Truth and Conviction–Donald Marshall Jr. and the Mi’kmaw Quest for Justice – Slaw

A reflection on the unparalleled life and legacy of Donald Marshall Jr

http://www.slaw.ca/2018/12/20/thursday-thinkpiece-truth-and-conviction-donald-marshall-jr-and-the-mikmaw-quest-for-justice/

Follow the link for an excellent summary of the issues covered in this new book.

"Truth and Conviction: Donald Marshall Jr. and the Mi'kmaw Quest for Justice is an ethnography of the Canadian legal system with respect to Indigenous rights and criminal justice. It is written from the critical lens of legal anthropology and is a reflection on the unparalleled life and legacy of Donald Marshall Jr., a Mi'kmaw from Membertou, Nova Scotia. "

===============

Dalhousie Indigenous student showing Canada the way to reconciliation - The Globe and Mail

 Honouring Indigenous culture in his adopted academic community

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-nova-scotia-student-showing-canada-the-way-to-reconciliation/

"Mr. Prosper is steering an increasing shift toward not just embracing but honouring Indigenous culture in his adopted academic community, which has willingly given him its ear. The effects of this have rippled far beyond campus borders and have made the 22-year-old an unofficial but highly sought guide on reconciliation efforts throughout Nova Scotia.

=========

Mi'lmaw - English vernacular Dictionary

More vocab to learn!

http://indigenouslanguagelearning.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GlusuDict_ed061113.pdf

This PDF provides the English for 296 Mi'kmaw words along with a pronunciation guide. It is used with the Listuguj language course.

==============

Traditional Mi'kmaq (Micmac) Culture

Learn more about the L'nu

https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/aboriginal/mikmaq-culture.php

Heritage Newfoundland and Labrador offers a comprehensive article on many aspects of traditional Mi'kmaw ways of life.

==========

Mi'kmaw Traditional Dances

l'nu'pesin- the people's dancing

http://native-dance.ca/en/cultures/mikmaq/traditional-dances/

This site offers a thorough explanation of many of the traditional Mi'kmaq dance traditions. Unfortunately, the links to images are broken, but it still provides a good overview.

"Like many groups, the Mikma'q had their own special way of dancing that identified them. You can see this today in the Koju'a, ancient dances that the Mi'kmaq have revitalized (see section below).  The dances could be formal or informal. Nskawaqn are formal, ordered dances, while informal dances are Amalkay, which means "any old way to dance, just move your body" (Bernie Francis, personal communication, October 11, 1991)."

========

Mi'kmaw Studies 10

Culture and Language

http://missdreid.weebly.com/mikmaw-main-page.html

Some teaching resources and links to support learning more about Mi'kmaw culture and language.

===================

History of the Mi'kmaq Ko'jua and Ji'kmaqn

An instrument inspired by basket making!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knbX2dC4-vE

This video offers brief history of the Mi'kmaq Ko'jua and Ji'kmaqn as it relates to the Mi'kmaq of Unama'ki.

==============

Music: Cape Breton's Diversity in Unity | Mi'kmaq

Music from the "People of the Dawn".

http://www.beatoninstitutemusic.ca/mikmaq/index.html

"The selections chosen to showcase Mi'kmaw culture on this website fall into four broad categories: traditional songs, Catholic hymns, fiddle traditions, and contemporary works. The traditional songs largely draw upon the Ko'jua repertoire, a genre of dance music. The Catholic hymns can be divided into "old" and "new" traditions, where "old" refers to songs from the Gregorian chant tradition and "new" refers to more recent repertoire, such as "Immaculate Mary," that has been translated into Mi'kmaq.

Who are the Mi'kmaq ?

Learn more via the Canadian Encyclopedia

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/article/micmac-mikmaq

"Mi'kmaq (Mi'kmaw, Micmac or L'nu, "the people" in Mi'kmaq) are Indigenous peoples who are among the original inhabitants in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada. Alternative names for the Mi'kmaq appear in some historical sources and include Gaspesians, Souriquois, Acadians and Tarrantines. Contemporary Mi'kmaq communities are located predominantly in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but with a significant presence in Québec, Newfoundland, Maine and the Boston area."

============

Kwa'nu'te': Micmac and Maliseet Artists

A remarkable look at Indigenous art and spirituality

https://www.nfb.ca/film/kwanute_micmac_and_maliseet_artists/

"This film profiles a number of Mi'kmaq and Maliseet artists from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, showing their similarities and differences, samples of their work and the sources of their inspiration. It offers a remarkable look at Indigenous art and spirituality in Atlantic Canada."

