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Still lobbying for a Six Nations Youth Centre

By Jim Windle:

Ohsweken

Missy Elliott and other Six Nations youth seized the
opportunity of having both Band Council and Confederacy Council together in the same room to admonish the leadership to get on with the
building of a Six Nations Youth Centre and stop giving the concept lip service only.

“Instead, you plan a new bingo hall,” she said on behalf of the small delegation with her. Elliott and other dedicated young Six Nations citizens first formed together in 2004 during the Unity Run and
Elders Summit hosted at Six Nations that summer.

They have been banging the drum for a Youth Centre since that date but as of 2008, their pleas have fallen on the deaf ears of three successive administrations.
Band Councillors Levi White, Ava Hill and Helen Miller have taken up their cause but have not been able to
shift the tide at band council to date.

“You talk about the future generations,” Elliott told the chiefs and councillors. “Well here we are. You are not listening to us.” Her group sees the community leaders as being more reactive than proactive
in their search for ways to deal with the spread of drugs and alcohol amongst young Six Nations residents.

“There are communities a lot smaller than this one with youth centres,” said Elliott. “There’s no place for
young people to go so they just wander around and some get pulled into that.”

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