Abor Group gives back to First Nations, environment

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Drew Hill, the founder of environmental and energy consulting business The Abor Group (TAG) has inspiring words for all First Nations people.

"We can do it."

While working for Indian Affairs, the Six Nations of the Grand River man watched multi-million dollar projects contracted out to non-Native firms and became frustrated seeing the money flow through the reserves, but not stay in the communities. That prompted him to make a change.

Hill went back to school. He got an engineering degree to compliment is biology degree, and after gaining work experience in the mining industry, Hill began to make his dream a reality to provide Aboriginal communities environmental assessment services from an Aboriginal perspective. In January 2004, TAG was born.

Hill knows first hand the big differences in approach between the mainstream engineering firms and his company, which follows the Native philosophy that land is not owned, but borrowed from the children. "I mean, that's fairly well understood within the First Nations perspective, but to see educated, grown, non-Native men grasp that and see that as a new frontier of thinking, that kind of blew me away."

TAG attempts to provide solutions designed to get to the root of the environmental issue at hand, rather than mask or limit the problems surrounding it.

"I'm a bit concerned now with the tendency towards... risk assessment and risk management," said Hill. Risk assessment is controversial in the industry and Hill believes this approach is a corporate Band-Aid solution.

"They say... 'OK, if we bury it deep enough or if we put a fence around it..." To Hill, this behavior causes further, future environmental problems. It was this attitude that helped motivate him to start the company.

Awareness of First Nations issues gives TAG its edge.

"Non-Native firms kind of put this blanket over all [Aboriginal peoples] and ... they listen to the stereotypes and they'll look for those to come out," said Hill. "We understand the First Nation perspective on our environment, and we understand that, you know, just because you want to go and put your landfill over there, there are a lot of issues surrounding that land that have to be cleared up."

The component of Native spirituality when it comes to dealing with environmental concerns, whether its offerings to the land or a ceremony to help the spirits move on into the next world, is not foreign to TAG either.

"We probably have a greater tendency to listen and not discard other concerns as being trivial."

Another of TAG's many assets is its people, Hill said. TAG tries to employ people from First Nation communities.

"It's our belief that ...we can improve our economies. We don't need regulatory agencies like Indian Affairs to allow us to do things that improve [our] economy."

The path to entrepreneurial success has not always smooth for Hill. He found it a challenge to switch his engineering mindset to a business mindset. He grew up on reserve with little money and found it difficult to spend money for future benefits.

"That was actually the biggest challenge, was changing my mindset with respect to money that, you know, I have to spend this to get that."

Success is not without its pitfalls.

"There's this guilt that you can't bring everybody with you," said Hill. "That's something that I had to face and just say 'OK, well... the only way ...we are all going to succeed is if people like me succeed.'"

TAG is currently working on a landfill design and rehabilitation project. As well, Hill acts as a liaison for environmental assessments and provides environmental site assessment for a variety of clients.

Through his work, Hill observed that diesel spills are common on reserves that use the fuel for generating electricity. Knowing that renewable resources are a great solution to this problem, he began a wind energy program.

Training is particularly important for the program's succss. As most of TAG's clients live in remote areas, they have to be able to assess environmental conditions on their own by taking soil samples or retrieving ground water.

The company recently constructed a Wind Resource Assessment Tower on Six Nations to determine if there is enough wind energy for local use or possible commercial distribution.