AkwesasneWomensFire.com was setup and is managed by Monica Peters. We have Onkwehonwe journalists that live , work, and roam freely around our community of Akwesasne. You can use the search function at the top right of our website to search for any topic, date, or person that is found in Akwesasne.
AkwesasneWomensFire.com website posts updates about crisis events in Akwesasne, so that family and friends that are not in our community can see what is going on back home in Akwesasne.
AkwesasneWomensFire.com also posts information about older and rare documents that help Onkwehonwe to discover the origins of Akwesasne, the people, the laws, the treaties, and the politics that are discussed in regards to Akwesasne.
AkwesasneWomensFire.com also shares stories, pictures, videos, events, and news about events happening around Akwesasne. This website also promotes Akwesasne community groups, individuals, and local business.
Anyone from Akwesasne is welcome to post their comments, stories, pictures, videos, audio, and links to their own local group and business, and local events. It’s easy: just register then login.
Be sure to add your own website to your profile when you register, so that your website will be easily found by our visitors when they view your profile. Any comment or story that you post on AkwesasneWomensFire.com will be listed on your profile. We receive more than 300 unique visitors each day, that sincerely want to support our community of Akwesasne.
Your contact information will not be shared, sold, or leased with any third parties and is only used to manage this website.
My name is Monica Peters. I am Onkwehonwe, a Published Author, Journalist, VLogger, Web Applications Developer (iPhone, SEO, MultiMedia, AIML). Contact me: admin@AkwesasneWomensFire.com 
Can you explain what exactly you mean by Onkwehonwe? How is this different from all the other labels (Mohawk, native, First Nation, etc)?
I think your question deserves an entire post to adequately explain the answer, as I personally understand.
A brief answer for now:
I will do my best to post a detailed response for you, within the next few days. It’s very busy here, so I appreciate your patience, your interest, and your support.
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From Brett Mackey 2009-11-06 07:40 to RCMP Sgt. Mr. Harvey
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Mr. Harvey
I would like to express my concern in your role of delivering a YouTube video without the consent of the copyright holder -Monica Peters- to CJOH news which aired the video on November 3rd. The following text is from YouTube in regards to using third party videos.
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General Copyright Inquiries: Permission to use videos?
The rights to any screen shots or footage of third party content on our site are not ours to grant. You would need to follow up with the individual content owners regarding the rights to this footage. You may want to try emailing the user through your YouTube account.
*******************************************
According to Monica Peters the video supplied was edited to hide ownership details and the delivery of the video was attributed to RCMP sources by Scott Hannant of CTV. As you are named the contact I am curious if the RCMP has a policy in providing information to news agencies without acknowledgment of ownership and with little or no contextual information?
As you are well aware the border situation at Cornwall and Akwesasne is extremely sensitive and unsolicited information, that may be construed as misleading, sent to news media is both provocative and potentially dangerous. I hold the RCMP to higher ethical standards than is evidenced by your actions.
Regards,
Brett Mackey
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Subject: Re: Copyright theft and Misinformation?
Date: Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:51:38 -0500
From: Michael Harvey
To: Brett Mackey
Brett,
thanks for your concern. I often share public web sites to my media contacts to provide awareness on all issues regarding the border issues here in the Cornwall-Akwesasne area. I understand that the media agencies would then look into the legalities of sharing or airing any material that may not be public or needs approval.
If you have another concerns please let me know.
Sgt. Michael Harvey
Cornwall RCMP Detachment
Tel: 613-937-2831
Cell: 613-551-0747
Fax: 613-937-2804
E-Mail: michael.harvey@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
Monica you may want to bring international attention on issues happening here. About Oprah, just a suggestion…They always looking for interesting stories. Akwesasne needs support from other communities. You’ll be surprise to see that people care but if they don’t know what happening here they can’t help. Human rights is a subject that some people are very interesting in. Peace
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Subject: Re: Copyright theft and Misinformation?
Date: 2009-11-07
From: Brett Mackey
To: Sgt. Michael Harvey, Cornwall RCMP Detachment
>>>
I appreciate your quick response and while I agree that the copyright issues lay largely with the media agencies you do have a responsibility to the media owners that copyright law is respected.
I am still puzzled as to your motives in supplying web sites to the media. Are these actions taken with any particular mandate in mind? Is there an accompanying brief with each website or video supplied?
