The meeting held between the officials at the Kahnawake Survival School and leaders at Emmanuel Christian School was a positive one and will lead to an opportunity to work together in the future, the Emmanuel Christian director of operations said earlier this week.

The two groups met in the wake of a January 31 incident in the immediate aftermath of a juvenile boys’ basketball game at KSS in which Emmanuel Christian had emerged victorious 41-28.

The incident began as a racially charged confrontation that graduated into a full-scale brawl between members of the Emmanuel Christian team and the KSS student-body members.

Earlier this month, Emmanuel Christian director of operations Martin Plante said he hoped both sides could use the unfortunate incident as a teaching tool. That hasn’t changed after the two sides’ February 9 meeting, he said.

“We’re making a plan to work together going forward. We’re taking these things very seriously. We will put a press release, soon, together, but that might take some time,” Plante said. “It was a great meeting and we are definitely optimistic about working together going forward. I think the people at the school are amazing, by the way.”

Plante said with Emmanuel Christian and KSS both otherwise preoccupied in an otherwise busy time on the school calendar, that project could take time.

“We’ll have some information going out at some point, but it’s a busy time of year and both of us are extremely busy with school business, but I’m happy with the way it’s gone. This is the way it’s supposed to be handled,” he said.

The Kahnawake Education Center agreed that the two sides could work together going forward but that their focus would shift slightly.

“Both schools discussed the basketball incident and agreed to collaborate on initiatives between both schools,” Darlene Roberts said on behalf of the KEC. “At this time, this now shifts to an internal process between the schools as they move forward in cooperation and planning for inter-school initiatives.”

The KEC investigation of the video footage of the incident yielded quite a bit of information in the aftermath of the incident. They issued a statement indicating how the incident began.

‘One KSS student approached an opposing team player engaged in racially offensive noises and gestures. The KSS student asked why the visiting student was doing what he was doing, saying it was inappropriate. Video and incident reports indicate the player and three other opposing teammates became physical with the KSS student and this was the catalyst for the ensuing altercations,’ the statement said.

Marc Lalonde, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase