Band council offers $7,000 to Great Law Recital

SIX NATIONS – Elected Band Council decided at Tuesday night’s general meeting to donate $7,000 towards the Great Law Recital being held on the territory in August.

Marlene Doxtator, co-ordinator of the group bringing the recital to the community, approached elected council July 19th and asked if they would be willing to offer monetary support in any amount towards the recital.

“I’m here requesting financial support,” she said. “Can council support in some way, anything that would help us meet our budget.”

This will be the fourth year that this specific group of individuals has put on the Great Law Recital. Having already been held in Oneida, Onondaga and Akwesasne — this is the first year that this group will be holding it on Six Nations territory — other groups have held it here in the past.

Doxtator said it is important for the Great Law Recital to take place here because she has been watching how different groups within the community have been interacting with each other as of late and that it hasn’t been going very good.

“Reciting the Great Law here with the original teachings may help bring some order to the circumstances that have causing trouble in the community,” she said, not making any references to anything particular. “It won’t solve all of our problems, but at least it’s a start.”

The Great Law committee is expecting to see close to 1,000 people out to the recital and extra money will be needed to supply food for the guests and to rent the tent, tables and chairs, totalling just more than $7,000.

It was brought to Elected Council’s attention that the Confederacy has donated close to $17,000 — so Councillor Sherri-Lyn Hill Pierce put forward that Band Council match that number. The financial director explained that there is only $20,000 left in the OFNLP fund and that it would be wise to make sure that that money lasts until the end of the year.

Hill-Pierce then put forward that Elected Council donates $7,000 and the motion was carried.