Kanien'kehá:ka
Kanehsatà:ke
Kanehsatà:ke First Nation
Kanehsatà:ke is a Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) community on the shore of Tékeni Teionòn:te (lake of Two Mountains) in southeastern Quebec, at the mouths of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers and about 45 kilometres west of Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). People who reside in Kanehsatà:ke are referred to as Kanehsata’kehró:non. As of 2022, the total registered population was 2,760, with a total of about 1,363 persons living on the territory. Together with the sister community of Kahnawà:ke, they control and have hunting and fishing rights on Tioweró:ton (Doncaster 17 Indian Reserve).
What was the
starting point
of the CCP for Kanehsatà:ke?
In 2018, representatives of the Kanehsatà:ke Council of Chiefs took part in a presentation on CCP by the FNQLSDI’s team. Through CCP, they saw an opportunity to better align the work of the Council with community members’ priorities. They approached the FNQLSDI and secured an initial two years of funding. A job posting was produced for a CCP Champion to launch and support the process. Unfortunately, the position stayed vacant, and eventually, the Council of Chiefs approached the Land Management department and gave them the mandate of developing a Comprehensive Community Plan (CCP). At the time, in 2019, the Land Management team was already doing community engagement and holding workshops with the community to complete its previous mandates (land use planning, renovation of the cemetery, etc.). Their engagement and communications expertise were key in ensuring the CCP moved ahead. The Manager and her assistant became the co-CCP Coordinators (aka Champions).
How did the planning process move forward?
With the CCP in the capable hands of the Land Management team, the work began to communicate the concept of community-led planning to the community and to discuss it with the various sectors of the administration. Multiple media were used to reach as many people as possible: Facebook group, website, brochures, etc. The planning process was also presented to Kanehsata’kehró:non at a community meeting. At the beginning, some community members saw the planning process as a way of identifying everything that was wrong in Kanehsatà:ke and perceived CCP as a solution, a way to “fix” the community.
In this context, the CCP Coordinators chose to approach the planning process through healing, creating spaces where members could speak and listen to each other, feeling safe to share their dreams and challenges. Starting with the different departments of the administration and the Council of Chiefs, the CCP Coordinators organized a series of “Moving from lateral violence to lateral kindness” workshops. After the elections, they also met with the new Council of Chiefs to discuss their important roles in the planning process.
In 2020, with the pandemic raging, many engagement and training activities had to be put on hold, but the team continued getting people interested in the plan through their online presence. In 2021, they slowly began engaging again through Zoom and in-person workshops whenever possible. They held three workshops with community members and administrative staff, as well as youth engagement sessions, which allowed them to learn about the youth’s dreams for their community.
How changes
did CCP bring in Kanehsatà:ke?
After conducting workshops and multiple engagements with the community and the administration, one of the major things that have changed for Kanehsatà:ke is people’s openness toward community-led planning. Kanehsata’kehró:non are now looking forward to sharing their dreams and vision. The word of CCP is being spread and the CCP Coordinators continue to do their best to engage as many people as possible. This, amongst other things, has resulted in :
Increased opportunities for youth and Elders’ voices to be heard and to participate in decision-making processes: youth and Elders have voiced their desire to be more involved in the planning process, so the CCP team put in a funding proposal to support the creation of a Youth Committee and an Elders’ Committee.
Supporting individual and collective healing, through healing sessions: healing helps foster deep conversations on the issues that are important to Kanehsata’kehró:non, and to identify the changes they want to see.
Creating awareness and trust through trauma-recognition workshops: this training helps create spaces where people feel safe enough to share their ideas and participate in the planning process, by building awareness around relationship building, trauma, triggers, etc.
Offering different activities has led to new people being engaged in the planning process, bringing new voices and new opportunities to the CCP, and ensuring the process is increasingly representative of the community’s diversity.
What are the next
steps?
There is still a lot of communication work to be completed to ensure CCP is known, and for all Kanehsata’kehró:non to have an opportunity to participate. The CCP Coordinators are planning to conduct more sessions on lateral kindness and trauma recognition, and to continue community engagement, including an activity to develop a community timeline. The creation of the two committees—Youth and Elders—will help the CCP team ensure that the community planning process is sustainable and inclusive.
To learn more about the process :