KAHNAWAKE - A small weekly newspaper in Kahnawake has been nominated for a prestigious journalism award.
The Eastern Door serves the Mohawk community, and has been bringing attention to the Mohawk Council's practice of ordering non-natives to leave the reserve.
Steve Bonspiel and his wife have been publishing the Eastern Door since 2008.
"What we try to do is tell everybody's story. We don't choose a side, and I think we do a pretty good job of it," said Bonspiel.
Last year the council sent eviction notices to several people, some of whom had been living in Kahnawake for more than a decade.
"The Mohawk Council was trying to sell it like, 'Well, all the people we're targeting don't have ties [to the community].' So it was up to us uncover that list and find out who they were targeting," said Bonspiel.
"One person was with somebody for 10 years. The other person had a kid and was taking care of a community member who was a paraplegic. Other people had been in a relationship and living here for 15 years."
That coverage earned the newspaper a nomination for the Michener Prize for Public Service in Journalism, and has pitted the newspaper against Radio-Canada, the CBC, the Calgary Herald and the Vancouver Sun.
Governor-General David Johnston will announce the winner of the prize on June 14, 2011.
