Mi'kmaq Grand Keptin Andrew Denny during Mi'kmaq Treaty Day ceremonies on Oct. 3/Photo by Stephen Brake, RadioGoogoo.ca
In a stern tone reminiscent of his late father Alex Denny, Mi’kmaq Grand Council member Andrew Denny asked a single question that would set the tone for his speech to mark the 25th anniversary of Mi’kmaq Treaty Day celebrations in Halifax Monday.
“Has 25 years been enough?” he asked the people and the dignitaries who gathered in Province House. They included Premier Darrell Dexter, Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, Mayann Francis, and Ian Gray, Regional Director General for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.
“I stand before you as my father did before me and ask, ‘How many years will it take for the spirit and intent of our treaties to be implemented? How many more years shall I stand before various governments and call for a true treaty partnership, a sincere treaty reconciliation process and a trustworthy relationship based on the fulfillment of the treaty obligation and an end to Mi’kmaq poverty?’ ” Grand Keptin Denny asked.
In his speech during the afternoon portion of the ceremonies, Denny hinted that on-going treaty talks between Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq leaders and both levels of governments may not be progressing as well as he had hoped.
“A better treaty partnership is needed,” Denny told the group seated in the legislative chambers. “A true treaty partnership and treaty reconciliation is not one where one partner tells the other what they will and will not discuss. We must leave behind paternal regimes based on racism and improve on the process where the government may not add clauses like ‘own-source revenue’ and then say, ‘take it or leave it’ ” he said.
The two co-chairs for the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq Chiefs also echoed Denny’s theme calling for improved government relations.
“There is a need for the Mi’kmaq to receive a fair share in benefits derived from our lands and resources,” Paqtnkek First Nation Chief Gerard Julian noted during his speech. “We need to establish resources and revenue-sharing agreements and provide much needed jobs and improved services in our communities,” he said.
Membertou First Nation Chief Terrance Paul spoke about the recent conflicts between non-aboriginal and Mi’kmaq fishermen in Potlotek (Chapel Island) First Nation and his own community as proof that more work need to be done when it comes to treaty education.
“There is still some in the broader community that fail to understand Mi’kmaq rights, that we were the original founders in this country and we became the dispossessed people as a result of our land being taken away from us,” Paul said.
“While notable progress has been made, there is no question … that racism is still a factor in some quarters,” he said.
“There were two parties to the treaty-making process” – Shawn Atleo
Earlier in the day, more than 500 people, mostly Mi’kmaq, gathered in Halifax on Monday to take part in the 25th celebrations of Mi’kmaq Treaty Day celebrations. The day began with a Roman Catholic Mass at St. Mary’s Basilica before the congregation and war veterans marched with hand drummers along Barrington Street towards Grand Parade Square.
Among the dignitaries who gathered outside in the noontime drizzle and rain included Mi’kmaq Grand Chief Ben Sylliboy, Judge Murray Sinclair with Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo.
“To the Mi’kmaw people, I want to express my gratitude,” Atleo said during his speech outside in Grand Parade Square. “It is a tremendous honour to be here on such an important occasion. To be thankful for what the ancestors, the Mi’kmaw ancestors, did but let’s also honour and remember those newcomers because there were two parties to the treaty-making process,” he said.
A noontime feast was held at the World Trade and Convention Centre on Argyle Street. Recipients for the Grand Chief Donald Marshall Senior Elder Achievement Award, the Chief Noel Doucette Memorial Youth Achievement Award and the Donald Marshall Senior Memorial Scholarship were announced during the afternoon portion of the Treaty Day ceremonies.
The late Grand Chief Donald Marshall, Sr. proclaimed October 1 as Mi’kmaq Treaty Day in 1986 following the Supreme Court of Canada decision in a case that involved Mi’kmaq hunter James Simon from the Indian Brook First Nation, N.S. In 1985, the high court overturned Simon’s conviction of hunting for deer out of season and without a license. The court ruled Simon had a treaty right to hunt based on the 1752 Treaty signed between the Mi’kmaq and the British.
Article six of the 1752 Treaty calls for the Mi’kmaq to gather annually in Halifax on October 1st to renew friendships with the local government.
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