Okwata’karitáhtshera kicks off new community wellness plan
A new community wellness plan that will integrate the health, cultural and social services needs of Kahnawake under one organization will guide the community through the next eight years, one of the driving forces behind the plan said Tuesday.
“It’s a very big deal,” said Onkwata’karitáhtshera chair Derek Montour.
Montour, who is also the executive director of Kahnawake Shakotiia’takehnhas Community Services (KSCS) said he is “very, very excited,” about the future after the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake voted to approve the plan Monday.
The 2024-2032 Community Wellness Plan (CWP) is a comprehensive framework designed to improve health, wellness, and social services in the community
“It reflects the collective aspirations and values of Kahnawa’kehró:non and lays out a path towards healthier, more resilient future,” the agency said.
It is a collective effort between the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake (MCK), the Kahnawake Fire Brigade (KFB) and Ambulance Service, the Kateri Memorial Hospital Center (KMHC), and Kahnawa:ke Shakotiia’takehnhas Community Services (KSCS), which all form Onkwata’karitáhtshera.
“It’s an integrated approach and it’s the first of its kind, we think. I don’t know of any other communities that have come up with something like this,” Montour said. “This way we can identify our health and social services priorities for ourselves and that’s an exercise in self-determination. We can identify our path forward.”
Montour insisted that level of self-determination is what Kahnawake was looking for and said he is eager to get started.
“This is what we wanted to do,” he said. “We’ve approved the plan. We have made the determination of our priorities. It’s ours.”
The plan was the subject of more than ten consultation meetings throughout 2023, the author of the report said.
“We heard a lot about the importance of family, and family wellness, and that the community saw that as biggest determinant of wellness. We asked what they thought the community could do to support families. And because the community’s roots are so intertwined, people told us that they have an incredible sense of family just living in the community,” said Healthcare Evaluation Studio executive director Ali Shukor.
Culture and language were also main priorities for community members in those consultations, Shukor added.
“Those two items have such an importance to the community and we got a big sense that the community wanted very much to maintain the integrity of their language and culture, and the community must assume the role of protectors of those things,” he said, adding the community also felt very strongly about providing an avenue for traditional knowledge to be passed down from elders.
Montour agreed, saying because language and culture are so intertwined in the community’s well-being, it was important to involve the Kanien'kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center (KORLCC) in the plan as well.
“It’s intended to be a holistic approach and I think that’s what we’ve come up with,” he said.
Marc Lalonde, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Iori:wase
