ONEIDA, Wis. (WFRV) – Community members gathered at the new home of their cannery building with excitement filling the air as the traditional gold shovels and dirt were shoveled to announce this historic building.
The Oneida Nation cannery has moved from building to building, growing out of their residences, and felt that this next step was years in the making.
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“We have our elders here, Carol Elm, Vicki Cornelius, that really were such foundational key pieces of this operation, so for them to be able to be here today and to really see their vision come to life you know is incredibly humbling and exciting to see,” says Vanessa Miller, Food and Agricutlure Manager for the Oneida Nation.
With the new facility, the demand for help will continue to rise.
Says Miller, “This has been a long time coming, we have been super blessed to have predecessors and people and community and leadership that have really championed food sovereignty for time and moral, but more specifically with this infrastructure these past decades.”
One of the foundation employees for the cannery, Carol Elm, was in attendance, and all smiles in taking part in this historic event.
“It’s pretty exciting to be here, and to be acknowledged, and to see all of the people here that are concerned about getting a new cannery, I feel that it is going to be a big, nice big building for the community to use and the staff to work in.”
Elm helped the community with food processing and assisting in starting gardens for over 30 years, and is grateful for the work the next generation of workers is doing.
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“Anybody that wants to come in and do food processing and do their own gardens, and take care of their food for the future, and I think that it is doing really great, and the people that are working with it now are doing a great job, a greater job than I did.”
The new building is expected to be ready and open for the community in the Summer of 2026.
