Kanien'kehá:ka
Kahnawà:ke
MyKahnawà:ke : The community plan led by the Kanien'kehá:ka of Kahnawà:ke
Kahnawà:ke, meaning ‘on or by the rapids,’ is a Kanien’kehá:ka community located approximately 15 kilometers south of Tiohtiá:ke (Montreal) on the shore of the Kaniatarowá:nen (St. Lawrence River). Kahnawà:ke is one of nine Kanien’kehá:ka communities in Quebec, Ontario and New York State (see map). Today, the current population of those living within the community is 8,055 (as of March 2018) and an additional 3,141 members living in different parts of what is known to the Rotinonhsόn:ni / Haudenosaunee as Turtle Island (North America).
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What was the starting point of the CCP?
It started with the 2009 Kahnawà:ke Community Shared Vision Statement. The Kahnawà:ke Vision Committee, an ad-hoc group of Kahnawa’kehró:non, created through community consultation, developed and presented a Shared Vision Statement for Kahnawà:ke to the community. The aim of this Shared Vision Statement was to publicize the expressed values and hopes for what the community would be by the year 2029.
Although this was endorsed by both the community and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke at the time, active support for the vision soon diminished. And, although organizations used it as the foundation for their strategic activities, there was no continuity, collaboration, analysis, measurement, or evaluation of the Shared Vision Statement objectives.
Most agree that this grassroots initiative was a great start and that something more was needed. In 2015, a three-day Kahnawà:ke Community Organizational Summit, attended by Kahnawà:ke’s key leadership, brought together community organizations, political leaders, and program leads to review and identify new priorities.
Of the many priorities identified, there were two that directly affected the Community-Led Planning Process.
First, it should be recalled that an ad-hoc working group called the Kahnawà:ke Social Policy Working Group was created prior to the Summit. It was comprised of:
- Tewatohnhi’saktha (Kahnawà:ke Economic Development Commission)
- Kahnawà:ke Education Center
- Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (Social Assistance Portfolio)
- Kateri Memorial Hospital
This group came together to look at living conditions for youth in the community, share data, and target where the services were duplicated and identify service gaps. They wanted to understand why youth were falling through the cracks with so many social services available in the community, why the unemployment rate was so high, and why many did not complete or continue their education. To address these issues, they agreed that there was a need to coordinate their efforts and collaborate to really help Kahnawa’kehró:non. This group subsequently evolved into the Kahnawà:ke Collective Impact Movement (KCI), whose work was also identified as a priority at the Summit.
Second, they identified the need and desire to have a collective, comprehensive community planning process (CCP). A CCP would be the map for how to move the community forward together on a path toward a sustainable and prosperous future by coordinating, aligning, engaging, and including all visions, missions, and plans with all sectors of the community.
To ensure that the leadership and administration were ready to implement the changes and move in the direction the community wanted to see, the Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke (MCK) secured funding for a CCP Coordinator position. Through CCP, a community-led initiative, the community was now a priority for Kahnawà:ke. As such, and since June 2017, the CCP Coordinator has been working closely with the MCK and the other community organizations, grassroots initiatives and with KCI to align action with the 2009 Kahnawà:ke Community Shared Vision Statement.
How did the planning process move forward?
In 2018, representatives from both KCI and CCP met and discussed how their objectives aligned. Both initiatives had similar mandates: to create a long-term community plan with ongoing measurement and evaluation; to set up a steering committee and action teams to champion the process; to ensure political and organizational leadership support; and, to make connections and begin building meaningful relationships with organizations and the community. However, where the objectives were similar, their scope/focus differed greatly. The coordinators agreed to a two-pronged approach to their individual and collective development.
While KCI focused on specific areas for systemic change (i.e., social and economic issues), CCP’s mandate was to engage the whole community on their vision and priorities, and to work on ownership of the process through improving communication channels between community entities (leadership, organizations, etc.).
CCP engaged the community on whether they desired or were ready for change in 2017. What surfaced was that the community was ready for a CCP but unsure as to whether change was possible and/or whether the community’s leadership and organizational structures had the tools in place that would be required to communicate and collaborate effectively. Apathy and lack of safety were the prevailing feelings that came from this community engagement.
To address this together, CCP and KCI were directed by the KCI Roundtable (formerly Social Policy Group) that they would each take on different responsibilities and continue to work toward the development of a joint strategy and communications plan. This would lead to later collaboration as their relationship became clearer, and opportunities became available.
