Authorities implicated in dope ring

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A small group of Kanehsatake residents is cultivating millions of dol-lars worth of marijuana and the authorities are turning a blind eye, says resi-dents of this Mohawk community wet of Montreal.

One Mohawk, who asked to remain anonymous, said that local dope growers have admitted to paying off police officers to avoid being investi-gated. The marijuana is being grown in at least three large fields owned by the Mohawks and the federal government, and possible as many as eight fields.

The Mohawk Council of Kanehsatake has been aware of the problem since last November, but has done nothing, said Walter David Jr., a Long-house traditionalist in the community. Two months ago, he hand-delivered a written complaint about the problem to the council and the band-controlled Community Watch, when polices Kanehsatake, but again nothing was done.

Finally, a group of local residents took their concerns to the Quebec media. Most newspapers put the story on the front page and a TV news camera crew filmed what it said was a marijuana field growing a stone's throw away from the house of Kanehsatake Grand Chief Jerry Peltier.

Now, the RCMP, and the provincial police have launched investiga-tions.

The band council didn't respond to a request for comment from Wind-speaker. David said his biggest concern is for the youth, who are allegedly paid $100 a night o help guard the fields. Some have dropped out of school or been pressured to sell drugs there. One girl who was so pressured report-edly transferred to a different school.

"A lot of people say grass is harmless, but what really did it in was the use of our youth," said David, who said also that he now fears for his life because of his stand.

"A lot of people are really concerned about the youth working these fields. Where it touches our youth it crosses a very important line. That's a generation we cannot waste

"These kids are crying out for someone to help them and these parents better stand up to help them," he said. "We have to defend our people; we have to defend the generations that come. If we can't save our first generation, how can we have the seventh generation?"