Kahnawake teen knows how to get the job done

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It seems prophetic that her Mohawk first name translates in English into "beautiful word," because 14-year-old Skawenniio Barnes has put much of her energy into providing some beautiful words for her community.

When Barnes wrote a letter in October 2001 to her chief and council requesting a library in her Kahnawake, she had no idea the request would garner attention from around the world. She just felt strongly about establishing a public library on her reserve.

"Reading increases knowledge and vocabulary. It stimulates our imaginations and helps us to look ahead to fulfilling dreams and solving problems. As well, in a Mohawk-immersion elementary school system like we have here at Kahnawake, the parents are responsible to teach the children to read in English and need a good variety of quality materials to borrow," she said.

The council's reply to her letter was a rather vague promise to consider her proposal at a later date, and a polite thank you for her interest.

"I felt my request wasn't taken seriously, so in February 2002 I forwarded it to the Eastern Door, a community-based newspaper serving the community. Several people responded in the following weeks, and they were all positive and supportive, she said.

Then the Montreal Gazette picked up the story.

"That led to an interview on Global Television. With this kind of attention, the entire community began to get behind the project. By the end of March, a library committee was formed and began meeting monthly," she added.

Coincidentally, she decided about this time to enter the Cosmo Girl of the Year contest. One of the qualifying tasks was to write a 300-word essay on a topic of her choice, and she seized the opportunity to increase awareness of her library project.

"Entering the contest was a totally spur-of-the-moment decision," she remembered. In August she was informed that she was the official winner. Prizes included a scholarship worth $10,000 (US), two trips to New York City, and a chance to appear in photos in Cosmo Girl, a younger version of Cosmopolitan magazine and one that has close to a million young readers.

"By this point, the goal of establishing a library had received such wide awareness that people from all across Canada started sending me books," she said. "It was heart-warming to see the boxes start to come in. We even got books from Australia."

The media attention didn't stop there.

"We had more radio and television interviews and the newspapers phoned for updates on our progress," she said. The Kahnawake Peacekeepers donated space in their new building for storage as the donations eventually reached more than 15,000 books. At the National Library of Canada in Ottawa, Roch Carrier, Canada's chief librarian, called to invite Barnes and the library committee to tour the facility and to pick out some books.

Montreal's CBC-Radio One personality Dave Rosen started a book drive on the Island of Montreal, establishing five drop-off points that soon added to the number of volumes.

"Everyone really pitched in. We kept hearing about projects being started on our behalf. It was amazing," said Barnes. The books include all genres, she said. "Fiction, non-fiction, paperback, kid's books, encyclopedias, history books-you name it."

Now the organization of the library begins, she said.

"We've reserved a building where it's going to be housed. Once again the community is showing its collective support as the Caisse Populaire has agreed to pay our rent for the next two years, and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawke has agreed to pay utilities," she said.

Montreal-based architect Andre Veschi has volunteered to plan and arrange the shelving and several local businesses have donated dollars. As well, volunteers have come forward to help handle the sorting of the thousands of volumes, which must be classified, identified and placed on shelves by category in library-approved manner.

Barnes has also been awarded the Peter Gzowski Literacy Priz, which is awarded in memory of the long-time CBC broadcaster who passed away recently, to Canadians who achieve literary accomplishments. The award was presented by Assembly of First Nations National Chief Matthew Coon Come recently, and consisted of a plaque and a modest monetary prize.

"I was really honored as people from my community nominated me, and further showed the support our project received," she said.

Barnes is looking ahead to post-secondary education on her way to becoming a medical doctor.