Chiefs attending special United Nations event on Radioactive Waste on Monday

04/19/2018

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) wishes to inform the community that Grand Chief Joseph Tokwiro Norton and Nitsénhaiehns Clinton Phillips and Billy Diabo will be in New York City on Monday to participate in a special United Nations (‘U.N.’) event entitled ‘Radioactive Waste and Canada’s First Nations.’

This event is part of the larger 17th Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. Ratitsénhaienhs Norton, Phillips and Diabo are part of a group representing the Iroquois Caucus who, along with the Anishinabek Nation, has coordinated the event through the U.N.

“We have been fighting this issue for several years and, now, we have an opportunity to speak to Indigenous peoples from around the world to gain insight and share ideas,” said Phillips, who holds the Environment portfolio for the MCK. “We’ve been working closely with Grand Chief Patrick Madahbee of the Union of Ontario Chiefs and the Anishinabek Nation. We’re also pleased to have Candace Neveau, a First Nations youth and mother representing the Bawating Water protectors, here to invoke traditional values and to underscore why it is vital to keep long-lived radioactive waste away from water, the lifeblood of Mother Earth.

In addition to those mentioned above, Chiefs Troy Thompson and April Adams-Phillips of the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne will also attend as part of the Iroquois Caucus delegation. Dr. Gordon Edwards of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility and Dr. Ole Hendrickson of the Concerned Citizens of Renfrew County will attend as resource persons and technical advisors.

The event will take place at the United Nations headquarters Building from 1:15 to 2:30pm. It will be webcast live and will remain available on demand for at least three years on the U.N. website (http://webtv.un.org).