Joseph said he would be happy, and feel reconciled, if people would just listen to his story and understand. It seems the distance between the metropolis of reconciliation and the villages of continued enmity is just a few clicks on the odometer. But she also noted the continuing legal challenge by municipalities near Kahnawake of a Quebec court ruling that reversed some of the land grabs that have nibbled away more than half the area originally reserved for the Mohawk. In an interview after the ceremony, Christine Zachary-Deom, chief of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, gave some credit to the mayor and to churches, universities and high schools in the city for working to reduce discrimination and improve opportunities for the 30,000 Indigenous people who live in Montreal. Joe Norton, grand chief of the Mohawks of Kahnawake, offered what may have been his own reflection on liberties taken and permissions not sought when he held Joseph's hands in his and said, "Welcome to Mohawk territory and to the great city of Montreal, one of our most prosperous suburbs." Kahnawake could less amusingly be described as an invisible suburb of Montreal, not much talked about in the city unless someone is blocking a bridge. As several Indigenous speakers said, it was in fact a series of solemn rituals that would not normally be seen outside a potlatch. The non-Indigenous people who witnessed the ceremonies applauded after each dance and took many photos, as if they were attending an open-air entertainment. Mayor Denis Coderre and Manon Gauthier, the Montreal council member responsible for culture, both hailed the anniversary as a worthy occasion for the pole's presence in the heart of the city's Golden Square Mile for the next six months.Ĭoderre described his city as "the metropolis of reconciliation." He also told Joseph: "We understand all the suffering that you endured. No one asked permission of Indigenous peoples to put their children into residential schools to adopt them out during the Sixties Scoop or to continue with other acts of destruction perpetrated against Indigenous families to this day.Īnd of course, no one asked the people native to the Island of Montreal whether it was okay for a party of French evangelicals to found a city here in 1642 and begin their mission of converting the heathen.Īnd yet the raising of the pole, and the open-air La Balade pour la Paix exhibition of which it is the first instalment, is part of the official program for the city's 375th anniversary. All of it unfolded next to a pole that referred to a narrative of assimilation in which courtesy and respect were completely absent. Eli Charlie, the young man who sang and drummed most of the songs, said that each belonged to a family that had granted permission for it to be sung in Montreal.Įach part of the ceremony involved multiple layers of courtesy and respect. There was also an act of permission inherent in each performance of a song. The ceremony itself was a complex event in which the key word was "permission." Montreal stands on Kanien'keha:ka (Mohawk) territory, so after a dance to bless the ground, Joseph and his community asked Mohawk leaders to be allowed to place the pole on their land. Presenting the tale and getting others to know and understand it "became part of my healing journey."
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