Transcript Seeking Netukulimk: Mi’kmaq Knowledge, Culture and Empowerment

Anthony Davis, Sociology and Anthropology, Mount Saint Vincent
University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
L. Jane McMillan, Anthropology, St. Francis Xavier University,
Antigonish, Nova Scotia
Kerry Prosper, Paq’tnkek Fish and Wildlife, Paq’tnkek First
Nation, Nova Scotia
Need to develop thorough and systematic
documentation of Mi’kmaq relations with K’at
(Marshall decision, entitlement case, passing of elders,
cultural revitalization, knowledge transfer);
 Formed a research collaboration between universitysited social scientists and the Paq’tnkek First Nation;
 Mi’kmaq relations with and use of K’at are
documented first, with a focus on gathering traditional
ecological knowledge;
 Elaborate this to other areas such as salmon, moose,
and deer
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A respectful and results rich research design and
research process:
Workshop proposal and methods development
Vet research proposal with the Mi’kmaq
Research Ethics Board
Initial household survey
Disseminate results
Face-to-face interviews
Map and disseminate results
K’at harvesting
activities are widely
distributed within the
St. Georges Bay
estuaries and
watersheds, including
some of the associated
river systems , with
various degree of
fishing intensity
depending on
locations.
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Social relations and knowledge transfer
Ceremonial relations with K’at
 Spiritual offerings
 Funeral offerings
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Health and well-being
 Weaning with broth
 Healing with oil and skins
 Elder preference – broth
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Ceremonial, social, and subsistence uses
The term Netukulimk is described as,
etymologically, the root “ntuk” refers to
“provisions” in the broad sense of food, fuel,
clothing, shelter and this would also include
good health. Netukulit is the act of gathering
these provisions by hunting, fishing, picking
plants and berries and cultivation . Interestingly,
the closest homophone is nutqw-(insufficiency)
rather than pukw-(abundance); thus Netukulimk
sounds more like “avoiding not having enough”
rather than like obtaining plenty.
The act of hunting, fishing, gathering for the
purpose of providing shelter and good health
for the well being of the individual, family and
the community through practices informed
by the concept of Netukulimk.
Ntuksuwinu is the person carrying out the
act of providing for the family. The
provisions used this would be supplied
by hunting. fishing, gathering and
providing shelter, clothing and good
health for the well being of the family
and community.
Document
TEK, Oral
History &
Experience
Traditional
Foods , Health
& Cultural
Revitalization
Netukulimk
SelfGovernance &
Sustainable
Livelihoods
Treaty Rights &
Resource
Stewardship
M`sit No`kama“all my relations”
The interaction of the Mi`kmaq within the cycle of
life and death in all of creation
 The constant cycle of death nourishing the soil then
plants to the animals and back to humankind
 Taking life to give life a constant balance of
interaction
 The making of relations through this process
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The feeding of Apuknajit is a time of giving thanks to
the Spirits during the most difficult time of winter.
It is a ritual which is performed on the night of
January 31.
“When darkness has settled, food is put out into the
night preferably on an old stump or near a tree and
offered to the Spirits. In days gone by, eel skins and
fish heads were offered. An elder would lead the
family to a stump, give thanks for surviving thus far
and ask for additional assistance until spring.”
For the Mi’kmaq, entitlement is best understood as meaning ways
of living and being, embodied in the notion of Netukulimk.
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Interconnection of every animate life form and
inanimate object;
Cultural responsibility to engage in and with the
world in a respectful, caring, responsible and
sustaining manner;
A relationship expressing fundamental cultural
meanings, values and behaviours that are
interwoven with and expressive of ecological
sustainability.
Think inter-generationally – at least 7 generations
forward
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Colonizing ideologies and practices that
have shaped thinking and understandings
within Mi`kmaq culture and communities
Discrediting Medicine and Ceremonial
Leaders
Commercial Use (fur trapping, meat
provision) replaces stewardship relations and
practices
Marginalization and Empoverishment – the
Mi’kmaq pushed into the shadows
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The spiritual connection of indigenous peoples to all of life was
assaulted through contact with of European beliefs;
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Diseases, missionization and the fur trade began to change the
core values of not only the Mi`kmaq, but of other tribes as well;
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“The Algonkians were aware or this change confronted Le Jeune
and denounced Christianity as a malefic influence. It is a strange
thing, said they, that since prayer has came into our cabins, our
former customs are no longer of any service ; yet we shall all die
because we give them up . I have seen the time , said one of them,
when my dreams were true; when I had seen moose or Beavers in
sleep, I would take some. When our soothsayers felt the enemy
coming, that came true; there war preparation to receive him. How
our dreams and our prophecies are no longer true - prayer has
spoiled everything for us….”
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Criminalization of livelihood
Criminalization of ceremony and spirituality
Coerced conversion to Christianity
Erosion of cultural practices & kinship ties
Alienation from traditional resources, land
and economy
Systemic discrimination
Decline of communalism & rise of
individualism
Denial of sovereignty and governance
•Mi’kmaq and British negotiate through the 18th century a series of
peace, not land surrender, treaties
•Intended to neutralize the Mi’kmaq (allied with the French) in
British-French imperial struggles
The Marshall Case and Other Basis for ‘Legal’
Entitlements
• 1993 - Donald Marshall Jr. and Jane McMillan were
charged with illegally fishing Ka’t [ka:taq] in Pomquet
Harbour;
• 1999 – R. v. Marshall, the Supreme Court of Canada
affirms Mi’kmaq treaty entitlement to fish
commercially;
• Latest in a series of judgements affirming First
Nations treaty-based ‘entitlements’ to access natural
resources for ceremonial, food, and commercial uses
• Yet, among the Mi’kmaq – ‘entitlement’ means much
more than narrowly understood economic and legal
‘rights.’
