"Queen's Diamond Jubilee; new medal makes it to publisher"

Turtle Island News Publisher Lynda Powless has received a Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal for her service to her community.

Four months after she was chosen to receive one.

Powless learned in late February that she had been nominated when a package arrived from the band office with a letter and certificate but no medal and no one knew where it went.

Somewhere along the strange route from Ottawa to Toronto to Brantford MP Dave Levac's office to Six Nations Band Council, the medal went missing.

A new medal arrived at the Turtle Island News offices from the Governor General's office last Thursday. The Governor General's office said it did investigate the medal that went missing and determined "we would provide a replacement."

A Governor General's office spokesman said they do not know what happened to the original medal and simply decided to send a new one.

He said the medals are not numbered and tracking it down from those returned to the Governor General in protest actions was not possible.

He said those that have been returned have been awarded to "other worthy recipients."

The couriered package also included a new certificate.

Powless said the medal will become a part of her family history. "It took a strangely, questionable route to get here. That story of the missing medal will be one my grand daughters tell their children. It's now a piece of our family history."

The medal made it from Toronto to Brantford MPP Dave Levac's office sometime around Christmas. The MPP's office sent the the medal to Six Nations Band Council Chief Bill Montour.

In the package also was a letter notifying her she would receive a medal.

Levac's communications officer Chris Yaccato said in an e-mail, "MPP Levac feels Ms. Powless is such a deserving recipient of this prestigious award, so it's incumbent upon us all to make sure she be fully recognized for her community spirit."

On learning of the debacle Levac's office launched a search for the medal.

"We've been trying to locate the missing medal," he continued. "We've spoken with Ms. Powless and we acknowledged oversights were made by all parties."

Powless was nominated for the medal by local Six Nations community members. In a Nov. 5, 2012 email from Brian Beattie, a director from the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, he said the Ministry would be in touch with Powless "shortly" to notify her of the medal presentation.

That notification never came. It was not until two weeks ago on Feb. 12 that Powless found out she was to receive an award.

She had opened a package forwarded from Six Nations Band Council containing a letter from the Ministry and former Premier Dalton McGuinty indicating she won the award. But there was no medal inside the package. The letter had also been stamped indicating band council received the package on Jan. 22. Two days before elected chief Bill Montour received his medal at a luncheon in Toronto.

Levac's office had sent the package to band council with the intent and hope that Montour would present the award to Powless. Levac's staff were adamant the medal was inside the package before they sent it band council.

Elected Chief Montour had presented medals to several Six Nations people in a ceremony at Brantford's Sanderson Centre last October.

Yaccato says Levac could have presented the medal to Powless himself but thought Chief Montour would since she is a member of the Six Nations community.

The Diamond Jubilee Medal was awarded to 60,000 Canadians for making "significant contributions" to the country or their communities.