Honouring the ancestors through an ancient art form

Birchbark quillwork - new art with traditional techniques

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/prince-edward-island/pei-birch-bark-harvest-1.5197546

"An Island Mi'kmaq artist is doing her part to honour her ancestors and cultural values through an ancient art form using birchbark in her quillwork. Melissa Peter-Paul started doing quillwork in 2014, but it was the work of her great-great-grandmother that first got her interested. "She has a lot of her pieces in the archives today," she said. "I've been able to look at all of them and get a lot of my inspiration." Peter-Paul incorporates porcupine quills, sweet grass, spruce root and birchbark in her quillwork.

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I AM L’NU (Je suis Mi'gmaq)

Naomi Condo and identity

http://www.wapikoni.ca/films/im-lnu-je-suis-migmaq#lid=828f2693-0c4d-402a-bfc9-19ccf0bcdc06&videotype=vimeo

Naomi, mother of two, unpacks stereotypes about Native women and claims her identity as a proud and strong Mi'gmaw person.

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Listuguj Mi'gmaq Legends

 Grade 7 students share Mi'gmaq legends and cultural stories

http://www.wapikoni.ca/movies/listuguj-migmaq-legends

"An elder visits Grade 7 students at Alaqsite'w Gitpu School in Listuguj to share Mi'gmaq legends and cultural stories.  The students then narrate the stories in their own words, combined with a mix of animated drawings, real life footage and homemade sound effects." 

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Mi'kmaq speakers create new immersion curriculum

The Alaqsite'w Gitpu School offers a Mi'kmaq immersion program
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/listuguj-mi-kmaq-lola-vicaire-indigenous-language-vicky-metallic-1.5181411

"Alaqsite'w Gitpu School on the Listuguj First Nation has been offering a Mi'kmaq immersion program for students from kindergarten to Grade 4 since 2002 and is now taking the next step and developing its own curriculum. Since September, Mary Ann Metallic, 66, has been working with a group of Mi'kmaq speakers in an effort to improve their fluency, along with their reading and writing."

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Visiting With Our MI’KMAQ Elders

A glimpse of what it was and is to be Mi'kmaq in Cape St George

https://www.mun.ca/ich/resources/DIGITAL_Mikmaq_elders.pdf

"Cape St George is unique in many ways. It has been isolated from the rest of Newfoundland for so long that it has a very unique cultural identity. In a time when the rest of western Newfoundland was being assimilated into English Newfoundland culture, a few communities on the end of the Port au Port peninsula held onto their culture and language. Alas, the French barely held on and the Mi'kmaq language all but disappeared. The cultural identity, however, remained....In this booklet we have scratched the surface of the rich history and culture that surrounds this area. The men and women that have revealed a glimpse of what it was and is to be Mi'kmaq in Cape St George have invited you to experience a small part of their experience. I hope you enjoy."

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Mi'kmaq flag fly permanently in Moncton

Flag to fly permanently outside City Hall
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/mi-kmaq-flag-moncton-city-hall-1.5184481

"To mark National Indigenous Peoples Day, the Mi'kmaq flag will be raised Friday at Moncton City Hall and will be flown there permanently. The Mi'kmaq Grand Council flag joins the Canadian, New Brunswick, United Kingdom, Acadian and Moncton flags already flying outside the building."

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Schools across P.E.I. Sing the National anthem in Mi’kmaq

O Kanata

https://www.theguardian.pe.ca/news/local/schools-across-pei-singing-national-anthem-in-mikmaq-281716/

On Jan. 6, 2018, the students from Mount Stewart Consolidated School sang the national anthem in Mi'kmaq at the Island Storm basketball game in Charlottetown. On June 21, 2018, National Indigenous People's Day, schools across P.E.I. started their morning with the recording and many schools continue to play it on a regular basis.

The nine-minute film, entitled "Oh Kanata", is a call to action for educators and parents to download the recording so that any school in Canada can listen to the anthem in Mi'kmaq in the daily morning rotation as a way of making steps along the road to reconciliation.

Words and music:

http://firstnationhelp.com/ali/okanata.php

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Pu’tliskiej wapinintoq

Blackbird - in Mi'kmaw

https://windspeaker.com/news/windspeaker-news/listen-blackbird-beatles-sung-mikmaq-student

The International Year of Indigenous Languages is a United Nations observance in 2019 that aims to raise awareness of the consequences of the endangerment of Indigenous languages across the world, with an aim to establish a link between language, development, peace, and reconciliation.

To bring awareness to this important cause, students at Allison Bernard Memorial High School in Eskasoni, Cape Breton recorded Paul McCartney's Blackbird in their native Mi'kmaq language.

Pu'tliskiej wapinintoq

(Blackbird singing in the dead of night)

Kina'masi telayja'timk 

(Take these broken wings and learn to fly)

Tel pitawsin 

(All your life)

Eskimatimu'sipnek nike' mnja'sin 

(You were only waiting for this moment to arise)

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Mi’kmaw Pronunciations for "Teaching About the Mi’kmaq"

Audio files word by word

http://www.mikmaweydebert.ca/home/sharing-our-stories/education-and-outreach/school-curriculum/mikmaw-translations-for-teaching-about-the-mikmaq/

Use this page to review the pronunciations of words used in the teaching series. (both "fast" and slower versions) This is a great place to get a better feel for the rhythm of the language.

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Teaching Resource: Mi’kmaw history, culture​ ​and knowledge

Content and teaching strategies

http://www.mikmaweydebert.ca/home/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Mikmawel_Tan_Telikinamuemk_Final_Online.pdf

"This curriculum resource was designed for anyone who teaches Mi'kmaw history, culture and knowledge. Through the stories and knowledge of Mi'kmaw Elders, educators, and other experts, this volume shares content and teaching strategies for three subject areas:"

1. Welo'ltimk (Healing)
   
2. Kejitasimkewey Kiskuk (Contemporary Issues)
3. Netukulimk (Economic, Social and Political Life)

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