Jen MtPleasant

After years of community members pressuring its leaders to build a youth centre, that dream is one step closer to becoming reality. Representatives from K.L. Martin & Associates, a technical consulting firm on Six Nations met with Elected Council last week to present their design of a new Elder & Youth Centre. The new centre, if built, will go directly in between the arena and community hall and will connect the two buildings so that people can access any of the buildings without having to go outside.

Six Nations Elected Chief Ava Hill, along with band council representatives from Kahnawake and Tyendinaga met with NDP leader Thomas Mulcair at Parliament Hill last Thursday to talk about Bill C-10 and its ramifications to First Nations communities if the bill gets legislated.

The missing and murdered Indigenous people movement in Canada has been gaining increasing awareness in the past few months. More and more groups are lobbying the federal government to call a national inquiry into the disappearances and murders of thousands of First Nations men and women.

Last week a group of concerned community members brought their concerns to the Six Nations Landfill Site, which is where the Kearns disintegrator is located. Still in its trial run and operated by the Kearns Waste Sciences Group from Nova Scotia, some of those living near the landfill site are complaining of black smoke and the smell of burned garbage. The group asked operator John Kearns to shut down his disintegrator but he declined to do so, and they left peacefully.

A representative from the Woodland Cultural Center, a few residential school survivors and their supporters went before Elected Council last week to ask them to designate the old Mush Hole a Six Nations historic site, something that has never been done before. Elected Council has already promised to provide $220,000 to the restoration of the roof but the total cost is closer to one million. Fundraising is currently in the works to come up with the rest of the money.

The Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs sent a delegation to the Six Nations Band Council on Monday to report on the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) and to discuss the new Safe and Caring Schools Policy.

Oil giant Enbridge sent a delegation of representatives to Six Nations Elected Council on Monday to discuss the Pipeline 9B Reversal and Line 9 Expansion project. But Band Council seemed to already be quite well educated on the issues surrounding the reversal and expansion project and clearly showed their discontent.

Six Nations Elected Council presented Ruby Miller, former Director of Health Services with a plaque of appreciation last week as Miller announced her resignation. Miller will be pursuing a career as a consultant in Canmore, Alberta. Miller has spent the past 16 years working for various departments within Band Council and has had many accomplishments during her time here on Six Nations.

Six Nations – The Six Nations Language Commission has requested that Six Nations Elected Council accept a one-time payment of fifteen thousand dollars on behalf of the Trillium Foundation which will go towards a language program at Crawford Lake located near Burlington. The Language Commission, which is unable to accept payments directly, made the request to Band Council last week to accept the payment for them.

Six Nations – Six Nations Economic Development (SNED) held a community information session last week at the community hall to explain what their Consultation and Accommodation Procedure (CAP) is all about.

SIX NATIONS – Six Nations Polytech was packed full of eager and enthusiastic gardeners and seed-savers last weekend. Deyohaha:ge, with the help of the Six Nations Legacy Consortium, the Indigenous Studies Program of McMaster University and the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres, hosted the annual event which was held last Saturday. This event was for community members and people in the surrounding areas to come and share their seed harvest from last year and also to exchange seeds and knowledge.

SIX NATIONS – The Six Nations Health Foundation held their annual Elders Gala & Silent Auction over the weekend which seen a crowd of around 60-70 people. The funds raised will go towards the Dialysis Unit at the White Pine Complex.

Mississaugas of the New Credit – This past weekend, Anishinabe Kwe, Val King, held her second annual Honouring and Respecting Water Gathering at Lloyd S. King School on the New Credit Reserve.