A group of Mohawk women from Kahnawake are planning a demonstration against the “genocide” perpetrated by the Catholic Church against Aboriginal people, in the wake of the Pope’s visit to Canada.
This demonstration organized by the kanien’kehà: ka kahnistensera (Mohawk mothers) — a group independent of the Band Council — is to take place on Wednesday afternoon at the foot of Mount Royal. The mountain was chosen for the event because it is a place “symbolic, in stories and oral tradition, of the Iroquois and Anishinabé communities”.
The organizers are also calling for the City of Montreal to make the cross on the mountain “disappear” “now”. It is “a symbol of their oppression”, according to Okwaraken, their press officer contacted by the To have to.
“This week is marked by the visit of Pope Francis as a representative of the most genocidal corporation in history, the Catholic Church,” the kanien’kehà: ka kahnistensera say in a statement.
They demand more than an apology from the Church: “In the Iroquoian language spoken by the first inhabitants of the St. Lawrence Valley, there is no word to say ‘I am sorry”, but only to say “I will fix it”. »
Okwaraken maintains that the announcement of the Pope’s visit to Canada was received “like a joke, like a comedy” by Mohawk mothers and by several members of the community. He laments that no priest has faced legal action for their treatment of indigenous peoples.
In addition to going against the Church, the kanien’kehà: ka kahnistensera will hold a press conference and discuss their lawsuit in the Superior Court of Quebec to try to stop the construction of the “New Vic” project of the University McGill on the site of the Victoria Hospital in Montreal. They fear that anonymous graves are under the construction site, but regret that no archaeological excavation is planned.
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