Recently a number of people here in Akwesasne got together to talk about the old Life Chief system, and they came to agree that perhaps it was time for the community to look into reviving this system of government as well as the alliance with which it was associated, Tsiata Nihononwentsiake, also known as the Seven Nations of Canada. They asked me what I thought about it, and I told them.

As a traditional "village" council, it was clan-based, just like the Mohawk Nation Council, with the exception of their being representation of other clans at Akwesasne, such as Snipe, Deer, Rock, etc. To revive this system of government would necessitate genealogical research to determine who would be "in line" for the title of Clan Mother today, as proscribed by custom. That is not impossible, since we have lists of Clan Mothers and Life Chiefs from a century ago that can help us. Once you determine who might be in line, the clan comes together to discuss the situation. The main idea is that everyone is represented.

This process may result in the identification of Clan Mothers who aren't the same people as those that are currently Clan Mothers under the Mohawk Nation Council, but this is okay, since we are talking about a Village or Community Council, not the Nation Council. The Village Clan Mothers would then appoint from among their families a man who would serve as a Life Chief. Although this is a traditional government, it is important to note that this does not mean that you have to be "Longhouse" to hold these titles. The majority of Life Chiefs were Catholic back in the old days.

I would imagine that the Village Clan Mother would chose men of retirement age, seasoned old gents who have raised families, but the main standard is their character. These would be the Rotinonkwiseres. There would be twelve in all.

Twelve neatly matches the number of district chiefs on the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne. Which brings me to the next phase of this proposed model of governance: what to do about MCA and the Tribe!

As far as employment goes, Akwesasne is a two-company town. MCA and SRMTC are the biggest employers by far, hiring at least a thousand people here in Akwesasne. That's a big chunk of the economy. With dual infrastructures, we have more government than many small cities. If the outside governments ever decided to pull the plug on these things, the whole rez would be swirling around the drain.

Naturally, I wouldn't propose pulling that plug ourselves. Those services are necessary, and they need some kind of system to oversee it. Something similar to what is in place already.

I do not propose abolishing the elected forms of government, but I do propose combining them. That is the second phase of this proposal.

The Mohawk word for Council House is Tsiietsienhaientahkwa, which translates as "the place where they make the fire." Fire is a reference to the "council fire" or government of the community or nation. I propose that we design a new model of governance at Akwesasne which takes for its symbol a Council House. This Council House looks very much like a traditional longhouse, with a door on the east and west and three windows each on the north and south. The western door is where the Clan Mothers and other women enter and the eastern door is of course for the Life Chiefs and other men.

There are four benches at the center of the western part of the room large enough for three people each. This is where the Clan Mothers sit. There is a bench for the Turtle, Bear, and Wolf clans, and one bench for the combined Snipe, Deer, and other clans at Akwesasne.

At the center of the eastern part of the room are four benches for the Life Chiefs, also by clan.

There will be a long bench in front of each window. This is where the Community Council sits.

The mental paradigm of the Council House works so well as a symbol, that you might as well go ahead and build one, and operate it accordingly!

Each Community Council bench has room for four people. Along the northern wall sit the Community Councilors (or Councilmembers) from Kawehnoke (Cornwall Island), Kanatakon (St. Regis Village), and Tsi-Snaihne. On the southern side, Raquette/Rooseveltown/Frogtown, St. Regis Road/McGee Road, and State Road/Cook Road. There are twelve in the north and twelve in the south, four for each district, for a total of 24. The arrangement of the benches corresponds roughly to the map of Akwesasne.

The windows behind each bench represent diplomacy with outside governments, Canada and the provinces to the north, and the USA and New York State to the south. They are windows in the sense that the Community Councilor can't easily go outside the Council House to make a secret deal. The only doors in this Council House are to the east and west, watched over by the Life Chiefs and Clan Mothers.

Community Councilors will be elected on a rotating basis. That means each district elects a new Community Councilor each year, and they serve for a four year term, the fourth year as "speaker" of the district "bench." There will probably be a need for term limits. The position is not gender specific, it is determined strictly by geography. (I haven't figured out how to work off-reserve members into this equation yet!)

The dual administrations of the former MCA and SRMTC continue to operate as before, but overseen by elected officials according to 12 portfolios or sectors. Each portfolio has a committee consisting of a Life Chief, a Clan Mother, and a Northern and Southern Community Councilor.

Issues come forward either through portfolios, the district, the north, or the south. Community Councilors are a liaison between administration and community. The Council as a whole meets on a monthly basis.

Feedback and communication with the community is done by EVERYONE. Public meetings rigidly enforce decorum at all times.

There's no getting around this really important part: the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Council will cease to exist. It will be replaced with a new entity known as the Akwesasne Council Fire. If someone else has ACF as their acronym, they better think about getting it changed. I prefer that the official name be in Mohawk, but the non-Mohawk world will want something in English.

Some will say that this is just a plan by the MCA to take over the Tribe, since it's coming from an MCA chief and basically turns the Tribe into the mirror image of MCA. This is not an MCA idea. Similar unification models have been put forward before. A few years before he became our new Mohawk Nation Chief, Brian Skidders proposed something similar a few years back. The current proposal differs by reviving the Council of Life Chiefs. As for making the Tribe a mirror of MCA, you have to start somewhere. Maybe there is a better equation of numbers of Community Councilors, or portfolios, etc., but I think maintaining the number 12 throughout this paradigm gives it a sense of balance.

Outside governments would kick and scream, but would ultimately have to go along with this. Keeping the administration of programs separate may be the one concession we might be willing to make for now. But with patient negotiation, eventually that boundary too would begin to fade as Akwesasne becomes more self-sufficient.

The Akwesasne Council Fire would be more culturally relevent than what we currently have. The status quo, which so many of us have embraced as The Only Way, is a cold and empty system not of our making, and no matter how many eagle feathers and sweetgrass braids we tie to the Tribe and MCA, these governments will never be truly Mohawk. Lately we have seen our own people go to great extremes to preserve these systems as they are, which must make our ancestors scratch their heads in wonder, because 12 years ago the status quo almost destroyed Akwesasne.

This new model of governance is born of our own customs yet does not totally discard the elective forms of government. Instead the two will form a check and balance system and operate in unison. As time goes by, eventually the other Mohawk communities may follow our lead and craft their own Council Fire and Council House. There may even come a time when Life Chiefs will also hold Longhouse titles and participate in the Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. This will probably only happen when a generation has been raised that are taught from birth that "anything is possible." That generation is our children today.

As Mohawks, we all know that we're part of a nation. Our nationhood may not be recognized politically, but it is as a People. This model of governance as I have outlined is one step closer to that mystical goal we've always talked about. It mixes just enough modern stuff with traditional and yet resonates with something all its own. It is a first step down the road toward nationhood, a road that has seen its fair share of weeds since we last walked this way. Who among us has the courage to take that first step?