Tim Fedak, Curator of Geology with the Nova Scotia Museum, shared information on Spencer’s Island, traditionally known to the Mi’kmaq as Wtouml. He explained to the committee that the island has both geographical and cultural relevance to the Mi’kmaq.

“This is a really incredible place,” he said. “When you’re on the island, it feels very important.”

Tim spoke about the historical background of the island located in the Cliffs of Fundy UNESCO Global Geopark. Wtouml received scientific attention after a visiting tourist found a fossil, bringing it to the Fundy Geological Museum, Tim noted. That fossil is evidence of the pivotal geological changes that created the Wtouml we see today– specifically the catastrophic breaking up of the Pangea supercontinent, at the end of the Carboniferous Period, leading to the formation of the Bay of Fundy and the land masses all around it. The fossil, theorized to be a preserved bone from a prehistoric creature, also has direct ties to the name the Mi’kmaq legend surrounding Wtouml.

Traditionally, in local Mi’kmaw lore, Wtouml is regarded as the cooking pot or kettle of Glooscap, a reference to its shape, appearing to have its scraps poured out, scattered and turned to stone.

“That’s exactly what we found at the beach,” Tim said, describing how the connection between the contents of Glooscap’s pot, and the fossils strewn about the beach are a fascinating intersection of cultural legend and geological record.

He described a visit to the island where he studied the features of the island and found evidence of an environment that lends itself to fossil formation – sedimentary rock.

He told the committee his work continues and is excited that there is evidence of Triassic era fossils, potential for deeper research and proof that the local legend and presence of fossils suggest that bones have been observed for a remarkably long time.

Tim proposed a collaboration to share the Mi’kmaq and Western knowledge relating to the island, promoting its importance to the province.

Museum update

Later, Kayla Rudderham, Curator of Mi’kmaq Cultural Heritage with the Nova Scotia Museum, spoke about her role in the process of creating the Pjila’si Gallery at the Nova Scotia Museum.

Kayla described the work she did with the Mi’kmaq Advisory Group that formed to design Pjila’si in 2017, describing the ideas, processes and challenges encountered since the group was created in 2017.

The Mi’kmaq Advisory Group’s decisions determined what would be included in Pjila’si, bringing forward the knowledge, expertise and concerns of its communities regarding cultural heritage, to create a distinctly Mi’kmaw gallery that specifically reflected Mi’kmaq principles, values and customs, from the chosen items and material used for the gallery’s ceiling treatment, to the fonts and colours used, and the physical floorplan of the gallery.

Questions of what people should know, and take away, from the exhibits, and questions of themes, concepts and experiences guided the planning process, Kayla said, adding that a central theme became telling stories with objects in the collection, breaking from typical museum exhibit conventions.

The committee’s guidance resulted in an exhibit that focused on Indigenous resilience, with many featured community belongings, language as a central theme,

Kayla’s presentation was punctuated by a tour of the gallery, as part of the meeting, which took place at the Nova Scotia Museum.

June Anniversary

Keith Mercer, Cultural Resource Manager with Parks Canada, updated the committee on the plans to celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the First Peace and Friendship Treaty on June 4^th, 1726.

Parks Canada has formed a Mi’kmaq-led steering committee to make plans to celebrate the 300^th anniversary of the first treaty signed between the Crown and any First Nation in Canada. Keith noted that the event the committee is planning for June is a bid to honour that moment in history by hosting it at what is now the Fort Anne National National Historic Site in Annapolis Royal.

The committee, which has met twice this year, is working on event planning and fundraising.

Keith told committee members the event’s formal component will entail speeches and a plaque unveiling, with an informal component seeing the Fort Anne’s parade ground filled with activities, such as vendor and educational booths and cultural performances.

The committee recently heard from a provincial representative about the program, in a presentation on the funding it offers at a meeting in Glooscap First Nation by Meghan Hallet, Manager of Community and Supports and Infrastructure with the Province.

