Treaty Day 2013

“Today once again we celebrate Treaty Day on the date designated by our ancestors in the 1752 Treaty.

Another year has passed and “oh what a year it has been!”. In my time as Grand Keptin, I have never seen as much discussion, debate, awareness, and altogether greater focus on Mi’kmaq rights. There has been an increased interest in our traditional governing methods and many who are seeking understanding of what we are doing as Mi’kmaq to implement our treaties.

This awareness is in part due to the national “Idle No More” movement which is gathering information and advocating for treaty implementation. At this latter goal, the Idle No More has been successful, because through their efforts the treaty nations had a meeting with the Prime Minister for treaty implementation. Chief Terry Paul and Chief Debbie Robinson presented the Grand Council’s message to the Crown and Prime Minister. Which they did admirably.

Through the past year we saw a national shift among Mi’kmaq towards action as opposed to discussion. We have also heard loud and clear from our people especially the youth that the status quo or the ‘way things are’ isn’t good enough. The Mi’kmaq Grand council is proud of the united efforts at creating awareness and creating a movement for change.

For years we have said that poverty is not and cannot be the future for our people. We are tired of the delays, tired of colonial oppression, and ...

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