Austin Mattes/BattlefordsNOW Staff

By Austin Mattes

Senator Jenny Spyglass Outdoor Arena

New outdoor hockey rink will honour FSIN senator

Sep 10, 2024 | 5:17 PM

The City of North Battleford is in the construction process of a new outdoor arena that will be named after Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations Senator Jenny Spyglass.

Senator Spyglass has been presented with this honour due to her notable and inspirational career. She is the first woman to be appointed as a Senator to both the Battlefords Agency Tribal Council (BATC) and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN).

She was also the inaugural female appointee from her home community of Mosquito Grizzly Bear’s Head Lean Man First Nation. On top of that, Spyglass has also served as a Councillor and Chief.

Senator Spyglass was thankful to receive this honour and stressed how important the youth of our community are to her.

“I am very pleased and I am very honoured…the last time I was honoured was in 1989 when I became the first woman chief for my reserve and then I moved on and chose North Battleford to be my home now and it is great…They say crime town but we live in peace… and with that, I really love little children and kids, because I am a residential school survivor and I never want children to be hurt in any way or any matter…they are innocent and so precious to us…thank you very much.”

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In a press release, the City of North Battleford said apart from her role as a Senator, Spyglass has used her knowledge and wisdom to teach and offer guidance to people of Battlefords and Treaty 6. She has also collaborated with the City of North Battleford, Battle River Treaty 6 Health Centre and many other organizations on projects as a cultural advisor to ensure the values of tradition and inclusion are upheld.

Being a survivor of the St. Henri Residential School, Sen. Spyglass has shared her experiences to better the education of Canadians on the history and intergenerational effects of the Canadian Residential School System, along with offer support to those affected by it.

The official name of the new outdoor arena will be “The Senator Jenny Spyglass Outdoor Arena” and it will be located next to the Access Communications Centre between the tennis courts and skate park. The City of North Battleford will host a ribbon cutting ceremony when the rink opens later this year.

The cost to build the new rink structure will be $116,303 including $6,583 PST.

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Austin.mattes@pattisonmedia.com

Twitter/X: @AustinMatttes