A few days before UINR’s Feast in the Highlands, Helen Dennis, the person who prepares all the food for the popular annual gathering, put out a plea on Facebook that she had no moose meat! With no scarcity of moose in Unama’ki, it didn’t take long for Eskasoni Chief Leroy Denny to come to the rescue, finding a moose so Helen and her staff could prepare their traditional delicacies!
This Fall marked the tenth year for the Feast in the Highlands and, growing in size each year, the 2015 version was the largest yet, attracting hundreds of  Mi’kmaq and non-native hunters, youth, Elders, community members, and even a few tourists.
Clifford Paul, UINR’s Moose Management Initiative Coordinator has been on hand since the beginning. “The Feast in the Highlands continues to be a remarkable event. It brings people from different communities together to celebrate moose and the continuing work of the Moose Management Initiative.

“There’s a kind of magic that happens when our Elders and youth come together for a specific purpose–and their attendance is increasing each year. They speak of the Feast with great fondness and look forward to it.”

This year the Feast was renamed to honour long-time employee at UINR and a friend to everyone who knew him, Blair Bernard.
Lisa Young, UINR’s Executive Director explains “Blair was a quiet and gentle soul loved by all who knew him. His greatest loves in life were the simple things, his family and friends, hunting and fishing, and a good feed. What better way to honour his memory than by coming together with our families and friends to share a great meal in the great outdoors.”

Blair’s father, accompanied by family members, was on hand to accept the dedication of the Blair J. Bernard Memorial Feast in the Highlands.