Tying Mi'kmaq-Acadian celebration to Canada 150 brings mixed feelings

The man behind this summer's celebration of the "historic relationship" between Acadians and the Mi'kmaq says the event is intended to mark reconciliation efforts as Canada celebrates its 150th birthday.

Some First Nations people are hesitant to celebrate Canada's Confederation, arguing it is a symbol of colonization and pointing to traumas such as the residential school system.

But Morley Googoo, regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations for Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, argues that if the "harmony" between the Mi'kmaq and Acadians is not acknowledged, bad sentiments will persist.

"I think it's a restart [for] the next 150 that we have to bring some hope to," he says.

Grand Pré 2017 is a four-day event scheduled for August 10 to 13 at Grand Pré National Historic Site in the Annapolis Valley.

Googoo says he thinks most people in Nova Scotia, Mi'kmaq included, have a "new understanding" of the province's Indigenous history, and the event will allow First Nations storytellers a chance to enhance it.

"Of course, we want to tell all the good stories but there's been some really bad stories that also happened. It's important for our generations to see that reconciliation is happening," he says. "That means we embrace each other's culture."

Googoo says the event developed into something bigger than he intended. The Canada 150 Celebration wasn't the original focus, but when the Nova Scotia government showed some interest it gave organizers enough leverage to raise $1.1 million from federal agencies and private investors.

Tough pill to swallow

But there are some who are unhappy at the prospect of tying celebrations of a relationship involving Indigenous people to Canada's 150th.

It's a "tough pill to swallow," says Gerald Toney, even though he's band manager of Annapolis Valley First Nation, one of the four communities hosting the Grand Pré event.

"That land that they call 'the land of Evangeline,' that was all Mi'kmaq land," he says. "We were kind of dusted off to the side, and [the French] took over the whole Valley area." 

"Ten thousand years ago, the grand council ran all the resources for the Maritimes, our seven districts. Everything outside, we controlled that and took care of it." 

Toney says he understands the Mi'kmaq-Acadian relationship could be an example of how Indigenous and non-Indigenous people can and do co-exist. But he says he's looking at "the big picture" and hasn't reconciled with Canada's mistreatment of the Mi'kmaq. 

Hope for next 150

Four Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq communities will be hosting the event.

• Acadia First Nation
• Bear River First Nation
• Annapolis Valley First Nation 
• Glooscap First Nation