Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) voted in favour of endorsing the Niagara Peninsula Aspiring Global Geopark (NPAGG) as it seeks recognition as a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Geopark on March 27. 

Peter Graham, SNEC Consultation and Accommodation Process team member, says the geopark will not create legislative or additional legal protections for the environment, but perhaps make it more difficult for development or construction that could harm the environment in the area. He says supporters for the park see it as a way to increase tourism in the area as well.

Phil Davis, member of the Volunteer Board of Directors for the geopark, talked about some of the benefits that he hopes the project will be able to provide to the Six Nations community.

"The whole part of the geopark is to raise economic opportunity through tourism," he said. "We're still very much in the ground-breaking state with the project; we don't have designation, we're creating partnerships with a lot of potential partners in and around Niagara and of course we've been promoting our presence as Haudenosaunee people going back 13,000 years."

Davis says the the Geopark will not just be one small parcel of land but instead an entire region of the Niagara Peninsula for indigenous stories to be told. He said that currently there are 177 Global Geoparks around the world and only six in Canada.

"We're trying to be one of those first few in the game in the Western Hemisphere. That's probably why a lot of people haven't heard of them here, but they're really big news in the eastern half of the hemisphere, they're bucket list (locations) for people to travel."

Davis says the group is focused on using existing trails in the Niagara region to showcase the history of Indigenous people in the area.

"We're talking about the trail systems that exist that we know of. Working with Brock University, we have a geographer, we have a couple of geologists, we have a couple of professors with tourism, and so we're using that knowledge and that partnership to help promote through archaeological record and of course starting research projects moving down further to create stories and tell our stories of that."

Coun. Sherri Lyn Hill-Pierce says she hopes Six Nations will be recognized properly within the geopark and says she hopes to see signage and plaques to educate people on Indigenous people that have lived in the area and continue to be there. 

"I think if Six Nations supports this I would like to see signage everywhere that we can to make sure that people know where we come from but also that we're still here," she said.

Land Researcher Philip Monture agreed with Hill’s statements and said its important that if Six Nations is involved with the park that it has the ability to be involved in decision making and for its voice to be heard 

"Our presence has to be re-educated into this entire system," he said. "Somehow we've got to counter what Ontario is doing for their development's and wetlands. They're just pushing ahead so any allies we can find along the way, we should pursue it."

SNEC made the decision during the March 27 Political Liaison meeting to endorse the NPAGG as it looks to be recognized as a UNESCO global geopark.

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