Mi'kma'ki

We really wanted to hear the Mi'kmaq side of the story after spending so much time learning about the Acadiens so we headed to a local cultural center.

Regarding the peacefulness of the Acadian-Mi'kmaq relationship, both sides agree: they got along. Weird!

However, contact with Europeans wasn't GOOD for the Mi'kmaq. They died in huge numbers due to disease exposure, and access to things like guns and agricultural products caused a major change in a way of life that had sustained First Nations societies for at least 4,000 years in the area (and possibly up to 10,000), derailing the self-sufficiency and sustainability that defined Mi'kmaq culture.

From the exhibit: "When the first Europeans arrived, they were warmly welcomed and encouraged to trade. At the time of contact it was evident that the Mi'kmaq were a people accustomed to peace. Their system of governance and social organization was inclusive of communities and both genders. Europeans often misinterpreted it as disorganised and slow because decisions in Mi'kmaw communities was based on consensus and took longer. This form of government developed out of a desire to share with and respect each other."

Damn, what a concept.

After the Acadiens were deported in the mid-1700s the Mi'kmaq people had to fend for themselves while the British established increasingly resource-extractive colonies and despite "treaties" that supposedly left them with reasonable shares of land, Mi'kma'ki was so overfished and deforested that the old ways of life were no longer possible. The Mi'kmaq suffered starvation, disease, and poverty for generations.

Eventually, "public education" for First Nations people was established....in the form of residential schools, a system which lasted for over 150 years.

In the early 1980s, court cases started setting precedent for First Nations to start having some actual rights and land again, but it's an ongoing process. The last residential school in Canada closed in 1996.

As I was reading the exhibits, it occured to me that this is the first time I've learned about North American Indigenous history in a museum actually created by the people themselves. It was really great and I hope more are built in the future.Read more