‘I’ve never heard anything like it’: Mohawk woman haunted by cries of dead migrants

AKWESASNE | Still in shock, the owner of the marina listened helplessly to the screams of the migrants who had died trying to cross the city of Saint-Laurent.

• Read more: Akwesasne police have confirmed the identity of the dead woman

• Read more: A man in Akwesasne is still nowhere to be found

“These cries, I’ve never heard anything like them in my life… I hope they didn’t suffer too much. But I know it,” testifies, voice broken, Kahentoretha Oakes.

Last Wednesday, like every evening, the resident of Akwesasne opened his window to wish good night to the “big river” that stretches in front of his house.

But with regular waves and gusts of wind, she could raise cries of distress from the churning waters.

“I could hear his pain”

“A man was shouting ‘heeeeeeelp’ but it was like he was suffocating for air. I could hear his pain,” she says, haunted by the memory.

The call for help may have come after the deaths of two families from India and Romania trying to illegally cross the Canada-US border.

Kahendoretha Oaks immediately dialed 911 and left to pick up her adult son.

A few minutes later, she was whistling with all her might from her large balcony, hoping to hear a response.

“We heard. But there was no cry,” the resident says.

In no time two police officers arrived and used a flashlight to try to see the thrown people. They left empty-handed.

A night full of agony

Over the next few hours, the 53-year-old Mohawk struggled to get a wink of sleep, expecting survivors to dock at his marina at any moment. His dog, Maya, is restless.

However, the bodies of eight people, including two children, were found by rescue services in the following days in a swampy area of ​​the reserve, a few kilometers from his home.

“I did my best, but it breaks my heart … especially for the children,” she laments, her grandchildren playing nearby.

Sadness and contemplation

On Saturday, grief continued to be on everyone’s lips in the aboriginal community in Quebec, Ontario and New York state.

Many had gathered around a “consolation fire” earlier in the day in front of a community center near the site of the tragedy.

“It could have happened somewhere else. But it happened here, our society needs to point out [leur mort]A young woman says softly, before dropping a handful of tobacco leaves into the flames.

“The fire is common to everyone. The missing, their families, the grieving… That’s how I see it,” said his neighbor, who did not want to be identified.

Shocked firefighters

In the building next door, volunteer firefighters were resting as they searched for a member of the community who was still missing.

The search for Casey Oakes of Akwesasne continued Saturday.

According to Capt. Kevin Sturge Lazor of the Hogansburg-Akwesasne Station 3 Volunteer Fire Department, four boats crossed the river in search of him.

Efforts have been made for the past few days to recover the bodies of those who died, especially from the freezing water.

“I hope the first responders aren’t haunted by these pictures. No one should ever see something like that,” says a mohawked man sadly slipping around the fire.