b'RECOGNITION AWARDSONWA supporter Barry Green, Executive Chairman, Greenrock, left, with Dawn Lavell-Harvard, rightINDIGENOUS WOMAN OF THE YEAR AWARD: province that are moving forward to what ONWA believes in DAWN LAVELL-HARVARD and stands for. We organized a beautiful gala to celebrate these Indigenous womenwe recognized them with gifts and the awards, Dawn Lavell-Harvard, Director at Trent Universitys First Peopleswe spoke about their accomplishments and what they are doing House of Learning, was recognized with the Indigenous Woman ofto better the lives of Indigenous women. They also had a chance the Year Award for her efforts to advance the rights of Aboriginalto speak about what theyve done in their communities and thank womenduring her time as the President of ONWA, as aeverybody for their support. They were all very surprised, very Board Member since 1994, and in her ongoing work advancinghappy, and very honoured; it was a really beautiful night. Indigenous womens rights. We are here to celebrate 50 years of this associationwere not just surviving anymore, were thriving, Lavell-Harvard said during ONWAs 2021 AGM. What is most important is we have never lost touch with our vision. We are here as a group of grassroots women working in grassroots families and communities aroundMARKETPLACEkitchen tables and backyard fires to make our lives better, and we have never lost sight of that, because that is our foundation, our culture, our language and who we are.Lavell-Harvard also gave a nod to ONWAs accepting attitude toward everyone. This is for all of our Indigenous sisters, all of our mothers, grandmothers, aunties, cousins, daughters and all of our families, because we are inclusive and we are about bringing everybody in, she noted. Those are the most foundational things from our beginning that we have never lost sight of.Tyendinaga, as part of the Mohawk Nation, is a healthy, It was amazing to see the strength and power of young Indigenoussustainable Kanyenkeh:ka community, built on and united women, added Lavell-Harvard. When I think of where we were atby our language, culture, traditions, knowledge and history. that age compared to these young women who are coming forward,We exercise our rights and responsibilities for the protection they are so strong and they are so articulate. Theyre really polit- of and respect for our people, our land, our resources and the ically astute now. So to see these young women leaders out thereenvironment.now, I can only imagine the great things they are going to achieve.mbq-tmt.org | 613-396-3424 | reception@mbq-tmt.org Jessica Goodman, Training Coordinator at ONWA, commented: These awards recognize strong Indigenous women across the Ontario Native Womens Association67'