Six Nations could be home to a new disc golf course in the future, one of the first on a reserve in Canada.

Six Nations Parks and Recreation Director Cheryl Henhawk and resident Bonnie Whitlow presented the project to Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) during the June 27 general council meeting. The group is seeking additions funds from SNEC to help with the construction of the course.

Whitlow says if this project goes through to completion, Six Nations would be the first reserve in Canada to have its own disc golf course. The course is currently being designed to be located on 18 acres to the south of the Six Nations Sports and Cultural Memorial Arena in Ohsweken.

Henhawk detailed the current funds available for the project saying that the group had applied for funding through the Six Nations Economic Development Trust and were approved to receive $46,000. Six Nations Parks and Recreation also contributed $5,000 towards the project but the group is still seeking an additional $75,000 to reach its targeted budget of $126,000.

Whitlow, an avid disc golfer, spoke on the challenges that would be faced if the group cannot attain the additional funds that are needed.

"It's insufficient because while we could put in the baskets and tee-pads, there would be no level of difficulty. It would be essentially the same as having 18 of the exact same fairways, that are wide open with no difficulty whatsoever," she said. "And so, while you could have people out there, and you could start teaching and we could start including the kids and creating an interest in the sport itself. Without the additional funding it's going to be extremely boring."

But she did say that she has looked into further funding options to help with the construction but said that will likely take time.

Whitlow also discussed the plans to include traditional art and Haudenosaunee iconography throughout the course to hopefully attract more tourists to the community.

"My goal was to have us use pavers for each (tee-pad) because there's an artistic element that we can include and I thought it lent itself very well to the creation of wampum belts and other kind of Haudenosaunee specific iconography that we could use, that it becomes a great tourist attraction as well."

Chief Mark Hill says he likes the idea of more sports coming into the community and that it's exciting to see the main core of the Ohsweken Village growing.

"I like to see the different types of sports getting involved. I think there was even for example one of our members starting a rugby league. Sports that are not necessarily the dominant sports obviously within the community that we see on the daily, but its nice to get interest from potentially other sports like disc golf," he said. "That area is the hub of our community. It's become really a gem of an area where everybody gathers and so to have this as an addition I think would just compliment what's already there."

SNEC accepted the presentation as information and invited both henhawk and whitlow to come back to council at a later date during a SNEC general finance meeting to further discuss the financials on the project.

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