Sunday, 1 September 2024

Mi’kma’ki

Mi’kmaq leader wants name ‘Amherst’ removed from PEI historic site

In early May this year Mi’kmaq leader Keptin Sark returned the Order of PEI that he had been awarded to the provincial legislature. He wants the name of Jeffrey Amherst – a notorious British General responsible for distributing blankets infected with smallpox amongst the Mi’kmaq and other Indigenous peoples in the 18th Century – removed from the historic site at Port-la-Joye at Rocky Point, across the harbour from Charlottetown. Neither the provincial nor the federal Liberals are listening.

History of Halifax, a Mi’kmaw perspective

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Michael McDonald, a Mi’kmaq of Sipekne’katik First Nations, offers up a fascinating version of the history of Kjipuktuk, or Halifax, that is quite different from the one we usually hear. For one thing, it starts way before Cornwallis arrived.

Weekend video: Carry me home

I had this weekend’s video all picked and ready to go. Something really good, but grim, bound to leave you angry. Well, I changed my mind. Instead we offer a big league beautiful documentary on Mi’kmaq artist Alan Syliboy as he paints his mural in the Halifax International Airport.

“They were lights.” Walking With Our Sisters memorial visits Halifax

New NS Advocate reporter Rebecca Hussman attended the opening of the Walking With Our Sisters memorial at the Mount Saint Vincent Art Gallery. “They were lights, even if their life circumstances were such, and there’s disregard for these women. But in there, that’s taken away, and they’re together, and the light shines there.”

Weekend video: Rita Joe, two fragments

These two video fragments of the great Mi’kmaw poet Rita Joe are definitely worth a look. Check out the last interview with Rita Joe before her death, and her memories of leaving the Shubenacadie Residential School behind forever.

Weekend video: Wi’kupaltimk – Feast of Forgiveness

This weekend’s documentary looks at the relationship between the indigenous community in urban Halifax and food. It’s about accessing traditional foods as a way to hold on to your culture, and how to do that if your main food source is the Superstore, or even a food bank. Check it out!

Truth and Reconciliation in Nova Scotia’s classrooms. We must do better, petition demands

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Nova Scotia definitely has made progress in terms of teaching students about Indian Residential Schools, treaties, and the contributions made by First Nations, Inuit and Métis to Canada. But there is much more work to do, and a petition with 1700 signatures delivered at Province House yesterday serves as a reminder. Teaching the teachers would be a good start, says KAIROS Atlantic.

Book review: Living Treaties. Narrating Mi’kmaw Treaty Relations

We know the friendship treaties between the Mi’kmaq and the Crown are important, but if you’re at all like me that’s probably where your knowledge ends. Now there is an excellent book that shows how treaty relationships have remained a vital part of the collective memory of the Mi’kmaq through time, and how and why the Mi’kmaw interpretation has slowly gained traction. That didn’t just happen, it took a lot of skillful and fearless effort.

Weekend video. Our rightful place

Just about a year ago Mi’kmaw hunters at the Cape Breton Highlands National Park were confronted by angry protesters referring to “irresponsible indians slaughtering the entire moose population.” This weekend’s video tells a very different story.