Oneida seeks to remedy social ills with language and culture

The sun shone brightly upon the site of the new Oneida Language & Cultural Centre today, where a Groundbreaking Ceremony was held today at the construction site of the new Oneida Language & Cultural Center on the Oneida Nation of the Thames Reserve, about 20 miles southwest of London. About 20 people braved the windy cool autumn day to recognize the contribution of the elected Band Council and the efforts of the project team that made the building possible.

breaking ground

Elected Councillor Sue Doxtator spoke of the Council’s vision, where saying the new Language Centre will play a key role in promoting positive community behavior in keeping with Oneida cultural ways of knowing and being. With only 63 Oneida speakers remaining, parents are no longer speaking Oneida to their children. The link to our way of life, culture, identity and values has been broken for decades and . It is time to repair that break and relearn our cultural teachings by restoring the Oneida language.

The building is a 1,064 square foot, single -floor, wood frame building with slab on grade foundation. The planned space includes a state of the art recording studio, where the Oneida language can be recorded and revived as a living language in the Oneida community. A design build project designed by Sierra construction out of Woodstock, it has with an estimated completion date of December 15, 2014.

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