Latest news with #TheEasternDoor
Cision Canada
2 days ago
- General
- Cision Canada
Indigenous News Wire launches "Voices From Across The Land" to share news and stories about Indigenous communities Français
KAHNAWAKE, QC, /CNW/ - INW is a new digital platform to enhance the provision of news and information about Indigenous communities across Quebec. An initiative of The Eastern Door, INW is dedicated to establishing a shared press centre - a hub - where individuals, journalists and organizations can access and link to content about Indigenous communities. The INW goal is to address the news and information void about Indigenous communities and their stories, issues and activities, due to the absence of mainstream coverage of Indigenous communities that are spread out over Canada's vast territory. Through INW, The Eastern Door is leveraging the power of digital technology to bridge the gap between Indigenous communities and mainstream media, making local Indigenous news, information and events more accessible. By aggregating news and information sources, The Eastern Door is fostering linkages among diverse individuals, organizations and communities with an interest in Indigenous affairs, and building an information ecosystem to serve and support Indigenous communities. Users of INW are part of an empowering information revolution that aims to make local Indigenous content more accessible, relatable, and usable. This contributes to supporting stronger, better-informed, and more connected Indigenous communities across Canada. Welcome to INW - Voices From Across the Land!
Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Politics
- Hamilton Spectator
Right of way blocked in Kanehsatake
A historically used right of way situated on Oka Golf Club has recently been fenced off, much to the dismay of Kanehsata'kehró:non, who say that the closure of the passage is a further infringement on their inherent rights. The right of way is located where Centre Road continued to the village, before the golf club was built. When the golf course was built, developers included the right of way so that community members could still access the village, since the golf club was blocking the way. Over the years, posts have been erected to narrow the right of way so that only one person can walk through at a time, but community member Ellen Gabriel said that in the winter, she saw a wire fence strung between the posts for the first time. Back then, another community member removed that fence with wire cutters, but on June 6, Gabriel saw that it had been re-hung. 'This has never happened before, they just started doing it,' she said. 'There needs to be something done to correct the situation.' The fence was once more taken down by community members, but Gabriel said that when passing by on Monday morning, she noticed it was once again strung up, this time reinforced with additional iron posts. Gabriel said that she had been told that a golf course administrator said people had been parking on the lacrosse road and stealing the flags from the greens. 'The agreement a long time ago when they gave a permit to the golf course was that there would be this right of way,' Gabriel said. 'The people of that generation had said 'Well, how are we going to get to the village, the golf course is blocking us from going to the village,' and so that was the agreement, that there'd be this right of way.' Gabriel said that the right of way can't be put anywhere else, because that would constitute a detour - this right of way represents the original, direct route to the village. 'That's the original agreement. It's been there since I can remember, and I'm as old as the golf course, it's always been there,' she said. Oka Golf Club did not respond to The Eastern Door's request for comment by deadline, nor did the municipality of Oka when seeking clarity about who installed the fence and why. 'The trouble is always going to be there, simply because it still exists,' Gabriel said. 'Those posts should remain where they are, and in fact they should be wider.' On Monday, Gabriel returned to the right of way to cut back foliage that had grown up around the fence over the past few months. There, she met a non-local who claimed he was 'just driving around' on 'the edge of some reserve.' Gabriel told him that the area was for residents only and asked him to leave, and the individual refused, starting to insult her and calling her a 'crazy old lady.' Gabriel called perimeter security, but the man took off before they arrived. 'A lot of the people who come here have been very disrespectful to community members and it's just another example of the kind of people that come through here to purchase products from Kanehsatake on the 344,' Gabriel said. Gabriel said that as of Wednesday morning, the fence was still up, and the right of way still blocked. eve@ Eve Cable, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
5 days ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Women's group stands up for the Pines
Kawisaiénhne Albany was driving past the Onen'tó:kon Preservation Spot in the Pines on Tuesday when she caught glimpse of a disturbing sight - an excavator tearing into the last remaining plot of land along a strip on precious forest that has been decimated by ever-expanding cannabis stores. It's not the first time the area, community land that lies between Big Chiefs and the AAAA cannabis dispensary - both of which are also built on community land - has been encroached upon since being declared a preservation zone by the Ionkwatehontsénhne women's group, which has fought since 2020 to protect the site from further development. 'It's tiring, but I knew, and a lot of us know, this is going to be an area we're going to have to keep fighting for because it is the last lot in the Pines,' said Albany. 'Everybody keeps looking at it, and we realize we're going to have to keep fighting for this. I feel like it's never going to end.' The next morning, the women and a handful of supporters met at the site and confronted Joshua Gabriel, the owner of Big Chiefs, the store that did the construction work. Albany had been told the day before by a worker that the work was being done to make way for containers. Gabriel agreed to undo the work, although according to Albany, trees were cut in the process. Albany expressed skepticism about Gabriel's change of heart, with another member of the group echoing the same sentiment on social media, saying it is necessary to see action. Gabriel declined to comment on the situation when reached by The Eastern Door. In a letter to the community and storeowners following the incident, the Longhouse and the Ionkwatehontsénhne women's group call on Kanehsata'kehró:non to respect the sanctity of the plot of land they have declared protected. 