"Women's Group Moving Head Office to Ohsweken"

OHSWEKEN - The Native Women's Association of Canada, a national lobby group for native women, is moving its head office to Ohsweken.

The move won't be a major one, since the organization will maintain its office in Ottawa, but Six Nations resident Mary Jamieson says it will give the organization a community base.

Ms. Jamieson, who is working on contract for the association, says the group "needs that local presence just as much as the national presence."

She said the group's first step will be to meet with local women's groups, such as Gonohkwa Sra, the reserve's family violence program.

Ms. Jamieson, whose office is on Chiefswood Road just outside Ohsweken, is currently handling all the association's administration and is helping co-ordinate a national native employment and training initiative to be announced later this month.

She will act as a local source of information for groups seeking information about the job program. "It's all so good to have the programs, but people have to know about them and how to get the money."

The Native Women's Association, a federally-funded body established 14 years ago, employs eight people. Staff members ensure that native women's needs are represented in federal programs and policies.