Niawen
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Letter to the Community and Editor:
She:kon/Dear All,
This letter and my expression of gratitude to several community members would have been submitted earlier were it not for a very sudden and thankfully brief illness, rather than disrespect and ingratitude.
On Kaieríhaton/Thursday, Ennisko:wa/March 17, 2011 the Akwesasne Task Force on the Environment, the Akwesasne Museum and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe met with invited basket makers and black ash log harvesters/pounders to talk about the imminent threat of Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). You have read and heard about EAB in local media and for some time now from our environmental programs. Hearing about something that you haven’t yet seen or seen the impacts of yet doesn’t really compel people to take action.
The meeting we held on the 17th was about taking action. Basket makers and log harvester/pounders took time to give our environmental programs some direction in developing a response plan for the threat that we will soon experience. Like it or not it will be here and if we haven’t planned for it, our community will be looking for answers. Our meeting is the start of putting together some actions that will ensure the continuation of basket making.
We plan on taking the information we collected and creating a plan based on the vision that was communicated during this first meeting. It is my hope that as we move along with this plan others that share the vision basket making for the future will take part in the process. We invite you to keep an eye out for future announcements about this plan and upcoming meetings.
Niawen/Thank You to Sue Ellen-Herne, Akwesasne Museum for providing a meeting place; Sheila Ransom, Jack Lazore and Richard David for participating in the focus group discussion. Niawen/Thank You to Thomas Colarusso, USDA – Animal Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) for presenting on EAB and its impacts to forest health. A Niawen/Thank You to Marie Benedict for providing us with an IGA sub and fruit platters. A final Niawen/Thank You to those who were also invited but were unable to attend.
Sken:nen/Peace
Les Benedict, ATFE, Black Ash Project Coordinator
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