MCAP funding is offered for Mi’kmaw First Nations, communities, groups and organizations, and is instrumental in sustaining cultural identity and adapting to the changing needs of Mi’kmaw communities across the province, promoting cultural growth, healing and preservation.

The funding specifically supports special or one-time projects in key areas such as cultural preservation and education, community wellbeing, resilience and healing initiatives, traditional arts and crafts, youth engagement and empowerment, and environmental stewardship (such as projects integrated with traditional ecological knowledge), and historical and archaeological initiatives documenting and preserving Mi’kmaw history.

Some examples of the initiatives supported by MCAP funding over the years include basket-making in at the Glooscap Heritage Centre (2013), Mi’kmawey Debert’s Stories from Mi’kma’ki videos for education and outreach (2014), the Mi’kmaq Native Friendship Society’s Way to Healing Project (2015) and the Millbrook Culture and Heritage Center’s repatriation of artifacts from the United Kingdom (2024).

MCAP funding supports the wellbeing and vitality of Mi’kmaq communities, and has funded 121 projects since its launch in 2013. In 2023, MCAP helped a record number of communities and initiatives, with the approval of $115,175 in funding for 13 projects.

MCAP has an annual $100,000 budget, and funds projects that advance cultural traditions, preserve language, and promote the sharing of Mi’kmaq culture. Applicants can include Mi’kmaw First Nations, groups or organizations in Nova Scotia.

Meghan told Culture and Heritage committee members that the MCAP program now offers two tiers of support including

• Up to $5,000, with no application contribution required
• $5,001 to $10,000, requiring a 25% contribution which can partially be in-kind.

Organizations are allowed to submit separate applications for more than one project, and requests for more than $10,000 are allowed, if the application includes multiple partners, or will impact more than one community.

Since 2013, MCAP has seen a total in $1,518,289 requested and has approved $1,091,421 in funding for projects. That funding has supported a range of Mi’kmaq organizations from all 13 Mi’kmaw communities.

Applications, which are accepted from Nova Scotia-based Mi’kmaq bands, groups or organizations, are reviewed by a Peer Assessment Committee, with members from the Mi’kmaq community, and determines eligibility of applications.

For more information on application criteria and the program, visit here.

This year, Gerald Gloade, a former Culture and Heritage Working Committee member, and employee with Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre, has taken time out of his well-deserved retirement to design the poster in honour of the occasion.

The theme for this year’s poster and Mi’kmaw History Month is A’tukwemk – the Mi’kmaq term for storytelling – and A’tukowinu’k, storytellers.

This year’s Mi’kmaq History Month honours the importance of stories and storytellers in Mi’kmaw culture. Stories were (and are) a way people teach, learn, and live, and about how people formed, and still form deep connections with one another. They serve as an important connection between past and present, conveying timeless messages and teachings, and values.

Speaking to fellow committee members at a Culture and Heritage Committee meeting in June, Darrell reported on how he is pulling together the final steps in a project that will see Mi’kmaq signage posted on Kellys Mountain.

Kellys Mountain – known to Nova Scotia’s original inhabitants as Mukla’qati (‘Place Where the Geese Land’) – is cut through by a rugged, steep section of Route 105, in Victoria County, near the Seal Island bridge, Great Bras d’Or Channel and Boularderie Island. It is a sacred site to the Mi’kmaq, considered the traditional home to Glooscap.

The additions to the Mukla’qati/Kellys Mountain site will include four signs – two large ones at the bottom of the mountain, near the highway, and two near the lookoff near the top. The signs will be set back and high enough away, that they won’t be interfered with by vandals who frequent the area, leaving graffiti.

Each sign will be designed with a QR code linking to a website sharing historical information about Mukla’qati and the Mi’kmaw communities in the area that existed prior to the inhabitants’ dispossession. Darrell told committee members he hopes to include local tourism information that website as well.