Certainly public awareness of the border issue is very important
although I find the RCMP’s role perplexing in that it feels obliged to take on the role of journalists in educating the public.
Regards,
Brett
>>>>
From: Michael Harvey
Sent: November 9, 2009 8:10 AM
To: Brett Mackey
Subject: Re: Copyright theft and Misinformation?
Brett,
To also clarify, I forwarded the Watertown Times article that had the You Tube link at the very bottom. I did not go and search on You Tube and send it out. I do not take on role of journalist but my role does include educating the public on the border integrity issues we have in this area. And the media plays a big role in getting the message out there in educating the public.
I understand your concerns and I will focus more on getting our RCMP enforcement actions out to the media.
Michael
Here is a link to the mandate of Sgt. Michael Harvey
Cornwall RCMP Detachment. They have no mention of working as journalists in any capacity: http://www.rcmp-grc.gc.ca/on/detach/cornwall-eng.htm
The Mandate stated on the above link states
“Mandate
The mandate of Cornwall Detachment is the enforcement of Federal Statutes and the Criminal Code. The enforcement units are all focused on the RCMP priorities of disrupting organized crime and terrorist activities and are divided as follows:
•Customs and Excise Section
•Federal Enforcement Section
•Criminal Intelligence Section: Cornwall has an Integrated unit which includes CBSA, CCPS, OPP, NYSP, USBP and ICE. Our role is to coordinate our efforts to make sure all the units are intelligence led.
•Youth and Community Service Officer: Mandate is geared toward crime reduction. This section works hand in hand with numerous community partners to plan and implement many varied community activities for local youths. These programs include, Racing Against Drugs (link) and Safe Grad.
Because of our proximity to the USA, Border Integrity is a major component of our duties. Given that the border in our Detachment area is located entirely within the confines of the St. Lawrence River, marine patrols are common place. In many cases our marine patrols are conducted in concert with our partners. The most recent example of this was in 2007 for Project ShipRider where RCMP members and United Stated Coast Guard personnel were cross-trained and cross-designated. We then conducted joint patrols for a two month period on both sides of the border.
I just got back from the movie & dinner. Wow, the videos showed how the NY State Troopers viciously, malicously attacked un-armed Onondaga. The Onondaga (children, elderly, women, men, women) were gathered around their sacred fire, some were smudging and NY State Troopers rushed them with Batons & Weapons drawn.
NY State Troopers smashed their batons onto the Onondaga – mostly about 5 or more NY State Trooper smashing on One Onondaga at the same time.
One NY State Trooper was caught underneath one of the Onondaga men, as NY State Troopers smashed him, and one of their batons actually smashed one of their own NY State Troopers out of his face.
More details on the way soon.
I had no idea the Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs was working for the government(s). Who is heading this? and can you let me know who the leaders are of the other governments as well?
I also hear about the Warrior Society are they a government?
The people should know!
Check out their website, they give details about how they are created by New York State in the 1800s. You have lots of reading and research to do. Use the search feature at the top right of this website to help you discover more info too.
http://books.google.com is helpful and you will find tons more links down the right side of this website
Some of our readers suggest that Onkwehonwe can file a complaint with the Canadian Broadcasters Standards Council (CBSC) by using the following link: http://www.cbsc.ca/english/complaint/form.php
March 4, 2007; Katenies defies the US Canada border;
http://nooneisillegal-montreal.blogspot.com/2007/03/background-katenies-defies-colonial-us.html
June 14, 2008; Mohawk Grandmothers attacked by CBSA guards: http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=790
Solidarity with Katenies http://www.linchpin.ca/content/State-repression-borders/Solidarity-Katenies-Kahentinetha
PUBLIC NOTICE OF OBJECTION TO INVASION OF KAIANEREH’KO:WA/GREAT LAW JURISDICTION BY FOREIGN FEDERAL, STATE, PROVINCIAL POLICING AND TAXATION AGENCIES AND THEIR INCORPORATED LOCAL TRIBAL AND BAND “GOVERNMENTS” http://mytwobeadsworth.com/Mohawk.html
Video Interview of Katenies http://vimeo.com/1340432
Does anyone know when the C.B.S.A. got the power to arrest, handcuff, and imprison Onkwehonwe or anyone for that matter?
