Akwesasronon take matters into their own hands

 

Fentanyl abuse was clearly noted on signs over the past weekend's protest.

In what started as a single person standing on Route 37 with a homemade sign has turned into a weekend long protest against drug abuse. Akwesasronon Will Bear Sunday created a homemade sign, stood on Route 37 and shared his message, "Get the Fentanyl out of Akwesasne".

In the wake of recent deaths from overdose in Akwesasne, community members are taking a stand against the sale of illegal drugs, the drug dealers themselves and along with this - offering help and support to any person abusing drugs.

As the weekend opened, more and more people came out to share their messages to drug dealers and to drug users. By Sunday afternoon, over twenty people could be seen countering drug use in Akwesasne.

No one had asked Sunday to go out by himself and hold a sign and he didn't ask anyone to stand with him. They just showed up with their own signs and stood with him.

Sunday stated, "I would like to think everyone has had enough. My cousin overdosed, then a close friend overdosed and another friend in Massena died of an overdose".

His sign was a play on words, "Get the Fentanyl out of Akwesasne" was based on 'Get the F- Out of Akwesasne'. Sunday said the words were taken literally, losing it context; he meant all abusive drugs, not just Fentanyl.

Sunday said it was good to see SRMTP Matt Rourke and Norm King from AMPS to show their support.

He added, "Just stop selling to our people, a drug dealer is culpable, and they should be held accountable for the recent deaths in our area. Seems as if I've lit the match but I'm going to step back and still continue to support this going forward".

Unrelated to the Route 37 protestors, but still connected, a group of young mothers gathered to act on their frustration of the severity of drug use in Akwesasne. The young mothers gathered at a friend's house and then drove to alleged drug dealers' residences. Once the young Moms arrived at the alleged drug dealer's home, the group stood outside singing traditional songs and offered words of support and guidance. As the group sang songs, one mom stated they had counted over fifty had pulled up to the residence. Again, the young moms offered songs, support and guidance.

According to some of the moms, there are allegedly almost 80 homes in Akwesasne where illegal drugs are sold.

As the young moms gathered each evening, more and more Akwesasronon wanted to join. The singing added a calmness to what could potentially be a volatile situation. In one video shown on Facebook, all participants in the gathering were calm, maintained their space from the home and all the while offering words of support for drug users and drug dealers alike.

A number of community residents made their voices clear – they are tired of family members, friends, and relatives dying from drug overdoses. Photo by MJKS.

Chrissy Jacobs stated, "Niawen to the community members young and old who came out to sing and show encouragement and love to our people suffering. To hear they are loved, they matter and are important is what we wanted to do tonight. We're done pretending we don't know what you are doing. If we saved one life tonight, it was worth it. I encourage each neighborhood to show your people you love them. When we really got jamming tonight, I teared up. Kids on bikes came. One guy said "I thought I heard singing...I thought no way. So, I came to see." It was beautiful starry night to stand with one another."

Another added, "Call mothers antis". Yeah, we are anti-scumbag. Anti-rapist. Anti-profit off the death of our people. Anti-complacent. Anti-sacrifice our kids for someone else's pocket. Anti-women being trafficked. You know what real warriors do? They protect the women and the children. They stand their people up. And guess what? That's what happened last night. So, say anything you want I don't care, but if you needed support to change, you'd have it. I've buried enough people to know I don't want to bury more if it's preventable.

 

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