Aamjiwnaang First Nation unveils plans for new community cultural centre
By Colin Graf
AAMJIWNAANG FIRST NATION— Plans for a new 14,000 sq. ft. Cultural Centre in Aamjiwnaang First Nation have been unveiled. The new building will be built on land next to the existing Maawn Doosh Gumig Community and Youth Centre.
The new building will provide connections between the community centre, powwow grounds, and community day care by pedestrian walking paths “to create the feel of an all-inclusive community hub,” according to a notice posted by the Chief and Council on the community website and Facebook page.
The cultural centre will have a capacity for 400 people or 300 seated at tables with chairs, and will feature a floor to ceiling view of the powwow grounds and nearby Talfourd Creek, the announcement reads. The building will also include a lounge/gallery that will be able to display “cultural elements” and can be closed off during funerals to provide a private room for families to gather. The lobby space will be equipped with moveable display cases to allow for flexibility of usage and an outdoor patio facing east has plans for a double-sided fireplace. Although scheduling for the project, Aamjiwnaang residents are being invited to e-mail comments to the Economic Development Department: Carole Delion, Development Coordinator: cdelion@aamjiwnaang.ca; Barb Urlacher, Special Projects Liaison Worker: burlacher@aamjiwnaang.ca; or James Wrightman, Economic Development Assistant: jwrighman@aamjiwnaang.ca.
Further announcements will be forthcoming, the announcement says, and although the project schedule had to be revised due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2021.
The project team from Aamjiwnaang has been working with Burkhart Gilchrist Architects Inc. of Sarnia to develop the Aamjiwnaang Cultural Centre Concept Design that has been approved by Chief and Council, on June 18, 2020.
Plans for a cultural centre, museum, or interpretive centre have been discussed in the community as far back as the 1990s, when digging for construction of the twinning of the Blue Water Bridge to the United States found up to a million First Nations’ artifacts at two adjacent sites near the neighbouring city of Sarnia. Archaeologists have said the find was one of the largest and richest artifact sites in Ontario, and proved ancestors of today’s First Nations lived or visited the rich fishing grounds where Lake Huron meets the St. Clair River over thousands of years.
At the time, there was discussion about possibly building a museum-type building to display some of these artifacts, but they eventually came into the care of Ontario’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sport. In 2014, members of E’Maawizidijig, Aaamjiwnaang’s Heritage and Culture group, arranged to have a display of some artifacts such as arrowheads, sections of pottery bowls, bone harpoons, and carved birdstones up to 1,000 years old, to be loaned and displayed at the local community centre.
In 2017, Councillor Marina Plain said the group wished to eventually have the artifacts returned permanently to Aamjiwnaang, but she felt that would only be possible with the construction of a museum or heritage centre.