The KCI team and the CCP Coordinator then explored what was needed to build the community’s support and trust. It was agreed that KCI would focus on community activities: Steering Committee and Action Team development, the development of priorities, and community engagement. CCP would focus on how the eventual Comprehensive Community Plan would be implemented, by focusing on the development of internal mechanisms and interfaces for two-way communication between all parties.
A KCI Steering Committee and a fiscal oversight body (KCI Roundtable) were formalized. Multiple community engagement activities were also held by KCI, with support from the CCP Coordinator. Six priority areas were identified by Kahnawa’kehró:non:
- Food sovereignty
- Language and culture
- Wholistic health and wellness for youth
- Economic development
- Kahwá:tsire – family
- A Community Plan to Fulfill our Shared Vision (CCP)
Action teams were created for each KCI priority, with collaboration between community members, organizations, and departments. The CCP became the bridge or catalyst between community priorities and the priorities of the political/administrative sector.
What changes did CCP bring in Kahnawà:ke?
Kahnawà:ke stands out with its diverse and efficient community services, strong government system, broad infrastructure, engaged youth and dedicated community organizations. With so many strengths already in place, it was clear from the beginning that, in Kahnawà:ke, CCP would be more about alignment than other types of development.
For the community, alignment means:
Integrating a community-based process of governance and planning focused on the Vision Statement, which was translated into the creation of a portfolio system that focuses on 16 priority areas identified through the community’s vision. The portfolio structure promotes collaboration and communication between the Council of Chiefs, MCK departments, community organizations and the community.
Changing the relationship between leadership, administration, organizations, and community members, through community-led planning. Elected officials recognize the need to align their actions and priorities on the community’s vision, and spaces are created for increased discussion between leadership, administration, and organizations (e.g., Leadership summit). Therefore, support for KCI and CCP was identified in all MCK Portfolio Team mandates.
Focusing the objectives of the Kahnawà:ke Executive Directors’ Committee (EDC), a body comprised of all nine community mandated organizations’ Executive Directors, to work towards organizational strategic alignment between their respective organizations.
Nurturing relationships, by creating safe spaces for sharing and working through issues. Multiple workshops have been and will be offered to leadership, staff, and community members around recognizing trauma and lateral violence and moving towards lateral kindness. Sharing circles are also held regularly, and healing sessions offered through multiple organizations.
Holding collaborative engagement sessions to ensure that community members’ voices are fully heard and respected. The CCP Coordinator collaborates with various unit, departments, organizations, and initiatives to facilitate engagement, ensuring that the data collected keeps feeding the CCP process, KCI priorities and the sectoral planning initiative. This prevents engagement fatigue and increases the impact of Kahnawa’kehró:non voices.
In November 2020, the KCI Steering Committee joined forces with CCP and officially approved and realized the collaboration between CCP and KCI by rebranding the CCP and KCI Priority: A community plan to fulfill our shared vision into MyKahnawà:ke: Kahnawà:ke’s Comprehensive Community-Led Plan.
Improving communications and collaborations with community and leadership, by ensuring the CCP Coordinator acts as a bridge between the KCI Steering Committee and the 16 portfolio teams of the MCK. The planning team uses a huge diversity of communication means to reach members, ensuring more demographics are kept informed and engaged (e.g., Kitchen assemblies, leadership summits, surveys, social media, videos, circles, etc.).
“On a community level, one of the biggest changes we see is the openness toward healing and sharing that comes from creating an environment for relationship, safe spaces, etc. There has been an increase in healing opportunities in and around the community on and individual and collective basis.”
What are the next steps?
For Kahnawà:ke, the alignment efforts and the work with the community continue. Through MyKahnawà:ke: Kahnawàke’s Comprehensive Community Plan, the goal is to keep conveying the mandate of the CCP.
Top priorities include nurturing relationships by:
- Providing training on trauma-informed approaches, and lateral violence.
- Recognizing that the community strategic alignment is based on creating trust and continuing to offer healing workshops and other opportunities to learn, and that this is the way of Indigenous philosophy.
- Further ensuring community strategic alignment, as the CCP Coordinator will be continuing to work with the MCK Executive Directors’ office and the Community’s Executive Director’s Committee along with the community.
- Planning more collaboration between KCI, CCP, and others such as the Kahnawà:ke Governance Project (KGOV) and Skátne Aionkwaweientehtonhátie with joint engagement activities. Therefore, data provided by the community will be shared by all and used to develop all these projects further.
- Not waiting until the CCP is written (projected Spring 2024) to begin implementing the changes the community wants to see.
- Continuing collaboration with many upcoming engagements and ensuring collaboration with the community, especially with the youth, on identifying and achieving their vision and setting their priorities.
To learn more, visit the Kahnawà:ke Collective Impact website :