==========

• 
  

'Nitap: Legends of the First Nations'

Mi'kmaq and Wolastoqiyik Stories - Indie Games Plus

https://indiegamesplus.com/2018/10/nitap-legends-of-the-first-nations-shares-mikmaq-and-wolastoqiyik-stories

"Nitap: Legends of the First Nations takes players through the woods of New Brunswick, Canada, meeting various spirits and animals along the way. By helping these animals or interacting with the lands around them, players will learn about traditional medicines, hear legends and stories, and take in aspects of First Nations culture."

=========

When a Q sounds like H, you must be speaking Mi'kmaq

A window into Mi'kmaq culture

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/teaching-mi-kmaq-newfoundland-1.4616603

Learning Mi'kmaq has led to greater understanding of the culture, said Williams and Snook. "Once you start to learn, you realize how much it makes sense," Williams said. "There's a lot of words that there won't necessarily be an automatic translation for, because of the way the language works." Shane Snook started studying Mi'kmaq about five years ago. "It was mostly curiosity getting started, but I started learning more and more and hearing more interesting tidbits about what words meant, the root meanings," Snook said.  "As you start to learn the language, you get to really understand how our ancestors thought and operated. It really helps you understand that perspective from years ago."

=================

Mi'kmaq History Month - posters

Yearly posters to Celebrate

http://mikmaqhistorymonth.ca/posters/

Take a look at these beautiful posters that celebrate Mi'kmaw culture and history.

=========

Membertou of the Mi’kmaq – A Stamp A Day

Commemorating

the man and the Nation

https://stampaday.wordpress.com/2018/08/22/membertou-of-the-mikmaq/

This stamp (Scot t#2226) commemorates both Chief Henri Membertou, but also is a reminder of the rich history and vibrant culture of the L'nu of Mi'kma'ki.

"

Aboriginal people have always played significant roles in Canada's history. The spread of the fur trade, for example, and European exploration and settlement would not have been possible without the help of the First Peoples, who were relied upon for their knowledge and experience. Chief Membertou's pivotal role in ensuring the survival of French settlement in eastern Canada made him a natural choice to be featured on the fourth stamp of Canada Post's five-stamp French Settlement in North America series.

"

============

How Jeremy Dutcher Keeps His Ancestors' Language Alive

​"​

Cousins" keeping their language through music

 ​

https://thewalrus.ca/how-jeremy-dutcher-keeps-his-ancestors-language-alive/

​[...]

, at twenty-seven years old, Dutcher released his first full-length album, sung entirely in Wolastoqey. Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa was released this April under an independent label so that Dutcher could keep creative control over his work. The eleven tracks feature Dutcher's voice alongside the voices of his ancestors, using Mechling's now digitized recordings. The album is an art project rooted in Dutcher's life and work, but it is also a tool for keeping his nation's language alive, helping it to thrive. Dutcher hasn't made an English translation of the album available yet, though he eventually will, along with a video showing Wolastoqey pronunciations. "This is me having a conversation with my community," he says. His priority is not "to translate [for other people] what I want to say and be concerned about that gaze."

​Wolastoq Honour song (The refrain is so much like the Mi'kmaq version!)

https://open.spotify.com/album/6n4uzgWGJZnjpdyaLBIk7c

​===========​

Mi'kmaq name Skmaqn added to P.E.I. national historic site

"

T​

he waiting place."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-national-historic-site-renaming-mikmaq-1.4538786

​"​

A Mi'kmaq name will be added to the Port-la-Joye—Fort Amherst national historic site in P.E.I., recognizing the traditional name for the site and its Indigenous history.The site will be renamed Skmaqn—Port-la-Joye—Fort Amherst National Historic Site of Canada, said Minister of the Environment Catherine McKenna.

​ ​

Skmaqn, pronounced Ska-MAA-kin, means "the waiting place." It is thought to have its origins in the years 1725 to 1758 when the Mi'kmaq of Epekwitk and French leaders met annually at the site to renew their relationship and military alliance and would have to wait for the French leaders to arrive from Cape Breton, N.S.

​===========​

The Best of Both Worlds - Two Eyed Seeing

Bringing Mi'kmaw Knowledge and Western curriculum together

https://www.edcan.ca/articles/the-best-of-both-worlds/

​"​

Young people who know who they are and where they come from and who are connected with their Ancestors' language, with Elders, with Ta'ntelo'lti'k / Mi'kmaw Knowledge, and with their community and Nation… find themselves woven into a multi-dimensional network of understandings that will help them find success in their chosen careers. This, in turn, helps to enrich our communities in ways that we can only begin to imagine. Our communities will grow. We all benefit.

