No consensus reached in Membership Law Community Consultation

12/04/2013

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawà:ke would like to inform the community that no consensus was reached in last evening’s 16th Community Consultation on proposed amendments to the Kahnawà:ke Membership Law.

The discussion centered on the proposed definition for ‘great-grandparent,’ as the lack of a clear definition in the current Membership Law is problematic. Several options were discussed, from ‘very strict’ to ‘lenient’ interpretation for the definition.

“While there was no official consensus, both groups came to the conclusion that there seems to be no other option but to use blood quantum in the definition,” said membership Portfolio Chief Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer. “Even those who were against using blood quantum were unable to come up with an acceptable alternative. But it’s clear that there is a wide spectrum of opinion on how strict this should be, and there’s work to be done before we reconvene in the New Year.

“In particular, one group wanted to use criteria that would see the need for all four great-grandparents to have at least fifty percent (50%) blood quantum, which would actually be more strict than the requirements from the old 1984 law,” she concluded.

Fourteen community members participated.

No date has been set for the next Community Consultation, though it was confirmed that it would be in 2014. Last evening’s meeting was the final Community Decision Making Process event for this year.