The ageing locker room at the Assembly of First Nations is getting a modern makeover, after years of complaints from the organization’s 10-member Executive Committee.
“It’s about time,” said Roger Augustine, Regional Chief for New Bunswick and Prince Edward Island.
“Although steeped in rich First Nations political history, that old locker room was really beginning to the show its years.”
Although a key feature is the headdress lockers, the room is also a place where the Executives can talk strategy before big meetings or just take an ice bath after a long day. It’s been the site where former National Chiefs have made stirring and legendary pep talks as well.
Those rusted metal headdress lockers will be now be replaced by hardwood alcoves with seating for each of the top Chiefs. The new locker room is expected to be unveiled when Chiefs from across the country gather for the annual general assembly this December in Ottawa.
As spokesperson for the AFN said that the engineering firm hired to complete the renovations has been instructed to preserve graffiti on the walls from previous leaders, including former National Chiefs Delbert Riley and Matthew Coon Come.
The spokesperson denied rumours that the renovations were meant to make the room brighter and thus less inviting for hazing rituals, which the organization is attempting to stamp out.
