As the son of an Acadian mother, I acknowledge that I have been in a treaty relationship with the Mi'kmaq people since 1610. This treaty, the Mi'kmaw Concordat, was formalised in a wampum collar that set the context in which our people have since been neighbours, allies, and family. I also acknowledge, with gratitude, the help that our Mi'kmaw friends gave my ancestors during and after the genocidal events of 1755: the Expulsion, Le Grand Dérangement, in which the British authorities uprooted the Acadian people, destroying our homes and churches, and sent us into exile, resulting in the death of possibly half of the Acadians. The Mi'kmaw sheltered us in many places, an act that allowed us to remain in Mi'kma'ki / Acadie / Nova Scotia and to rebuild our homeland. Wela'lioq!
As a resident of K'jipuktuk, in Mi'kmaki, the traditional and unceded territory of the L'nu, the Mi'kmaq, my presence in this place is ruled by the 1725 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, ratified in 1728 and renewed in 1749. These Peace and Friendship Treaties did not involve the Mi'kmaq surrendering any rights to the lands and resources they had traditionally used and occupied.
I commit myself to advancing the process of decolonisation in all aspects of my life and work.
As a resident of K'jipuktuk, in Mi'kmaki, the traditional and unceded territory of the L'nu, the Mi'kmaq, my presence in this place is ruled by the 1725 Treaty of Peace and Friendship, ratified in 1728 and renewed in 1749. These Peace and Friendship Treaties did not involve the Mi'kmaq surrendering any rights to the lands and resources they had traditionally used and occupied.
I commit myself to advancing the process of decolonisation in all aspects of my life and work.