'Our ancestors fought with strength and love to defend the Pines, and we carry that responsibility forward,' the letter reads. 'The goal of our group is to stop any further development in this sacred space and to preserve what remains - for ourselves, and more importantly, for the generations yet to come.' The letter said that the land has also been envisioned as a place to plant trees in memory of late loved ones, and that this invitation is being offered to the whole community. 'Let this land be a living memory - something that grows and protects the spirit of who we are as Onkwehón:we.' While the plot of land on Highway 344 is a symbol of resistance against a frenzy of land grabbing and environmental destruction over the past several years, many stores have continued to develop into the forest, meaning the harm to the Pines in favour of private profit has continued. 'It's the last one. They've taken so much of the Pines and turned it into - it almost looks like the Vegas Strip,' said Albany. 'I understand people need to make money, but at this point, it's just individual greed. The community doesn't reap the rewards for anything they're doing. If anything, we're being disrespected from outsiders,' said Albany, noting an uptick in stores encouraging customers to hang around rather than buy their product and leave the territory. Albany believes greater community participation is key to drawing a line in the sand on the destruction of the Pines, noting there were more people there Wednesday morning than in the past to take action. 'Maybe what we're saying, what we're doing, is creating a bigger impact, where people feel more comfortable to show up,' she said. According to Albany, the group faced a lot of blowback in 2023 when they fought against AAAA's incursion onto the spot, with rumours even circulating that they were being paid. 'This is to all the stores to let them know, you need to stop taking, but this spot specifically is the last lot we have in the Pines, and we're not giving that up and we're going to keep fighting for it,' Albany said. She recalled the Pines of her childhood, when she didn't feel the divide she feels now, when games and activities would bring Kanehsata'kehró:non together over meals and quality time. 'When I walk in the Pines, I can feel the strength from what happened in '90, and I've heard my whole life the stories my grandfather told my grandmother and my parents, and I carry that with me when I walk through the Pines,' she said. 'Why did our parents and our grandparents and our uncles and aunts fight so hard in '90 if it was just going to turn out to be this. I want my family and my ancestors to look and say okay, there's still people fighting. There's still a reason why we fought so hard in '90.' marcus@ Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
16-05-2025
- Hamilton Spectator
Oka acts on burned Mohawk lot
After around a year of being repeatedly targeted for arson, a property on Kanesatake Mohawk Territory in Oka Village has finally been cleaned up – by Oka. 'It was a health concern, and environmental concern, and the time to act was a long time coming,' said Oka mayor Pascal Quevillon. He said the city received reports of smoke coming from the pile of debris, which he said would have been ninth blaze, and had to act, saying there were spontaneous combustion risks with the property at 167 St. Jean Baptiste Street. Oka's fire chief declined to comment, referring The Eastern Door to the city. Meanwhile, the Surete du Quebec (SQ) said there was only smoke in the debris the day the property was cleaned up and that no police presence was required. 'I find this a little coincidental that it gets done the way it was done and then he moves as a justification,' said Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) chief Serge Otsi Simon, who portrayed the cleanup as an overstep by the mayor. Council had been contacted by email by the mayor this week saying the lot was smoldering and something had to be done, according to Simon, but he said the MCK was not told a cleanup was ensuing. 'It's unfortunate the way it happened, but we were moving in the direction of working it out with the family, and he cut the legs out from under us,' said Simon, noting the property's owner, Martine Trottier, only recently died. 'It's really disrespectful to Martine and her family. It's really uncalled for. It's disrespectful to the Council here that was trying to deal with it. It's really disrespectful, I tell you. I'm really ticked off at him for that.' Asked whether he saw it as an affront to the territory's sovereignty, he said 'There's no other way to look at it,' adding he first heard about the cleanup when asked about it by The Eastern Door. Quevillon defended the city's position and disagreed that it was an infringement. 'On our end, there was some urgency in the need to act. The request was made multiple times to clean up that lot, so we didn't act without telling anyone. There have been multiple requests to the band council to have that lot cleaned up,' he said, adding that it is Oka that is tasked with providing emergency fire services. 'Because of the fire safety regulations that also apply on Kanesatake's territory, given that we serve that territory for firefighting services, we needed to make sure that that area was safe, whether it is federal or not. As the fire safety agency for the Indigenous territory, we must make sure that the areas are safe and secure for everyone,' he said. 'This is all for the safety of everyone, as much for the Indigenous members of the community that live close by as for the residents of Oka and as for the tourists, as there is the Oka-Mont St-Hilaire bike path that passes next to it.' The situation had plagued the neighbourhood, including its Kanehsata'kehró:non residents, for about a year, with fears for community safety because of the nature of the debris, the risk of fire, and the presence of people with criminal intentions, not to mention the nuisance of the property. Quevillon described how the situation worsened from the first to the second blaze, with fridges, freezers, and pantries full of abandoned food, and the fire department having to take the house down to avoid collapsing walls during the second fire. 'When the machinery demolished the house, the fridges and freezers opened themselves up, and the smell that was coming out of there was horrible. All that put together meant that we had no choice but to intervene,' said Quevillon. Quevillon said Oka has paid for the cleanup but that the municipality will sit down with the MCK to come to an agreement on the cost. Meanwhile, Simon vowed the city won't see a dime from Council after unilaterally cleaning up the property. As of last month, there had been no arrests in any of the arsons. marcus@ Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
