Mi'kmaq History Month - Resource List
The month of October is recognized in Nova Scotia as Mi’kmaq History Month, beginning with the annual commemoration of Treaty Day on October 1st. It is an important day that recognizes the role of treaties in the relationship between the Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq and the Crown, and reaffirming the historic presence of the Mi’kmaq who have occupied the land for thousands of years.
This year’s theme for Mi’kmaq History Month 2024 is Mijipjewey Na Mawa’luksi’k (Food Gathers Us Together). This theme invites us all to learn about and celebrate the vital role that food plays within First Nations, Metis and Inuit communities and to learn about Indigenous values and ways, such as Netukulimk, that play a central role in honoring the treaties and protecting the lands and waters that provide for our food system.
During Mi’kmaq History month, the Nourish team will be taking time to learn with each other and in community, through workshops and events happening at the Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre, and Every One Every Day Kjipuktuk. We’ve also put together this inspiring resource list featuring Indigenous writers and knowledge keepers who share their wisdom about food, connections to the land, and pathways to Reconciliation.
Image source: Nimbus Publishing
Mitji-Let's Eat! Mi'kmaq Recipes from Sikniktuk
Type: Book
Author: Margaret Augustine, Dr. Lauren Beck
Brief description: An intergenerational source of wisdom and knowledge, Mitji combines a cultural history of Mi’kmaw cuisine with a practical cookbook.Mitji—Let’s Eat! Mi’kmaq Recipes from Sikniktuk offers over 30 traditional and popular Mi’kmaq recipes, arranged seasonally.
Find here: Mitji-Let’s Eat! - Nimbus Publishing and Vagrant Press
Image source: Good Minds
Held by the Land : A Guide to Indigenous Plants for Wellness
Type: Book
Author: Leigh Joseph
Brief description: Author Leigh Joseph, an ethnobotanist and a member of the Squamish Nation, provides a beautifully illustrated essential introduction to Indigenous plant knowledge. The Indigenous Peoples of North America have long traditions of using native plants as medicine as well as for food. Held by the Land honors and shares some of these traditions, offering a guide to: Harvesting herbs and other plants and using them topically North American plants that can treat common ailments, add nutrition to your diet, become part of your beauty regime, and more; Stories and traditions about native plants from the author's Squamish culture; Using plant knowledge to strengthen your connection to the land you live on.
Find here: Held By the Land : A Guide to Indigenous Plants for Wellness (HC) (goodminds.com)
Image source: Good Minds
Becoming Kin : An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagining Our Future
Type: Book
Author: Patty Krawec
Brief description: Weaving her own story with the story of her ancestors and with the broader themes of creation, replacement, and disappearance, Krawec helps readers see settler colonialism through the eyes of an Indigenous writer. Settler colonialism tried to force us into one particular way of living, but the old ways of kinship can help us imagine a different future. Krawec asks, What would it look like to remember that we are all related? How might we become better relatives to the land, to one another, and to Indigenous movements for solidarity? Braiding together historical, scientific, and cultural analysis, Indigenous ways of knowing, and the vivid threads of communal memory, Krawec crafts a stunning, forceful call to "unforget" our history.
Find here: Becoming Kin : An Indigenous Call to Unforgetting the Past and Reimagi (goodminds.com)
Image source: Good Minds
Indigenous Food Systems: Concepts, Cases and Conversations
Type: Book
Author: Priscilla Settee, Shailesh Shukla
Brief description: Indigenous Food Systems addresses the disproportionate levels of food-related health disparities among First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people in Canada, seeking solutions to food insecurity and promoting well-being for current and future generations of Indigenous people. Through research and case studies, Indigenous and non-Indigenous food scholars and community practitioners explore salient features, practices, and contemporary challenges of Indigenous food systems across Canada. Highlighting Indigenous communities’ voices, the contributing authors document collaborative initiatives between Indigenous communities, organizations, and non-Indigenous allies to counteract the colonial and ecologically destructive monopolization of food systems.
