New green house for Aamjiwnaang

Greg Plain and his family entered a recycling project at Aamjiwnaang's Earth Day celebration.
Greg Plain and his family entered a recycling project at Aamjiwnaang’s Earth Day celebration.

By Marina Plain

Aamjiwnaang has an exciting and growing opportunity. A green house is being built for native and commercial plants. The community is known across Canada for many reasons:  the fact it’s surrounded by petro chemical refineries, the female to male birth ratio, and more recently the CN rail blockade.

Shell has provided the greenhouse to the environment department to use for Aamjiwnaang members’ benefit. The greenhouse will provide training opportunities and other social-economic benefits. It is a welcome opportunity as local soil has been questionable after considering the local ground water and air contamination.

Local elder Mike Plain says that as well as employment opportunities, there are other benefits

“We can get some really good medicinal plants growing in in there,” says Plain.

The structure in is currently the early phase is construction.

The Environment Committee of Aamjiwnaang are committed to preserving the environment for now and future generations.