Darrell, the Cultural Manager with the Union of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq (UNSM), told committee members he has recruited Mi’kmaq Artist Loretta Gould to design the signs. The signs themselves are being funded by the Province, and the design for the signs is being funded by Destination Cape Breton.

The revitalization and Indigenization of Kellys Mountain has been an ongoing project since 2023. Darrell previously spoke about his intention to clean up, and bring signate to the mountain at a Culture and Heritage meeting in September, 2024.

Debra Ginnish, a proponent behind the recent compensation claims for survivors of the former Indian Day Schools, spoke to two Tripartite working committees about plans to commemorate the victory achieved for and by hundreds of Indian Day School Survivors.

Wi’kipaltimk – the Mi’kmaq word for feast – commemorate this milestone for Survivors in Sydney’s Open Hearth Park. Debra told committee members that the three-day event will be much more than just a meal. The Mawio’mi (gathering) will honour Indian Day School survivors and celebrate Mi’kmaq culture. The event will uplift traditions through ceremony, music, education, and intergenerational exchange.

The event will be a time to share truth through story, ceremony and education, celebrating Mi’kmaq language, culture and identity, and bringing people together in the spirit of community and solidarity.

Debra spoke about the forthcoming event to members of the Culture and Heritage, and Economic Development Committees about the plans to commemorate and celebrate the successful claims filed by Indian Day School Survivors from across Nova Scotia.

Debra, the Indian Day School Supports Coordinator with the Union of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq (UNSM), explained to committee members the plans to host the event, which will include:

• Nightly Indigenous artists from across Turtle Island providing entertainment
• Powwow grounds with drummers, dancers and protocols
• The Crafters’ Marketplace
• Five teepees representing Unama’ki Communities with cultural demonstrations
• The Chef Ray Bear Culinary Tent, providing traditional and modern Indigenous food tastings
• Sacred Fire and Sunrise Ceremonies
• An Elders’ Tent
• A Yurt for Indian Day School Education with two-to-three daily sessions with Survivors and educators
• An Innovation Tent for Indigenous youth, entrepreneurs
• A Food Tent
• A Sensory Room/Calming space
• A Volunteer and Information Tent
• A first aid station
• A finale performance featuring fireworks

Bryn , a graduate student at Memorial University studying archaeology, shared findings from his doctoral research into the role of rock art in the Maritimes and its role in Indigenous societies – specifically pertaining to Indigenous petroglyphs found throughout Atlantic Canada.

Bryn’s research into pre-and-post-contact Mi’kmaq and Wolastoq (Maliseet) rock art in the Maritimes provided new academic insights into the rock carvings at the Kwipek (Bedford Barrens) and Kejimkujik National Park.

Presenting at the December 3^rd meeting of the Culture and Heritage Committee in Halifax on the 16 petroglyph sites across Atlantic Canada, Bryn put forward theories about the origins and the inspiration for the Bedford petroglyphs – and their purpose and role.

Bryn explained how he used digital survey techniques like multi-light imaging and 3D-structured light scanning – to examine the rock carvings, and the markings used to make them.

Specific attention was paid to the symbols of the eight-pointed star and a fertility glyph found at both the Bedford site and Kejimkujik National Park, citing previous academic research on the petroglyphs and two casts made of the etchings.

Bryn told committee members he identified tool marks in some of the lines carved into the stone to make the glyphs, which are associated with metal tools. He theorized that the images are post-contact in origin on account of those metal tool marks.

In response to the presentation, members of the committee noted that there are other interpretations of the rock art at the Kwipek/ Bedford Barrens site.

Committee members suggested that the etchings and markings being from metal tools doesn’t necessarily mean the eight-point star is pre-contact in origin. Members also noted that the image Bryn and the sources he drew his research from identified as a fertility symbol could also be interpreted as symbolic of maternity or fishing.

Mi’kmaq Co-Chair Tim Bernard said future research should integrate both Indigenous knowledge and a Western approach, incorporating an Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing) approach, something Bryn expressed an interest in.

