the SQ was investigating the shooting, he answered, "In a situation where someone gets shot, most police forces get an outside agency to investigate. This is to have a neutral party investigate and to let the public really know what happened and what led to the shooting."

But the SQ, can they really be neutral investigating the shooting of a Warrior who was involved right to the end of the Oka Crisis?

"I’m going to talk to the commander at Parthenais about that," answered Isaac.

Was there any thought of having the Kahnawake Peacekeepers do the investigation?

"I spoke to Warren [Lahache] for assistance during the standoff, and if that option comes up I will speak to Warren about that."

About the actual incident, Isaac said, "We didn’t go in there shooting. A community member saw him lying on a couch and we went in there to check on him, to see if he was all right.

"We made a plan to jump him and arrest him when he came out of his house," stated Isaac. At this point David exited his house shooting.

"The officers took cover behind a tree. He (David) picked up one of the officer’s AR-15."

The KMP officers then fired shots and David was hit between his shoulder and spinal cord.

"We went there to negotiate without anyone getting hurt," said Isaac.

Dennis Nicholas and his wife Kathy were on their way to Kahnawake on Saturday, to come to the Zero Tolerance Social when they heard what had happened earlier in the evening.

"We arrived where they blocked the road off, it was about a quarter of a mile away from the incident," commented Nicholas. "The police chief [Terry Isaac] was there and some guys came to the car and said it was blocked off because there was an alleged shooting at Joe David’s place.

"The police chief was inquiring what was going on with my being there, which was of no significance," continued Nicholas. "We had to de-escalate the situation into nothing. One of our guys [from the Longhouse] was in there and tried to arrange a peaceful settlement."

Nicholas had spoken to the KMP and said that they would try to defuse the situation and have a peaceful settlement. "What they [KMP] decided to do was close the perimeter right up to Joe’s residency," Nicholas said. "There was no room to even talk to the police chief and it seemed like there was a different mandate. A Hydro truck arrived to cut the power."

At 1:30 a.m. the family was reporting that a cousin from Akwesasne was coming down to Kanehsatake to talk to David. This person arrived sometime after 3 a.m. but not much was able to be done.

"A lot of us from the Longhouse went down (the next day) and voiced our opinion of what was done," continued Nicholas.

According to Nicholas, David is in stable condition, but is being kept heavily sedated. The bullet hit two vertebrae and the doctors are worried about a blood clot. They are also waiting for the swelling to go down before they can get the bullet fragments out of him.

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Wampum Belt Heightens Diabetes Awareness
By: Susan Jacobs

The diabetes wampum belt made by Joe Jacobs will go from Hiawatha, Ontario to Curve Lake, Ontario on June 21. The people will walk for the first hour, then bike the rest of the way to Curve Lake.

The wampum belt has been in Hiawatha for almost a year, and since then, diabetes awareness has been focused towards the children of Hiawatha. Educating the children on the effects, symptoms, and the treatments can reduce the risk of diabetes for themselves and their future generations. The residents of Curve Lake will also focus on the same issues concerning the children.

Jacobs is hoping to see more people involved, from all communities, in walking to Curve Lake to help raise awareness about diabetes. He said a lot of people on these walks already have diabetes, and some suffer an affliction because of the disease, but everyone is determined to walk just the same.

The diabetes wampum belt came about to Jacobs through some dreams he had three years ago. Although Jacobs is not a diabetic himself, he felt he had to follow through, and started plans on the belt to accomplish his dream. Once he had everything together it took about four hours to put the belt together on a loom. Since then, the diabetes wampum belt has been walked and biked over a thousand miles. And diabetes awareness is becoming widely known throughout the different territories The word on the belt says Teiakonekwenhsatsikhetare which means "our blood is sweet". The two paths at the end of the belt are the paths we need to follow for our future generations.

Jacobs’ story and pictures have just recently been put on the National Aboriginal Diabetes Association website. He was featured in a newsletter from Winnipeg and in the Windspeaker. He is also receiving International recognition from as far away as Nevada, where Natives are looking for ideas concerning diabetes and are hoping that the belt will eventually arrive there.

Jacobs had approached KSDPP in 1996 and asked if they could help him with the diabetes walks .

Alex McComber of KSDPP said the belt has raised awareness Internationally. It is talked about at Native conferences in the United States and heightens awareness in communities. McComber says that one of our community members was moved by greater forces to create the belt. It reinforces what we need to do to raise awareness and promote healthy eating habits and activities, and has become a driving force for KSDPP.

McComber states that "diabetes is an epidemic amongst First Nations people with increasing diagnosis and the onset of Type II diabetes. Among Natives it is part of our genetics. If a person’s parents have diabetes, the chance of getting the disease is 75 per cent".

Part of the diabetes treatment is stress management, education, and exercise. The belt becomes part of that treatment when the people walk nation to nation and bring awareness and education to the next community.

Since the real cause of diabetes is still unknown and there is no known cure, awareness can help to control the disease. It is very important for Natives to lead a healthy lifestyle which greatly increases the odds of preventing the disease. Especially in children, when they learn from the beginning to maintain good eating habits and exercise.

