'Let's share and prosper and move forward together': Treaty Day marked in Nova Scotia

Nearly 300 years after the first Mi'kmaq treaties were signed, people gathered on Tuesday in Halifax and elsewhere in Nova Scotia to mark Treaty Day.

Since 1986, Oct. 1 has been Treaty Day in the province and since 1993, October has been Mi’kmaq Heritage Month.

"These treaties are to keep our people doing the things that we were doing for centuries and centuries before,” said Emma Stevens, a Mi’kmaq singer-songwriter who lives on Cape Breton’s Eskasoni First Nation.

Though it was written more specifically for National Truth and Reconciliation Day on Sept. 30, Stevens said her latest song, “Voice of the Earth,” also carries a message on Treaty Day.

"(The song is) all about how the earth is hurting, and how the Indigenous people are slowly losing their connection to earth,” Stevens said. “And how we all have to help bring it back; not just Indigenous people, but everybody as a whole."

Mi'kmaq lawyer and educator Jarvis Googoo spent part of Treaty Day speaking to high school students in Windsor, N.S., about Indigenous history and hopes for a shared future.

"As a lawyer, I like to say, 'How can we undo the damage that's been done?’” Googoo said. "When we say, 'We're all treaty people,’ I truly mean we are all treaty people in this land here. You know, there's lots of land, lots of resources, let's share and prosper and move forward together."

"The essence of treaties is it's about agreement, it's about respect”, said Jeff Ward, manager of Communities, Culture and Heritage for Wagmatcook First Nation.

Two weeks ago marked the 25th anniversary of Donald Marshall Junior's landmark Supreme Court ruling, which found Marshall and all Indigenous people have a treaty right to fish and hunt for a moderate livelihood.

Ward noted the past quarter-century has still seen plenty of controversy in that regard.

"It's sad that after 25 years we're still at that level, where 'moderate livelihood' cannot be defined,” Ward said.

Ward added anyone wanting to learn more during Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Heritage Month can visit sites like the Membertou Heritage Park, Wagmatcook Cultulral & Heritage Centre, Millbrook Culture & Heritage Centre and Digby Resort – among other locations across the province – where Indigenous culture and historical artifacts are on display.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page.