Dear Editor,

 In fairness to my fellow St. Regis Mohawk Tribal members, I now truly appreciate the point in history which we now stand. Where once displaced Abenaki and Algonquin people came to gather here, where Louis Cook (African-Abenaki) once governed at “The Land Where the Partridge Drums,” the palisades now stand high to outsiders and Mohawks alike, showing the “stockade mentality” in all its glory. In Akwesasne today, we have no more partridge coveys (flocks or families) left alive, and very little land that we actually control. Other than that, everything is grand, at least to some.

Getting right to the heart of the matter at hand, I am a Massena, New York resident who plans to run for the elected position of “Chief” of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe. I have lived in the North Country since 2005, and have been observing the activity of our federally recognized tribe since before that time through the media. I became a tribal member in 2000, following long deliberations of that era’s membership committee, a stint in the Tribal Clerk Office “black box”, and through the intercession of US Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. I will also add that I began an academic internship at the Akwesasne Notes in the summer of 1992, which finished up in Kahnawake with the fledgling Eastern Door newspaper. It is hard to come back to a place you have never been. I carry my genealogy with me in a satchel in case I need to prove who I am, I have been asked so many times.

While it is true that literally no-one knows my mother, Annabelle Evans-Kader, who is an enrolled member of the Kahnawake band, my lineage to Akwesasne extends to my relative, Mary Kahrienentha Jacobs, who lived in the Village of St. Regis before she married and moved to Kahnawake years ago. Additionally, her daughter Mary Oronhienhawi Cross, left me her birth certificate, dated October 14, 1944, and signed by the Reverend M. K. Jacobs. To those interested, my mother is of the Turtle Clan.

I am familiar with the trials and tribulations of the late Erma White Moore, a former legislator with the Constitutional Government, who was disallowed from assuming office as a tribal trustee “Chief” due to her residence in North Lawrence, New York, despite winning the necessary votes.

My family boomed out as ironworkers and settled in Seneca Country in Northwestern Pennsylvania in the port city of Erie, formerly of the Cat Nation, as ironworkers of Local #348. Sadly, that era passed, and I as a young man made plans to return North to rejoin the People of the Flint. I am an honorably discharged veteran of the US Army - 25th Infantry Division, and earned a Bachelors of Science degree in Communication, a Masters degree in Library Science, and a Masters degree in Law Enforcement. I have worked as a laborer, as a librarian, in colleges and even a prison. I married a high school classmate while I worked on the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana.

I believe that tribal political leaders currently in office mean well, but repeatedly fail to see the value of involvement of what has been described by Sub-Chief LaFrance as “the silent majority.” Going door to door is an enlightening experience. Governance begins with a cast vote, it does not end there. yet some in office today think that they have a mandate with 2% of the possible voters participating. Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

In the 2006 tribal election, Ms. Tracy Sunday-Cook was allowed to run for the position of Tribal Clerk against incumbent Patricia Thomas. Ms. Sunday-Cook at the time of that election, also lived in the Village of Massena, on the steppes of the Grasse River, on the same road that I live on today. She was allowed to run due to the executive decision of Chief James Ransom, who this coming year is himself seeking re-election since being elected continuously since 2003.

The tribe has seen chiefs elected who lived off-territory in Rochester for thirty-five years, but because they had land in Akwesasne, they were considered eligible. Other chiefs have run on the reputation that they were born on the territory, were raised on the territory, and perhaps have never left. I cannot say that is my approach. I know that I will have to work even harder because I do not own any land. I have lived in Akwesasne, but not at the present time. Housing shortages currently exist, preventing my residency. Also, I have been informed that due to my wife being non-native, that I should live in Massena (or anywhere other than Akwesasne) where it is more accepted. My pledge as a candidate would be that I will be in Akwesasne each and every possible day as an elected “Chief” so that Akwesasronon have someone who will listen to their needs at the time of those needs and provide immediate feedback. Let the rest of the tribal council do the traveling to do the work of the tribe. I will have to get the permission of tribal members before I leave the territory to do that work.

As a true outsider, I have no bias against any family, individual, road, or religion of Akwesasne. My neutrality gives everyone a fair shot, so to speak. I just need to be able to run as a candidate, following recent past practice and precedent. Why would anyone fear me being elected, the long-shot that might happen?

I was told by a current member of tribal council that I do not have to do this. In disagreement with that view, in light of the absence of organized political parties that steer Akwesasne elections, I feel that I am letting down the tribal members who feel that their vote does not count any longer, so they no longer participate. As a result of that situation, decisions are made on their behalf without their consent. I refuse to accept that I am unwelcome as a candidate. If Louis Cook in historical times can be a chief, so can I.

nia:wen kowa

- Charles Jason Kader  aka “Chaz”