An integrated approach would bring Mi’kmaq perspectives and knowledge to the table, Tim said.

He added that the characteristic design at the Bedford petroglyphs is iconic to the Mi’kmaq people, and “we understand it’s worth further investigation.”

The Culture and Heritage Committee is working with the Community of Sipekne’katik to secure a location for the commemoration site of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School (IRS).

Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Center (MDCC) Executive Director Tim Bernard told members of the Culture and Heritage Committee that the project is now in its final phase – implementation and commemoration. “We have carefully approached this important project that has seen engagement with Survivors, the designation of the formal school as a National Historic Site of Canada, a Gathering with Survivors and their descendants, and now plans for a Commemorative Site,” Tim said to committee members gathered at the Kluskap Ridge RV and Campground, on Sept. 10^th.

Currently, the project is in a collaborative phase, with its proponents are seeking the continued support of the community.

The Sipekne’katik Band Council has requested a greater degree of consultation on the commemorative site, with more detailed information on the plans for the site relayed to community.

The Band also asked for clarification on how the project will fit into the community’s broader-spectrum economic development plans, as it undertakes additions to reserve land in the Shubenacadie-Sipekne’katik area near the Shubenacadie IRS site.

Over the past few months, a series of meetings have been held, and MDCC produced a promotional video for community with information on the project’s work and the purpose of the commemorative site.

Tim emphasized that the commemorative site alights with the Sipekne’katik Band’s broader economic development goals for the lands it owns and is acquiring, noting, “We’re pretty comfortable it’ll bring people.”

He is optimistic installation work will commence in Spring 2025.

In Spring 2024, Tim presented to the Sipekne’katik Band Council, giving its members a full overview of the project, bringing members up to date on its progress.

Final Steps

One of the remaining steps in the process is an environmental site assessment, following an already-complete archaeological assessment which found no evidence of burials or anything that would require it to be relocated.

Tim told committee members that the next phase hinges on securing permission from the Band to place the commemorative piece at the proposed site.

The project is supported with funding from Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC), the Tripartite Forum’s Project Fund and Parks Canada.

Site preparation will include raising the land with gravel to road level and protecting it against potential flooding.

Tim also advised committee members that the next step is another Survivors Gathering in Spring 2025.

Highlights

The four-phase IRS Legacy Project, championed and led by the Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre, entails:

• Survivors Engagement Sessions across 11 communities to inform the design of the commemoration
• The establishment of a Survivors Advisory Circle, to guide the project
• Research into Missing Children and Burial sites
• A Survivors Healing Gathering
• The Designation of the location as a National Historic Site
• The development of commemorative art pieces by the Studio of Ursula Johnson.

Created by Gerald Gloade with Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre (MDCC), the poster was unveiled at the Tripartite Forum’s Sept. 10^th Culture and Heritage meeting.

The theme for this year’s poster is food, and Gerald’s work, with nuance and historical respect for Mi’kmaw tradition, incorporates imagery from the Mi’kmaw Moon Cycles – relating them to the Western 12-month calendar – acknowledging the seasonal, traditional Mi’kmaw food sources, and where they come from.

At its first unveiling at the Sept. 10^th meeting, Gerald explained the collaborative and creative process – three weeks of work, in consultation with the members of the Mi’kmaw History Month Committee, revising earlier designs and tweaking it to fit the month.

“It’s not just sitting there, doing one thing. It’s a progression, continually changing,” Gerald said.

He stressed the collaborative nature of the work, noting every detail was considered, from how to depict a the family preparing a meal and the depictions traditional food sources, to details like the grass needing to be brown, and not green, since the poster was made for October.

As part of his work, he incorporated a variety of artwork into the poster, including paintings that alongside one another, mix modern and traditional imagery by incorporating traditional Mi’kmaw archers, and contemporary Mi’kmaw fishers, for example.

