Mikmaq honour song - words and music

Learn the words to the Honour Song

Mi'kmaq and phonetic transcriptions to make this easy!

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Near Deception Pass

The story poles in place near Deception Pass tell the Samish legend of Kwekalelwt and how she came to bring prosperity to her people.

Hidden Beauty

Tucked in behind the Metropolitan Tower in Vancouver is this beautiful carving by Bill Reid.

 
 

Weaving Mi’kmaq history

How can we preserve Mi'kmaq culture and language?

http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/1212297-weaving-mi-kmaq-history

"Ursula Johnson's solo, nationally touring exhibit, Mi'kwite'tmn (Do You Remember), curated by the gallery's director Robin Metcalfe, challenges the way First Nations art and artifacts have been locked away in museums. "A museum is so much associated with dead things," she says in an interview in the gallery. "The culture is always living and existing and changing." She wants to create a dialogue between First Nations communities and art institutions on who preserves and converses aboriginal language and culture. "Whose responsibility is it? Who determines what is authentic? How can we preserve culture and language?"

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Drew Haden Taylor On Aboriginal Humour

Drew Haden Taylor and "Me Funny."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCpg-T691oE

"Drew Hayden Taylor is an Ojibway from Ontario's Curve Lake Reserve. A playwright and columnist, Taylor spent 15 years writing and researching aboriginal humour. His book, "Me Funny" is a collection of essays on humour by native writers. He believes aboriginal humour, which tends to be self-deprecating, has been an important survival tool used to help them through difficult times, such as colonization, residential schools and adoptions. (Originally aired June 2006)"

He also talks about what it means to "look Indian".

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Mi’kmaq Traditional Knowledge: Eels and the Bras d’Or Lakes

The relationship of Mi'kmaq to the eel

http://smallscales.ca/2014/05/21/mikmaq-traditional-knowledge-eels-and-the-bras-dor-lakes/

"In order to understand how Mi'kmaq posses such knowledge, it is important to understand the relationship of Mi'kmaq to the eel. This relationship is one of reverence and holds as special place in Mi'kmaq spirituality.  Eels and all living and non-living objects posses a spirit. The eel in particular was offered to Klooscap, the Creator for a successful hunt and as thanks. The eel was not wasted or over-exploited. The Mi'kmaq practiced "take what was needed" ethic. Eels were reserved for ceremonies and feasts and are important during mid-winter feasts as an offering for surviving another harsh winter."

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Most Commonly Spoken Language in Canada Other than English or French by Province/

Hello, Bonjour, Kwe!

http://heritagelanguages.sk.ca/photos/view/104832

Check out this map of the most commonly spoken languages in Canada (other than English or French by province/territory.) There are some places in Canada where the dominant language (besides Eng or Fr) is in fact aboriginal. Mi'kmaq, Innu, Inuktitut and Tlicho (Dogrib) are all represented. Let's do all we can to encourage these and other Indigenous languages. (Visit the link for the full map.)

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Mi'kmaq Schools Benefit From APTN and MusiCounts | Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey

Funds to support music for Mi'kmaw students

http://kinu.ca/news/mikmaq-schools-benefit-aptn-and-musicounts

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN), in partnership with MusiCounts, is helping to keep music alive in two Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey community schools. This afternoon MusiCounts and APTN presented Eskasoni Elementary and Middle school with a $10,000 Band Aid Grant in the form of 19 new instruments.

"We're incredibly excited," said Lisa Munroe, the school's music teacher and band program director. "Most students now are renting their instruments, and there are many more that would like to join the band program, but cannot afford the rental. This grant allows more students to participate in band, and to practice their instruments year-round."

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Truth and Reconciliation | The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright

An interview with Justice Murray Sinclair on the TRC

http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/features/2014/05/01/truth-and-reconciliation/

"There is no easy way of talking about this part of Canada's legacy. For more than a century, we sent children as young as five to residential schools - 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Metis children who had no control over their lives, and whose parents were required by law to send them away. Children were housed in gender-segregated dorms in schools, isolated from their families.  They were often victimized by the Christian clergy who ran the schools."

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Program brings Mi’kmaq culture to life for Grade 5 students

"Sharing culture with young people is important."

http://www.thewesternstar.com/News/Local/2014-04-29/article-3705121/Program-brings-Mi%26rsquo%3Bkmaq-culture-to-life-for-Grade-5-students/1

"Grade 5 students in Corner Brook have been studying aboriginal history and culture as part of their social studies program, but the lessons aren't just coming from a textbook.  For the past six weeks, members of the local Mi'kmaq community have been going into Humber Elementary and Sacred Heart sharing their culture and history with the students."

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