Charles Kader: Mohawk people living through a new border war

The recent communication from the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne band council regarding American border security initiatives reveals a basic human understanding. No person or group should be treated with disdain based upon who they are as people, or where they live. Many would see it as a fundamental right of existence being violated. It is at least a quality of life reference point. Or do national security concerns outweigh plain common sense here?

Understand that when a Canadian First Nation government feels it necessary to respond to the implicit grandstanding of a New York congressman, it speaks volumes about the establishment of public expectations. Criminalizing the thousands of people who proudly live here, for where they live, really strikes at the heart of American “values.” This concept of wholesale conviction is counterproductive.

Historically, the border was wrongly laid through the Akwesasne Territory. The “original” survey team that embarked from Lake Champlain to St. Regis Village had numerous deficiencies working against it, when the border was first being mapped. The Mohawk islands on the St. Lawrence River have never been properly addressed. No input from anyone at Akwesasne was ever brought to play while all of this was going on. Normalizing these errors, whether planned or incidental, has led to alienation and numerous disaffected Mohawk residents, living on both sides of this imposed northern boundary.

Jumping to the present day, the place is thriving, amidst a bleaker depressed regional landscape. Population is way up. More children are being taught to understand their roots and language. Retired tribal members come back here to live out the rest of their days. The phenomenon of a stable population base is a trend-buster for the other neighboring North Country communities in the region. Brain drain is in full effect in those declining areas.