The renaming of the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’s main building is an acknowledgement of the importance of “Indigenous knowledge” and is an effort towards building relationships “with local First Nations and Metis communities.” Thank you to Earle Lockerby for sharing this piece from the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories’ Voyageur periodical and for sharing his experiences working with AECL.

See the full size version here, Voyageur 2021 December, and read Earle’s experiences below.

I worked with AECL for 30 years, 7 of them at Chalk River. Each working day for 7 years I walked two times through the “Gate House” which served as a “funnel” between the parking lot and the research complex (they are now calling it a “campus”). Some years back, the old “Gate House” was replaced by the building you see in the attached. Very recently, the new building has been given an Algonquin name! The “Gate House” had two main purposes which I presume apply to the Minwamon Building as well: general site security and personnel radiation monitoring. I may have told you – I learned to scuba dive at Base Petawawa where training took place in the pool at Dundonald Hall. I also learned gliding (69 flights, the last 15 being solo – I still have my log book!) at an airstrip which was 10 km from the reserve of the Algonquins of Golden Lake (Pikwàkanagàn First Nation). Elder Dan Ross and Connie Mielke, who you see in the photo in the attached, are from the Golden Lake band. I can’t be certain now, but I probably flew over their reserve!

Regards,
Earle