Why one woman is growing ‘legacy’ acorns from Nova Scotia’s fallen ‘Shubenacadie tree’

For 10 months, Cheryl Maloney has been the caretaker of two dozen tiny red oak seedlings, grown from acorns from Nova Scotia’s famed “Shubenacadie tree.”

“The magnitude of starting out with an acorn, and then sitting here with trees from this 300 year old, iconic piece of Nova Scotian, Canadian history,” she says, “and it’s something that means so much to everyone.”

More than a decade ago, then CTV News At Five co-host Starr Dobson did a story about that tree, often dubbed “the most photographed tree in Nova Scotia.”

Even back when the story aired in March 2010, farmer William Versteeg, whose family bought the land the tree stood on, knew that its eventual demise would be deeply felt among those who cherished it.

“If the tree died, it would take us a long time to cut it down and clean it up,” he said, “because I’m sure there'd be a period of time when the community would mourn the loss of that tree."

That demise came in the fall of 2022, when post-tropical storm Fiona tore through the province, destroying homes and downing countless trees –- including the iconic “Shubenacadie tree” beside Highway 102.

At the time, Maloney was still dealing with a very personal loss -– the sudden death of her 9-month-old grandson Tyren in January of 2020.

“The last few years, I had the teepee poles still standing from his sacred fire,” says Maloney, who is a member of the Sipekne’katik First Nation, “and then Fiona came along and took down the teepee poles. And I knew in my heart it was time to let him go.”

“And my sister, April, said, ‘Let’s go and look at the Shubie tree, it went down,’ and we were all feeling this sort of melancholy.”

Maloney went to see the tree with her grandchildren, who then spotted the acorns scattered on the ground from the great red oak.

“I’m looking at this tree that’s been here long before any of us, long before Nova Scotia,” she says. “It carries a certain history in its genetics, and (so) we gathered those little acorns, and I just had a split (second) thought.”

“(I thought) let me grow a memorial tree for my grandson,” Maloney recalls, “it just felt right.”

“And we put them in the fridge, and we started Googling, and praying for one tree,” she adds.

Ever since then, Maloney has documented the acorns’ progress online, through a Facebook page she created called “Shubie Tree Acorns Updates.”

She’s named the 24 seedlings that have survived so far after both famous names in popular history (there’s Tina Turner, she has ‘great legs’, Maloney jokes) -- to important individuals in the Mi’kmaw community (two of the young trees are named Bill and Sadie, after the parents of Mi’kmaw elder and activist Danny Paul.)

After sharing a few seedlings with family and keeping one in her grandson’s name, there are also plans to plant one at the community schools.

But since so many trees have survived, Maloney also feels a responsibility to share them with Nova Scotians.

After brainstorming ideas, she’s decided to create a type of giveaway, asking people to submit stories and memories about the Shubenacadie tree.

She would then choose seven winning stories, and each winner would receive a tree of their own to plant in “a trail of little Shubie trees throughout Nova Scotia,” Maloney says.

She then hopes to include the stories in a book about the Shubenacadie tree, a book she will dedicated to Tyren’s memory.

“I think that would be a beautiful lasting legacy for me,” she says, “and I want it to be a happy book, I want it to be a happy story… even though this was a sad time in my life.”

“And I think this is just so beautiful, that all this came from one little acorn from the Shubie tree,” she says.

As the seedlings continue to grow, Maloney hopes many could be planted to take root in new homes this fall.