Marshall father, son honoured during Mi’kmaq Treaty Day celebrations
Mi'kmaq veterans march into Grand Parade Square in Halifax on Treay Day. Photo by RadioGoogoo.ca
The legacy left by the late Mi’kmaq Grand Chief Donald Marshall, Sr. and his son, Donald Marshall, Jr. was honoured during Mi’kmaq Treaty Day celebrations in Halifax on Thursday.
“I’m so glad to see so many people come here this year,” Ben Sylliboy, Grand Chief of the Mi’kmaq Grand Council, told more than 600 people who gathered at Grand Parade Square shortly before noon. “I remember in ’86 when (Donald Marshall, Sr.) started having this Treaty Day celebrations, there were only a few people,” he said.
In 1986, the late Grand Chief Donald Marshall, Sr. proclaimed Oct. 1 as Mi’kmaq Treaty Day following the 1985 Supreme Court of Canada ruling in James Simon hunting rights case. In it, the highest court ruled that Mi’kmaq people have a treaty right to hunt under the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1752 signed between the Mi’kmaq and the British Crown.
The treaty calls for a gathering to take place every Oct. 1 to renew friendships and exchange gifts.
Membertou Chief Terrance Paul gives speech during Mi'kmaq Treaty Day celebrations in Halifax. Photo by RadioGoogoo.ca
In September 1999, his son, Donald Marshall, Jr. celebrated his own court victory when the Supreme Court of Canada overturned his conviction of catching and selling eels without a license.
In the ruling, five of the seven Supreme Court Justices stated that Marshall had a treaty right to earn a moderate livelihood from the commercial fishery under the Peace and Friendship treaties of 1760-61.
Donald Marshall, Jr., 55, died on Aug. 6 of complications from a lung transplant he received in 2003.
Sylliboy called for a moment of silence to remember the contributions of both father and son towards the recognition of Mi’kmaq treaty rights in Nova Scotia.
Treaty Day celebrations began on Thursday morning with a mass at St. Mary’s Basilica and followed by a veteran’s honour parade to Grand Parade Square.
Family members of the late Donald Marshall, Jr., also known as Junior, held up protest signs along the parade route on Barrington Street to remind Atlantic chiefs of their promise to compensate him for his seven-year court battle to fight the fishing charges against him.
Dawn Sloane, a councillor with the Halifax Regional Municipality, joined Grand Chief Sylliboy in a flag-raising ceremony of the Mi’kmaq Grand Council flag outside of city hall.
A Mi’kmaq gathering feast was held at the World Trade and Convention Centre afterwards.
Tributes to Marshall continued during the presentation and awards portion of Treaty Day celebrations on Thursday afternoon.
“Treaty Day is about celebrating but it is also about reflecting and remembering the sacrifices and triumphs of our people,” Membertou Band Chief Terrance Paul said in his speech at the World Trade and Convention Centre.
“Junior Marshall is a symbol for aboriginal peoples throughout this country that our voice must be heard, that our rights must be fully recognized, respected and implemented,” Paul said. “We must continue to follow Junior Marshall’s footsteps in our journey towards Mi’kmaq nationhood in Nova Scotia,” he said.
Paul urged Mi’kmaq people in the audience to participate in community sessions in the coming months set up by the Mi’kmaq Rights Initiative to discuss the issue of Mi’kmaq nationhood and the question, “Who is Mi’kmaq?”
Nova Scotia Premier Darrell Dexter also paid tribute to Marshall as well as to former Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Baker who passed away last March after a lengthy battle with cancer.
“Their courage and leadership will be missed,” Dexter said in his Treaty Day address.
Treaty Day celebrations wrapped up with award presentations, the unveiling of Mi’kmaq History Month poster and the exchange of gifts from Mi’kmaq leaders to the federal and provincial officials at the ceremony.
