We Didn’t Have Any Real Power

Só:se Raientonnis shares his experience of the St. Lawrence Seaway coming into Kahnawake and how it changed the village. In this audio interview, he delves into the Seaway's expropriation of land and unfair compensation and treatment of residents on the reserve. Só:se explains how the Indian Agents did not do anything to help those who protested it and also speaks to how the landscape, daily lives and livelihood of Kahnawa’kehró:non  had to change due to its construction. 

This interview was conducted on September 1, 2023 in Só:se's living room in Kahnawake with interviewer Emma McLaughlin.

Photo courtesy: Michel Tosini
Music credit: Kontiwennenhawi Akwesasne Women Singers - Theresa Bear Fox