Consensus reached on all three agenda items at Membership Law Hearing

9/14/2016

The Kahnawà:ke Legislative Coordinating Commission (KLCC) would like to inform the community on the results of last evening’s Hearing on proposed amendments to the Kahnawà:ke Membership Law.

Revisions to the originally-published agenda were approved after a half-hour debate to defer discussion revolving around the Non-Member Resident sections 15, 17, 19, 20.2 for the time being since these would be more appropriately addressed in the Community Decision Making Process for a residency law. Additionally, Ietsénhaienhs Kahsennenhawe Sky-Deer (Membership Portfolio) explained that these sections would be discussed and deliberated on at the final sessions of the Hearings.

In regard to Sec. 16 (Entitlements of the Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawà:ke), there was much debate on the proposal to simplify the section by removing the eight (8) clauses except for “the Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawà:ke to reside on the Territory.” Consensus was declared after about forty minutes when the clear majority agreed with the proposal, though there were three (3) objections.

Full consensus was reached quickly on Sec. 18 (Responsibilities of Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawà:ke), with only minor wording changes (“Honor the customs…” was replaced by “Respect and protect the customs…”).

Full consensus was reached on Sec. 20.1 (Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawà:ke Pledge and Oath of Respect). While it was agreed that there is a need for a formal process to sign off once a person is recognized as a Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawà:ke, the suggestion was made to include a ‘welcoming ceremony.’ It was agreed that the ‘Oath and Respect’ in Section 20.1 was mistakenly included, so it was removed.

The next meeting will be held next Tuesday, 27 Seskehkó:wa/September 2016 at the Golden Age Club. It will be the 16th meeting in this First Hearing phase of the Community Decision Making Process. The agenda will be confirmed shortly. Relevant documents can be viewed at www.kahnawakemakingdecisions.com, the KLCC website.