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Response to Treaty
Rights is that ‘Natives’
Require Control or will
Destroy Resources
Underlying Racism and
Neo-Colonialism
Ignorance of Cultural
Values and Practices
Federal Government
Responsible for Indian
Affairs
Provincial Control of
Land and Resources
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Issued “Aboriginal communal licenses”
Authorized Mi’kmaq participation in the
commercial fisheries
CANADA DID NOT implement the rights set
out in the 1760-1761 treaties and Marshall
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SCC concluded Mi’kmaq have the right to
harvest fish and other resources to provide a
moderate livelihood
SCC affirmed “the right to continue to provide
for their own sustenance and trading for
‘necessities’”
Right to a livelihood distinct from the
commercial fishery, “subject to regulation
provided such regulation is shown by the Crown
to be justified on conservation or other grounds
of public importance”
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Permanent and constitutionally protected - not
based on statutory privileges (annually issued
licenses)
A communal right subject to Mi’kmaq
community control
Limited to obtaining ‘moderate livelihood’ for
Mi’kmaq families (not open ended wealth
accumulation)
Rights are not transferable, cannot be sold, have
no monetary value
DFO has to justify limits to a court of law
DFO insists on being the
resource manager;
 DFO insists on
maintaining its privilege
allocation management
system (e.g., licenses,
quotas);
 Mi’kmaq and other First
Nations shoe-horned into
compliance through
measures such as
compelled fishery
agreements attached to
‘benefits’ such as boats,
gear, training, licenses,
quota.
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Marshall decision enhanced confidence in
Mi’kmaq rights
Generative conflicts resulting in cultural
production
Increased potential of concept as a strategy of
decolonization
Reconciling tensions between individual
expressions of collective rights
A framework to answer the vexing question of
‘moderate’ livelihood
Strategic re forging of cultural identities, ethics
and values in contemporary contexts
A foundation for enacting sovereignty
A dispute management scheme
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‘We are seeking consensus’
Implementing Mi’kmaq Aboriginal and treaty
rights now and for 7 generations to come
Mi’kmaq Rights Initiative
Community negotiation / consultation
processes
Re articulations of Netukulimk as Mi’kmaq
law
Netukulimk as expression and exercise of
sovereignty
Community based justice process of
accountability for hunters and fishers
Untangling the entanglement of entitlement
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Entitlement is embedded in and expressive of
culture; thus must be placed in a broader,
integrated ecosystem context;
Netukulimk – ecosystem sustainability and
stewardship are culturally-rooted ways of being
(respect and responsibility) – not simply ‘use’ and
‘use allocations’;
Ecosystem stewardship is the first principal in
reconciling resource harvesting with livelihood
sustainability.
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Mi’kmaq and other FN not empowered to
implement independent resource use and
management – the principle of Netukulimk;
‘Divide and Rule’ specific government strategy
to ‘manage the natives’ and ‘their rights’;
Netukulimk as Guiding Reference for resource
stewardship and harvesting;
Netukulimk as Guiding Reference for cultural
revitalization and self-governance
Status Mi’kmaq comprise a little over 1.9% of Nova
Scotia’s total population (18,145 of 940,397
persons).
 The First Nation population is much younger then
the general population, a median age of 25.4 as
compared with 41.6.
 44% of the Aboriginal identity population in Nova
Scotia are under the age of 25
 8,770 people live on reserve in Nova Scotia
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There are 13 First Nation communities in Nova
Scotia (the largest being Eskasoni and Indian
Brook), with over 34 reserve locations across the
province.
 Lands reserved for the Mi’kmaq comprise less than
.003% of Nova Scotia (5,528,300 hectares).
 Vast majority of reserve lands are small parcels
situated in rural locations.
 The unemployment rate for people living on reserve
in the 2006 census was 24.6% versus 9.1% for all
Nova Scotians.
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Employment and socio-economic
development in these locations is
dependant on primary resources.
 At present over 25% of Mi’kmaq speak
their language fluently and at home.
 It is also the language of teaching in
several ‘on reserve’ elementary grade
schools in the largest communities.
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• Mi’kmaq
assume stewardship control and management of hunting
and fishing
• 2010 $7+ million in revenue for hunting and fishing licenses
• License values – hunting and fishing grossly under-valued
Licenses (L) Sold and Harvests (H) for Selected Wildlife, 2005-09
Species
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Total #s
Deer
L – 38421
H – 7200
L – 38973
H – 9491
L – 39193
H – 10075
L- 41150
H – 12568
L – 37855
H – 10333
L – 195592
H – 49667
Bear
L – 2101
H – 573
L – 2752
H – 952
L – 3121
H – 615
L – 2972
H – 624
L – 3846
H - 1101
L – 14792
H – 3865
Hare
H - 129063
H – 214908 H – 205510 H – 134047 H – 118333 H – 801861
Grouse
H – 97108
H – 53255
H – 77864
H – 35916
H – 34870
H – 299013
Muskrat
H – 17980
H – 18559
H – 25761
H – 11172
H – 10714
H – 84186
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Basis for sustainable livelihoods and economic
development – harvesting and management;
Revenue from license and stewardship fees;
Sustainable supply, processing and distribution
of traditional foods for Mi’kmaq consumption;
Impacts on Mi’kmaq/FN health status, e.g.,
Type II diabetes epidemic;
Sustainable commercial harvests, e.g., deer,
with goal of generating revenue and supporting
livelihoods through providing high value,
organic, free range meat supply (farmer’s
markets etc.); and,
A key element in cultural, identity and personal
revitalization.