Find here: Indigenous Food Systems: Concepts, Cases and Conversations
Image source: Finding Flowers
Mijiim: Food As Relations- Indigenous Food Sovereignties
Type: Webinar
Author: Sherry Pictou, Tania Willard, Dawn Morrison, Lisa Myers
Brief description: This Indigenous Food Sovereignties conversation brings together Secwepemc artist, curator and co-creator of Bush Gallery Tania Willard in conversation with Dawn Morrison (Secwepemc), Founder and Research Curator of the Working Group on Indigenous Food Sovereignty; and Mi’kmaw professor and Indigenous land and food justice advocate, Sherry Pictou to consider their work in defence of Indigenous sovereignties, and in relation to the reclamation of land, medicines, foods and plants.
Find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgU9gsTQ6AM
Image source: RAIR Digital Dialogues
Rematriation as Relational Practice with Alivia Moore and Kessi Kimball of the Eastern Woodlands Rematriation Collective
Type: Podcast
Author: Alivia Moore, Kessi Kimball, RAIR Collective
Brief description: This podcast features Alivia Moore and Kessi Kimball from Eastern Woodlands Rematriation Collective -- a grassroots organization aiming to restore Indigenous food and kinship systems and the spiritual foundation of Indigenous livelihoods. Alivia Moore is a member of the Penobscot nation and the two-spirit community. They are a mother, child welfare advocate and co-founder of EWR focused on food systems in tribal communities across the US north-east. Kessie Kimball is a food provider from the Listuguj First Nations Mi'kmaq. Growing and sharing food in the community is the backbone of what she loves and what helps her build relationships for food sovereignty. Please check out more about Eastern Woodlands Rematriation collective online. They are an incredible group of caretakers.
Image source: The Conversation
The Road to Reconciliation Starts with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Type: Article
Author: Sheryl Lightfoot
Brief description: This article from the Conversation features information about the UN Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples, how the Canadian Government has resisted it, and its importance in Reconciliation.
Image source: The Conversation
Making Our Food Fairer: Don't Call me Resilent
Type: Podcast
Author: Vinita Srivastava
Brief description: One out of every eight households in Canada is food insecure. For racialized Canadians, that number is higher – two to three times the national average. In this episode, Vinita asks what is happening with our food systems, and what we can do to make them fairer with two women who have been tackling this issue for years.
Find here: Making our food fairer: Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 12 (theconversation.com)
Image source: Media Indigena
The Fishy Fight against Mi'kmaq Rights
Type: Podcast
Author: Media Indigena
Brief description: Settler panic in the Atlantic. Why do opponents of a new Mi’kmaq fishery in southwestern Nova Scotia speak as if it’s illegal when it has the support of a 21-year-old Supreme Court ruling? Why do they persist with arguments that the fishery could endanger the stock when not even 10 licenses are involved—an iota compared to the millions of pounds caught by the industry every year? And what might the UN Declaration on Indigenous rights have to say about all this?
Image source: Tamarack Institute
Introduction to Reconciliation
Type: Webinar
Author: Tamarack Institute
Brief description: Reconciliation Canada’s Introduction to Reconciliation webinar creates a safe place for participants to explore our shared Canadian history, examine the meaning of reconciliation, and their respective role to play. Join Charlene Seward in this hour-long webinar and explore your values and beliefs as they relate to reconciliation.
Find here: WEBINAR | Introduction to Reconciliation (tamarackcommunity.ca)
Image source: Impact Organizations of Nova Scotia
Decolonization Learning Journey
Type: Webinar & Learning Resources
Author: Impact Organizations of Nova Scotia
Brief description: In June of 2020 the Impact Organizations of Nova Scotia, in partnership with Unama’ki College at Cape Breton University launched the “The Decolonization Learning Journey” with 4 webinars around the topic of Pre-Contact and Early History, as the first in a four-part series.
Find here: Decolonization Learning Journey - IONS - Impact Organizations of Nova Scotia