Charles Kader: Mohawk man looked for signs of escaped prisoners

The area in the vicinity of the Akwesasne Mohawk Territory has been in the news yet again. Not for all of the usual reasons that residents are so weary of. No, those issues were all pushed aside in early June as soon as two convicted killers cut their way out of the maximum security Clinton Correctional Facility, located in nearby Dannemora, New York. The old days before these two men’s names were splashed daily across print and the airwaves.

Several prisons are located in the area, part of the historic Mohawk homelands that have been involved in ongoing land claim lawsuits. The scarcity of population in the Adirondack region speaks to the remoteness this far upstate.

Fewer Natives work at the correctional facilities than are serving out criminal sentences at any given time. From those connections, it has been understood that corrections officers will tell prisoners if they ever manage to escape, avoid the Mohawk settlements nearby since it might be their last stop.

The many seasonal camps and remote deer hunting shacks could be prime pickings for men on the run.

One hundred miles in this area is not a great distance when travelling here. Personal friendships often are maintained through generations, not just distance. The binding ties of community here tighten during emergency. The length of time of the escapee absence, as well as the sheer number of law enforcement officers involved in the search, qualified that label.

The escaped killers from Dannemora were in their third week on the lam when the Akwesasne Bear Clan member Kanaretiio (aka Roger Jock) began to hear a murmuring. It started with some younger people.

He was repeatedly asked the same question. “What are you doing about this?”