When on July 22, 2022, a prominent longhouse burned down on the territory of the Six Nations in south-west Ontario, its destruction occurred in a very different world from the one that saw its construction.

Ogwehohweh Skills and Trades Training Centre Longhouse GANǪSA’Ǫ:WEH “Real/Original House” in Gayogo̱hó:nǫ'/Cayuga was envisioned by Kahyonhakta “By the River” as a place where the history and culture of the Haudneosaunee is accurately and appropriately represented.

Looking back to 2018, the year of its construction as part of an initiative to promote ecotourism and Haudenosaunee culture, it is clear that the shared experience of the pandemic, the ever more urgent climate crisis, and the shocking discovery of unnamed graves at residential schools, have forged a new framework for understanding the key importance of the presence of First Nations peoples on Turtle Island (also known as North America) and the Indigenous legacies within the Americas in general. It also presents the architectural profession with new questions about how it can learn from traditions and practices that have all-too-few tangible markers in the present.

The loss of the Ogwehoweh Skill and Trades Training Centre Longhouse, Ganǫsa'ǫ:weh, at this crucial time of catastrophe and re-alignment between Indigenous and settler sensibilities, provides a powerful index of the urgent need to reassess the relationship between ancient tradition and innovation. Its reconstruction, as a common effort of all who are concerned with the future of our beautiful land, ought to stand as a token of confidence in a, finally, truly shared future.

As a group of architects, architectural educators, and guests of this territory, we strongly encourage your support for the construction of a new longhouse that will restore the cultural significance and regional educational value of the previous one, as a space for sharing and learning about Haudenosaunee culture, while celebrating the essential role of Reconciliation for our collective future.

Please visit the folllowing link to donate. https://www.canadahelps.org/en/pages/the-ejidwahsroni-fund-we-will-build-it-again-2/