"Six Nations Craft Bazaar Showcases local talent"

SIX NATIONS - On Saturday, November 7, J.C Hill, the Woodland Cultural and the Community Hall held craft bazaars throughout the day, while the Mohawk Chapel held a bake sale, offering and showcasing beautiful handmade work from beaded earrings and moccasins to cakes and pies.

Each of the bazaars displayed workmanship and even cooking expertise through baking, with tables lined with pieces of jewelry, paintings, wooden carvings and leather work.

Deb MacLeod, a teacher at O.M.S.K helping with the bake table, explained that the J.C. Hill bazaar in particular, has been up and running with success for "over 40 years."

"It's an opportunity for people to show their wares and make some dollars from what they can do, so it's really nice in that way," said MacLeod. "It's kind of like bread and cheese, everybody comes back for this bazaar and there's lots of visiting going on. You might see people you haven't seen for a while, and it's nice to come and stop to visit," she said.

In regards to the integrity of the bazaar, MacLeod explained that there are some regulations the vendors must follow.

"Everything that's on a vendors table should have been made by the vendor, so it's kind of strict that way, and it has to be a native vendor that showcases what they do," she explained. "So, we don't want to see stuff that you bought to resell, anybody can do that," she said. "If we see someone who does that, we will speak to them and say 'you know, that's not the picture we want here for this bazaar,' and nobody is terrible about it, they are really nice," she said, saying that the vendors are courteous and will remove any pieces that were not made by hand.

Hand-made leather wallet vendor and co-founder of the bazaar, Ed Staats, explained that the bazaar is something the Craft Club organizes each year.

"I was the first president of this club about forty years ago, and it's grown ever since then," said Staats. "Maybe in the past five years we really haven't grown in number of crafters, but I really think the quality of work is much better than it was when we first started," he said, pointing out that current work of vendors is some of the best.

If you missed the bazaars but would still like to visit one, the up and coming two day craft bazaar at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena is a perfect shop for both Christmas shopping and enjoyment, and will take place on Friday, November 27 until Sunday, November 29.