Mohawk community in Quebec votes in favour of exhumation of allegedly abusive priest
CBC
The Mohawk community of Kahnawake voted this weekend to move out the remains of a priest facing sexual abuse allegations.
Several Kahnawake residents came forward last summer with allegations that Rev. Léon Lajoie had abused them, and demanded that his remains be removed from the community south of Montreal.
"I feel relieved, I was in shock they had to tell me three times that they voted in favour of his removal,'' said Melissa Montour-Lazare, the spokesperson for the group demanding the exhumation. "I'm happy for the survivors and wish them well on their healing journey. They can rest their minds now.''
The Mohawk Council of Kahnawake shared the results on Saturday, saying 420 people voted. While two votes were invalid, 223 people voted in favour of Lajoie's exhumation, while 195 people wanted to keep his remains in the community.
Lajoie, a Jesuit assigned to Kahnawake from 1961 to 1990, was buried in the community in 1999 and will be moved to Saint-Jérôme, Que., at the Jesuits' gravesite.
The council previously said it sought the community's input regarding the exhumation because the former elected chiefs agreed to Lajoie's burial without seeking community members' consent. A non-Indigenous person doesn't have the right to burial on Mohawk territory, but the council said an exception was made because of Lajoie's connection to the community.
Montour-Lazare, however, said in a recent interview that holding a vote on this matter divided the community at the expense of sexual abuse survivors.
"It puts the traditional people, who don't participate in voting, in a bad situation,'' she said, explaining that voting goes against traditional laws and beliefs.
"They are backed into a corner.''
The decision comes after the Jesuits' independent investigation into the allegations failed to turn up evidence of abuse, according to a report released Feb. 28.
"Our detailed report does not currently support any allegation of childhood sexual abuse by Father Léon Lajoie, S.J. in Kahnawa:ke during the period between 1956-1990,'' the report read.
The council declined to comment on the report and on the result of the vote.
"The Lajoie issue is being treated as an internal matter to the community,'' Justus Polson-Lahache, a spokesperson for the council, said in a statement. "As a result, we are not fulfilling any external media requests on this issue.''
Private investigation firm King International Advisory Group — commissioned by the Jesuits — reviewed archive documents and conducted 20 interviews between November 2021 and February with community members "who had pertinent information.''
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