by Michael Tutton The Canadian Press

Daniel Paul, a Mi’kmaw Elder who documented the often painful details of his people’s history, has died at the age of 84.

Paul’s book “We Were Not the Savages” revealed how European history has glossed over the brutal tactics of colonial governments and has failed to diagnose the true cause of the Mi’kmaq people’s sharp decline.

His research helped convince Nova Scotia politicians that statues, school names and even a coast guard ship should no longer bear the name of Edward Cornwallis, the province’s first governor, who offered rewards for Indigenous scalps.

The final and fourth edition of his book confronted critics who said scalping was common in 18th-century warfare, responding with arguments that the governor’s tactics were a deliberate attack on unarmed Mi’kmaw civilians.

In 2022, Paul was undergoing cancer treatment receiving chemotherapy treatments for liver cancer while working on the fourth edition of his book.

His niece, Candice Lee Sylliboy, says Paul died early Tuesday morning, describing him as an intelligent, loving and wise man whose family and nation will miss dearly.

Errol Sharpe, co-owner of Fernwood Publishing, which published the most recent editions of “We Were Not the Savages,” says that book has had the most enduring impact on Nova Scotia society of any book he has been involved with.

‘We were not the Savages’
First published by Nimbus in 1993, “We ...

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