Darrell spoke about the work he has done to collaborate with the province to change the name of a mountain currently named Kellys Mountain to its original Mi’kmaw name – Mukla’qati – which means ‘where the geese land.’

“There is so much potential for our communities to be able to tell their story,” said Darrell, Infrastructure Program Manager with the Union of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq (UNSM).

At the Tripartite Forum’s Culture and Heritage Committee meeting at the Kluskap Ridge RV and Campground, he explained that there’s no meaningful reason behind the mountain’s current name: “With the research we’ve done, there’s no Kelly family associated with the mountain, and there’s no person named Kelly that’s worth naming a mountain after.”

New Signs

Darrell told committee members the plan is to put up a large sign on either side of the mountain, designating it as Mukla’qati, along with smaller signs on the lookoff with QR codes, linking to positive stories about the Mi’kmaq People, their history, culture and communities.

He noted there is great potential for economic benefits in being able to tell the traditional story of Mukla’qati, “a story that has yet to be told”

Two-Eyed Seeing Approach

The choice of a new name for Kellys Mountain respects the traditional principle of Etuaptmumk (Two-Eyed Seeing), Darrell noted, adding that it serves as an educational tool to explain the rich historical context of the sacred mountain. A renamed mountain als respects the history of the region – including the darker chapters in Mi’kmaw history, like the dispossession of traditional territory.

“I know (dispossession) is not a comfortable word…but it’s a fact that it happened, and we need to recognize that,” Darrell said.

When installed, the signage will tell the pre-contact history of the region, before dispossession and centralization – history that includes the Glooscap legends associated with the mountain, like the Story of the Stone Maidens.

“That’s why I talk about this. We came from places, we lived in places and we had communities in these places – Membertou is not a 20,000-year-old neighbourhood,” Darrell said. “It’s important to recognize we had communities, where we lived sustainably on the land.”

Cleanup

The plan also entails the removal of garbage and graffiti. Darryl said the state of the highway that runs through Kellys Mountain – plagued with graffiti on the guardrails and a glut of garbage – has been a matter of concern for him and his fellow UNSM members since 2021, when they came up with the plan.

“We talked about how sacred the mountain is to our people, and how important it was to our ancestors, and how it’s not respected at all, with the graffiti and the garbage that is dumped down to the bottom of the St. Ann’s Lookoff,” he told the Culture and Heritage Committee.

“It’s not Tim Horton’s cups that blew out of cars; it’s couches and roofing shingles dumped over the end of the lookoff, so I was asked to approach the province to see if they would do a couple of things with it.”

Problematic Names

The name change for the mountain is an ongoing effort in collaboration with  Service Nova Scotia.

“Turns out, a name change is a bigger issue than putting a sign on there that says the name, where ‘Kellys Mountain’ used to be,” Darrell said.

He stressed that the renaming process for the mountain reminded him of the dire need to change many inappropriate place names across Canada.

“These are changing times. There are so many places that need to have their names changed because there are inappropriate, racist names,” Darrell noted.

Support

Darrell told committee members the project has the support of the tourism industry, noting the potential with guided hikes already taking place on Mukla’qati.

“It’s sustainable, good for the tourism industry and a good reconciliation project,” he said. “It’s a win-win for everybody to get this done.”

Darryl said the province and Destination Cape Breton have been helpful partners, contributing significantly to the costs of designing the signs and the general redevelopment effort.

“It’s our story, nobody else can tell this story. We need to take ownership of our stories and show that this is where Glooscap called home – on Mukla’qati, on this sacred mountain.”

The Committee received approval to use $92,000 from the Tripartite Fund to support the development and implementation of the Residential Schools Survivor Project.

The project, which began in April 2023, aims to commemorate the Survivors and legacy of the Shubenacadie IRS, in the spirit of truth finding, info gathering and research, and appropriate, respectful commemoration of past events and injustices, through a commemoration piece at the former site of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School.

The Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre, the organization responsible for the project, hopes to conclude work on the Commemoration Project by the end of February 2024.