Heather Jacobs Whyte from Kateri Memorial Hospital who deals with people who already have diabetes and gives classes on diabetes education, says it is a relief for her that other community members are becoming involved with spreading the message of diabetes. She says the belt is good recognition for our community, and shows we are contributing something positive towards the health of our community.

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Ugh! Kahnawake Seniors Look Horrible After Loss To Valleyfield
By: Al Briand

The lowly Valleyfield Dinomytes, under head coach Mac Thomas, pulled an incomprehensible miracle from the Salaberry Arena, and defeated the Kahnawake "Mighty" Mohawks.

In the eyes of the contingent of Mohawk fans in the crowd, this was never supposed to have happened.

But it did, and now the 1998 ILA Senior B champs must look for a way to forget about what happened.

Many players on the Mohawks went into this game thinking they could easily steamroll the Dinomytes who had put together a one-game winning streak and were going for number two.

The Mohawks, once again, were off to a slow start, yet trailed 2–1 after the first period, and 6–4 after two.

The third period looked a little promising, as the Mohawks scored twice in the final 41 seconds of the second.

Both teams traded goals early in the third, but a severe lack of discipline on Kahnawake’s part caused the well-oiled machine to collapse.

For starters, Kahnawake surrendered over five power-play goals during the game, was missing six players from the start of the game, and lost two more by game’s end because of suspensions.

Herbie Kirby received a match penalty and gross misconduct for kicking a Valleyfield player. As a result, Kirby was handed an indefinite suspension. John ‘Seal’ Robertson was also delivered an indefinite suspension for his intent to injure a Valleyfield player.

Robertson said that the player was going after his left ankle, the one that he sprained while stepping on a ball at the President’s Cup last year in Niagara Falls, Ont., and went ballistic.

Ben Pinsonneault picked up 11 minutes in penalties, Mykie Lazare grabbed ten, while Mark ‘Lizard’ Mayo collected five.

These were, by no means, highlights in the game; also added to the lowlights was Tontie McComber, who will be out at least two weeks after suffering a severely sprained ankle from a slash he received from a Valleyfield player.

The Mohawks did have a few bright spots. David Montour had a three-point game and Roger Moses had two assists. Peter Paul did the best he could do while his teammates played most of the game in the penalty box and Paul Lehmann grabbed his first point as a Senior. He also happens to be the first non–Native player to play in a game for the Mohawks since 1997.

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Editorial

Indigenous Issues On UN Agenda
By: Kenneth Deer, The Eastern Door

Indigenous issues are increasingly on the United Nations agenda. After years of neglect, Indigenous Peoples are finally getting some attention in a consistent way.

The UN is in the midst of the Decade of the World’s Indigenous People from 1995 to 2004, one of the best kept secrets in the world. If you ask anyone on the street about this decade, they probably will say they never heard of it.

The Decade came about as the result of the Year of the World’s Indigenous People in 1993. So little was done that year to commemorate Indigenous Peoples that a Decade had to be called in order to make up for the embarrassment.

Even the year, 1993, was a compromise. Indigenous Peoples wanted 1992 to be our year but Spain did not want the Indigenous issue to interfere with the 500th anniversary of the ‘discovery’ of America.

The Decade has gotten off to a slow start. Very little money has been donated by member states of the United Nations to fund activities of the Decade. The UN does not take money out of its operating budget to finance projects for a commemorative decade, so it has to rely on the generosity of governments to contribute to the "Voluntary Fund for the Decade of the World’s Indigenous People."

(You will note that there is no ‘s’ on people because governments are still afraid to recognize Indigenous Peoples as Peoples for fear that the international community will have to recognize our right to self-determination.)

Countries like Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Canada and others have contributed to this fund, however, the United States of America, the wealthiest of all and with a sizable Indigenous population, has a policy not to contribute to commemorative Decades and Years. (And also one of the countries that objected to the ‘s’ on Peoples.)

While on a tight budget, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, who is responsible for the Decade, has been able to carry out some of the objectives of the Decade. This year, there has been one meeting on the possible creation of a Permanent Forum for Indigenous Peoples in the UN - a development that may give Indigenous issues a higher international profile.

At the end of this month, there is a UN workshop on Indigenous People and Higher Education, in Costa Rica. This presents an opportunity for Indigenous Universities, Colleges, Technical Institutes and other post-secondary institutions with Indigenous content to exchange ideas and encourage further development of our own education systems and influence others.

Later on, in July, the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations will be meeting and the theme will be Land Rights. A controversial issue which has sparked many confrontations between Indigenous Peoples and governments and is one of the fundamental rights that our people have fought and died for.

In September, the UN will host a workshop for Indigenous Media in Atlanta, Georgia, to create an Indigenous news and information network, among other objectives.

Later on in the fall, the UN will convene its fifth Working Group on the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. A pivotal meeting to further the 45 articles which outline the basic rights to land, resources, culture, language, education, and, of course, self-determination.

A heavy agenda. And these are only the meetings in the Human Rights field. There are other activities in environment, forestry, and intellectual property which impact and include Indigenous Peoples.

And just recently, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine met with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan to discuss some of these issues. A meeting with Annan is a difficult appointment to arrange. Hopefully, it is a further indication that the UN is taking Indigenous issues seriously.

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Comics

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