by Zabrina Whitman, Policy Analyst, KMKNO

Despite being one of the first tribes to have contact with Europeans, our culture and people have survived. The Mi’kmaq are resilient people that stand strong and hold onto our beliefs and to protect our Rights.

We are also the most unique Indigenous peoples in Canada, in terms of the negotiation process we have established. Our Peace and Friendship Treaties are different from all other historic Treaties. We have never ceded Rights or Title to the lands of Mi’kma’ki. This is monumental! We are the sole tribe in Nova Scotia and while yes, there is now many people from different Aboriginal Nations living here, the Mi’kmaq are the only ones who can claim to be the original peoples of this land. Around the world when new people have moved into their lands, original peoples have often been assimilated into the dominant culture. This is not the case in Nova Scotia. This is what makes the negotiation process here so different and so exciting.

In 1999 the Marshall Decision finally recognized our Rights as affirmed in the Peace and Friendship Treaties. However, recognition of Rights is not the same as implementation of Rights. We are not the sole people living in Nova Scotia anymore. What does that change? It means we have to discuss how we can implement our Rights, while sharing this land with other groups of people. But more important than this is we have to discuss, amongst ourselves, how implementation of our Treaty Rights would work. Should there be rules ...