[Indigsol] Hour: Mohawk youth speak out

[Lia Tarachansky]

* Hour: Mohawk youth speak out*
http://www.hour.ca/news/news.aspx?iIDArticle=15817

by Stefan Christoff

* Issues in Mohawk communities located near Montreal - Kahnawake to the
south, and Kanehsatake to the west - don't often make it onto the radar.*

But Mohawk youth represent a growing population that is becoming
increasingly organized, a political and cultural force that represents a
profound challenge to national narratives in both Canada and Quebec.

While still recovering from centuries of colonization, and from
institutional efforts by the Canadian government - like the residential
school systems - to erase indigenous culture, a new generation of Mohawks in
the surrounding regions of Montreal are increasingly banding together to
articulate important discussions about how to preserve their land and
culture for future generations.

"All the major political parties will not openly recognize the fact that
they are operating on native land, a fact that is recognized even within the
Canadian anthem," explains Merrick Kahroniakete Diabo of the youth
empowerment group Making Adult Decisions (MAD) in Kahnawake.

Culture is a key concern today for young people in Kahnawake, as efforts to
revive and sustain the Mohawk language are ongoing. For a generation coming
of age at a time of increasing economic hardship - many indigenous
communities across Canada live in conditions on reservations described as
similar to those in the Third World - self-sufficiency is an increasing
priority, as is the goal of securing a larger native land base.

"Youth are very upset with the situation facing our community and also
indigenous people across Turtle Island [North America]," continues Diabo.
"[We] are feeling that many community leaders, specifically the
government-backed band councils, never take any real action to improve our
conditions, despite the often dire circumstances, from suicides to extreme
malnutrition."

For many young Mohawk, having access to a viable land base is at the heart
of their concerns and present-day struggle. Ongoing development, referred to
as encroachment, is viewed as a threat to the survival of future
generations. "Land encroachments equal the loss of our identity as Mohawk
people," explains Roxanne Karonhiarokwas, an organizer in Kahnawake. "Land
is becoming very tight on the reservation and land is central to our
identity as Mohawk people. We are now being boxed into a [small] piece of
territory that is so tiny compared to our traditional land use areas that
once covered most of the Montreal region."

Recently many Mohawk have mobilized against Quebec government plans to build
a major expansion of Highway 30 on traditional Mohawk land surrounding
Kahnawake. Youth have protested along with traditionalists on the reserve,
like the Mohawk Traditional Council, who also oppose the highway development
(as do major environmental organizations like Greenpeace and Équiterre).

"Highway 30 is being sold by the Quebec government as a plan 'for the
future,' however for our future as Mohawks, this type of development is only
a death sentence for future generations," continues Karonhiarokwas. "[We]
have been strongly standing against this highway expansion, which will
pollute our land and future. [It will further] box-in Kahnawake, which is
already surrounded by so many highways."

Beyond Kahnawake, young indigenous people in Canada are increasingly
asserting a newfound political identity, which is rooted in an understanding
of native nations as independent from the Canadian political structure, a
stand rooted in a view of Canada as a country constructed through colonial
encroachment.

Land rights and treaties are expected to become a major international issue
in the lead-up to the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, as native
youth, and specifically the Native Youth Movement, plan big protests. In
front of the entire world, they hope to turn native land claims into
"Canada's Tibet."

"Until today, treaties are not being respected," explains Kahehti:io, a
Mohawk from Kahnawake. "From the Highway 30 expansion to the fact that all
the major Canadian political parties will not recognize that they are living
on stolen land, we are facing a major challenge in illustrating to the world
that the real history of Canada is a history of colonization that has and
continues to dispossess our people."

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-- 
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution
inevitable"- John F. Kennedy - In a speech at the White House, 1962
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