On Day 9 of the crisis, the south shore of Montreal is in a state of emergency. Half a million people are being evacuated.
But how are the 7,000 Mohawks of Kahnawake, who are also on the south shore? They are fine.
“It is definitely not a state of emergency here,” said Davis Rice, a Chief on the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake, where 80 per cent of the community has been without power for nine days now. “It is an inconvenience and a bit scary for some people, but we are prepared and no one is in danger.”
Rice said many old people still use wood and gas stoves and other community members have generators and alternate light sources.
“We are joking that many people haven’t eaten this well in a long time,” said Rice. “People are cooking up a storm because they have to eat all their moose steaks from the freezer.
Rice said when the Canadian Army called yesterday to offer to clean-up, “we politely refused, because we had already picked up all the debris.”
Rice said Mohawks have learned a big lesson from the crisis. “I think we realized how dependent wehave become on hydro.”
