Mohawk Council of Kahnawake reiterates position to community regarding Quebec Election
04/02/2014
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) wishes to reiterate its position to Kahnawa’kehró:non on Provincial and Federal elections.
“As stated earlier, Kahnawà:ke has long held the position of refraining from participating in outside (Federal and Provincial) elections,” said Grand Chief Michael Ahríhron Delisle, Jr. “However, since this election seems to have elicited high emotions by some of our people, we believe it would be a good to remind Kahnawa’kehró:non of the rationale for our position.”
- The Two Row Wampum directs our People to ‘remain in our canoe,’ while outside governments are to remain in theirs. We may travel the same river in the same direction but each does not interfere in the affairs of the other.
- High voter turnout in outside systems could be interpreted by some to indicate willingness by the community to accept outside processes that we have long rejected, which would have a detrimental effect on our identity and possibly jeopardize our collective rights.
- It is highly unlikely that our participation will have much effect on the results, as Kahnawa’kehró:non make up only a small percentage of eligible voters. Additionally, there is little to be gained, as there is no vote for the actual leaders in Canadian politics.
Kahnawà:ke has to deal with Canadian and Provincial governments every day. While some governments are more challenging to deal with than others, The MCK has no choice but to engage them. It serves no purpose to choose sides because, regardless of who is elected, it is not our government.
“As we stated earlier, people have their own free will and we cannot stop them from voting in that system if they choose,” Grand Chief Delisle said. “But many people want to know why the MCK maintains its position and, so, we have listed some of those reasons.”
“This election has many Kahnawa’kehró:non worried,” he concluded. “Our job is to make certain that we have the proper knowledge and tools to engage governments properly on the community’s behalf. Our strength is Kahnawà:ke itself.”
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