Will Freeman wrote to Monica:
You ask: “Does anybody know when the CBSA got the power to arrest, handcuff, and imprison Onkwehonwe or anyone for that matter?” 1978 when the Immigration Act came into power. The powers of the CBSA to arrest are currently stated in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act section 138. http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/I-2.5/page-4.html#anchorbo-ga:l_3-gb:s_138
I’d be interested to hear the audio if you have it up.
Will Freeman
Onkwehonwe are NOT IMMIGRANTS!
Just a note regarding your source material. Wikipedia is notoriously unreliable and should never be relied on for research. It can be a good starting point, but that’s about it. The great thing about Wikipedia is that anyone can edit it. The worst thing about Wikipedia – in terms of reliability – is that anyone can edit it.
Speaking as an historian, I know that an argument is only as strong as the source material upon which it is built. By relying on a source that is as potentially unreliable as Wikipedia, you do your opinions and arguments a disservice. It is one of the many ways in which an author can undermine his or her own position.
See this blog entry, for example.
Please note that this is not an attack on your position or argument. Just some friendly advice about source material.
I agree with you Kris, that wikipedia can not be viewed as reliable. I have to add, that anything and everything published is suspect of being tainted, twisted, and half true (especially with English language forced onto today’s generation of Residential School survivors).
At this stage of my life, I honestly do not believe anything 100% blindly. I always tell my friends and family to never believe anything I say, and to use their own brains to think for themselves.
I present my thoughts, info, discoveries here and I know that readers will use their own brains to process everything the best for their own goals.
Serious, do not believe anything you see on this website or anywhere. We each have a brain for a reason and that includes processing everything we encounter.
What I believe today is totally subject to change at anytime, based on the information and experiences that I am fortunate to see, hear, feel, and think about.
“I have a feeling that the so-called mysterious original VHS may not even be the original and may be another edited version of the original. Why did CBSA state that the videos never existed?????????”
I highly suspect the VHS tape is not the original since there was mention of a hard drive in the hearings. Typically, from my experience, security recordings are captured digitally on hard drives and viewed on computer screens. The VHS tape is probably a recording from the hard drive for convenience viewing.
It seems to be an alarming trend; CBSA destroyed the video they recorded when they murdered the Polish man at the airport recently.
CBSA claimed they never saved video of another young lady they assaulted on Kawehno:ke (cornwall island) a few years ago.
The only videos I ever hear of CBSA NOT destroying, editing, or losing … are the video that they want to use to prosecute someone else.
What kind of organization, gives an accused murderer the keys to the evidence box and tells the murderer to guard the evidence?
We are in the process of researching further into this issue but from what we have read so far, we are not impressed with the border security’s attitude.
If indeed there are human rights abuses going on, it is important to document these. Word of mouth, as well as written documentation are important. But, it must be remembered that we live in an electronic age. If it is within the means and determination of the peoples being abused, then maybe it is time to use cameras both within and without the areas of abuse. I am talking about an audio and video computer-controlled system that is deployed within general land areas and their perimeters. I do not now, nor will I ever, promote violence, but if violence is being used against indigenous peoples, then it must be captured clearly by electronic means so that it may be used as evidence at a later time.
Glad to have found your site. For once I am pleased I’m an insomniac. We have many Hadenosounee living in our Anishnaubek community. I will make certain they are aware of your website and blogs.
Megwetch
You are an optimistic soul! All the more surprising considering recent historical treatment of your peoples. I join with you wishing for better things in the decade ahead. I’ll be glad to see the ass end of the last one!
It pains me to hear (first-hand) about the treatment of Akwesasne residents by the “border authorities”. Such immature spirits to think they are better (superior) to anybody else. I’m an Ottawa native (and a white man) and have learned that if humanity is going to save itself from self-destruction before it’s too late, we must all look to the old ways of our own native peoples to help guide us to a brighter future. But still, we persist to persecute and maintain old prejudices towards the aboriginal peoples of this country (continent). I am ashamed not only for how the native peoples were treated by my ancestors, but I’m still ashamed as to how we continue to treat you.
However, it is good to maintain a positive attitude, no matter what has transpired. The past is the past and we all have RIGHT NOW to focus upon. May 2010 bring many blessings to the people of Akwesasne and all other First Nations people. We need you and your wisdom of earthly things if we are all going to survive.
Love!
David Greig / Peacemaker
Nia:wen ko:wa
Today is a Beautiful Day 
Nia:wen Ko:wa Suzanne