​"

================​

Magit's Doll

​Rag dolls in residential school​

https://youtu.be/L7KPksXk5mI

​"​

Elder Magit Poulette shares a story with students at the We'koqom'a Mi'kmaw School in Cape Breton about her experience at the Shubenacadie Residential School. When she arrived at age four her doll was taken away from her so she created dolls from her cleaning rags. As an adult Magit searched for a doll that reminded her of the doll that was stolen from her. Magit tells her story and teaches students how she made her rag dolls.

​"

================​

Learn Mi'gmaq Online

Lessons​

 developed by the Mi'gmaq Partnership

http://www.learn.migmaq.org/

This is a website for learning the Mi'gmaq language online. It can be used independently, or to supplement classroom learning.

​"​

In each section, you will find units consisting of lessons on related topics. In each lesson, you will learn new vocabulary, practice short dialogs, and do exercises to practice what you have learned so far. You will be able to listen to recordings of different Mi'gmaq speakers so that you can practice listening and speaking in Mi'gmaq above all else.

​"

==========================​

Seven Levels of Creation

M

​i'kmaq Cosmology​

http://www.fourdirectionsteachings.com/transcripts/mikmaq.html

​"​

In this way, as we look above and within and below, and to all the four directions, we involve these spiritual entities in our ceremonies. And we include the world that we can see, with all the elements of life that we share on the surface of our Mother Earth all around us; and we have one mind in the physical world, and one mind in the spirit world, one foot in the world of our ancestors, and one foot looking to the future. And so in the centre we are communicating with the whole cycle of life in all its aspects, in respect for how life begins, and is all tied together.

​"​

​===========​

Indigenous Resistance in Newfoundland and Labrador

https://thewalrus.ca/indigenous-resistance-in-newfoundland-and-labrador/

​Walrus Talks National Tour: St John's. 

Alex Noel - from Corner Brook - speaks about "resistance". ​

​==============​

Mi'kmaq Matters Podcast

​Podcasting about L'nuk​

http://mikmaq-matters.blogspot.ca/

A weekly podcast about the Qalipu and our world.

(

​You can also follow on Twitter @mikmaqmatters)

​

=

​=================​

The joy of finding relatives in print!

"Teach us with culture..."​

Just reading the latest https://www.canoekids.com/

​ ​

about the Mi'kmaq of Ktaqamkuk and came across a pic of my Mom's g-granddad, Mattie Mitchell

​.​

Wela'lioq for that!

​

​============​

Mi'kmaq Creation Story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQvup95nhvk

​From the Stephen Augustine collection. 

Narrated in Lnuisi, but overdubbed in English.

================​

"I Lost my Talk" - Rita Joe

Turning a painful past into poetry

https://vimeo.com/170262207

​​

"Rita ​

Joe was a Mi'kmaq woman from Cape Breton and used her writing to teach others about her culture and people. Years after her death, her words are still fighting.

​ ​

A newly commissioned show at Ottawa's National Arts Centre has taken one of Joe's poems and re-imagined it as a visual experience.

​ ​

Her most poignant piece of work, I Lost My Talk, published in 1978, recounts her years at a residential school in Halifax.

​ ​

​ 

Rita Joe would publish seven books in total.

​ ​

She was awarded the Order of Canada, appointed to the Queen's Privy Council and has been called the Mi'kmaq poet laureate. Her poem I Lost My Talk was also included in Canada's final Truth and Reconciliation Report, addressing the legacy of the residential school system.

​ ​

​S

he is called the Gentle Warrior.

​"​

​========​

Leonard Paul - Mi'kmaw artist

​Art is inspired ​

by ancestors and traditions,

​and

 everything around us

​.

 ​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=71&v=n9Mc5LcoHyc

ArtsHalifax.com recently talked with

​Mi'kmaw artist ​

Leonard Paul to catch up with some of his latest projects.

​

Leonard  considers himself fortunate for being

​from ​

Mi'kmaq First Nation. 

​ ​

(see also:

https://www.leonardpaul.com/

​)​

​

​===========​

Eskasoni chief promoting Mi’kmaq as an official language in Nova Scotia

​Supporting

 traditional language​

http://thechronicleherald.ca/artslife/1534144-eskasoni-chief-promoting-mi%E2%80%99kmaq-as-an-official-language-in-nova-scotia

​"​

The chief of the largest First Nations community east of Montreal is leading an initiative aimed at gaining official language status for Mi'kmaq in the province of Nova Scotia.

​ ​

Eskasoni Chief Leroy Denny said in an interview he has already discussed the idea with Premier Stephen McNeil and members of his cabinet during a meeting the province's chiefs had with them prior to Christmas and they seemed receptive to the concept.

​ ​

Denny said he expects to have a meeting this month with Education Minister Zach Churchill. As part of the process, Denny said they intend to review legislation that is in place in other parts of Canada.

​"​

​==========​