Aboriginal Law and Indigenous Laws

This organization works on behalf of the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia in discussions with the Province of Nova Scotia and the Government of Canada on how the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia will implement their Treaty Rights, as provided by their ancestors in the covenant chain of Treaties signed in the 1700’s. This site is constantly updated with information, educational materials and ways to provide input and guidance on their work.

The CMM is a Tribal Council incorporated in 1986 as a not-for-profit organization under the Societies Act of Nova Scotia, with the goal to To proactively promote and assist Mi’kmaw communities’ initiatives toward self determination and enhancement of community. Its main office is located in the Millbrook First Nation and it provides services to eight member communities: Acadia First Nation, Annapolis Valley, Bear River, Glooscap, Sipekne'katik, Millbrook, Paqtnkek, and Pictou Landing.

Acadia First Nation's unique geographical composition spreads through the Southwestern regions of Nova Scotia spanning five counties from Yarmouth to Halifax. A Mi'kmaw Nation with ties to traditional territory. Acadia First Nation encompasses six (6) reserves - Yarmouth, Ponhook, Medway, Wildcat, Gold River, and Hammonds Plains. Additionally, Acadia First Nation has separate land holdings in Gardner's Mill and Shelburne.

A nation located in the Annapolis Valley, with its band office in Cambridge, Nova Scotia.

A nation located in Bear River, Nova Scotia.

A nation located by Bras d'Or Lake in Eastern Cape Breton Island. We'kwistoqnik', where the fir trees are plentiful, so derived this communities name Eskasoni. One of 5 Mi'kmaq communities in Cape Breton, 13 in Nova Scotia, Eskasoni is the largest Mi'kmaq community in the world. In the 1940's the federal government began a policy of centralization, which involved moving Mi'kmaq families from other reserves to Eskasoni. Prior to centralization Eskasoni's population was less than 200, now Eskasoni is the highest populated reserve in Nova Scotia, with a registered population of over 4000.

Glooscap First Nation is located halfway between the towns of Wolfville and Windsor, not far from Blomidon Provincial Park, the ancestral home of Glooscap.

Membertou is a Mi’kmaq community located on Unama’ki – Cape Breton Island. Membertou, named after Grand Chief Membertou (1510-1611), is one of five Mi’kmaq communities in Cape Breton and one of thirteen Mi’kmaq communities within the province of Nova Scotia. Membertou is an ever-expanding community, and its current population is 1,695, which includes both on and off-reserve members. Today, sitting atop a hill, just three kilometres from Sydney’s downtown core, Membertou wasn’t always in its current location. The community was moved from its original location, Kun’tewiktuk (also known as King’s Road Reserve) in 1926 by the Exchequer Court of Canada; the very first time in Canadian history that an Indigenous community was legally forced to relocate.

The Millbrook First Nation is a Mi'kmaq community located within the town of Truro, positioned in the Hub of Nova Scotia.

Established March 3, 1820, Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation is located in Antigonish County, 24km east of Antigonish, Nova Scotia. The name Paqtnkek, meaning “by the bay”, is a distinction emphasizing the importance of the local bay and its resources to the Mi’kmaw people.

A nation located in Trenton, Nova Scotia.

A nation located near Sydney, Nova Scotia.

Formerly Shubenacadie First Nation, Sipekne'katik in Mi’kmaq means, “where the wild potatoes grow.” The second largest Mi’kmaq band in Nova Scotia, Sipekne’katik First Nation includes the communities of Indian Brook IR #14, New Ross, Pennal, Dodd’s Lot, Wallace Hills and Grand Lake. Located in Hants County, Nova Scotia near Shubencadie, Nova Scotia, the land area of Sipekne’katik First Nation spans 12.13 sq. km. Sipekne’katik is conveniently located a short distance of 68 km from Kijipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia) and 28.8 km southwest of Truro, Nova Scotia.

A nation located in Wagmatcook, in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia.

The community of We’koqma’q First Nation, in Whycocomagh, Nova Scotia, is approximately forty-four (44) kilometers north of the Canso Causeway and one-hundred and fifteen (115) kilometers south of Industrial Cape Breton. It is bordered by the Bras D’or Lake and a mountainous range known as Skye Mountain.

An audio narrated website that includes resources for learning about Indigenous knowledge and philosophy from five diverse First Nations in Canada. It includes a page of Mi'kmaw teachings written and narrated by Elder Stephen Augustine.

Simply stated, this site was created in order to give people a reliable place to find accurate information about the Mi'kmaw people and their culture, their history, and their spirituality.

The Micmac News (1965-1991) is an important example of Mi’kmaw print culture; it was first developed by Roy Gould in Membertou in 1965 and later published until 1991 by the Union of Nova Scotia Indians and the Native Communications Society of Nova Scotia, respectively. This invaluable research tool covers historical and contemporary issues and events, including Aboriginal rights cases, social and labour history, material and intangible culture, and celebrations of Mi’kmaw life. The newspaper provides a means of language preservation; prayers and myths were printed in the paper, and simple language lessons in Mi’kmaq were also a regular feature.

The Mi’kmaq Resource Centre, part of the Unama’ki College family at Cape Breton University, is a repository of documents and a dedicated space for Indigenous research at CBU for use by Cape Breton University Students, Mi’kmaw schools and educational institutions, Mi’kmaw social and cultural organizations, Mi’kmaw justice organizations, and anyyone interested in Mi’kmaw and Indigenous issues. The Mi’kmaq Resource Centre collects material on Mi’kmaw and Indigenous history, language, and culture.

Ta’n Weji-sqalia’tiek: Mi’kmaw Place Names Digital Atlas and Web Site was created to raise awareness of the deep connection the Mi’kmaq have to the landscape of Eastern Canada they call Mi’kma’ki, the place of the Mi’kmaq. It includes a geographical map of Nova Scotia with the traditional Mi'kmaq names for locations throughout the province now known as Nova Scotia.

A digital archive “Sharing the multiple perspectives and concepts of Mi’kmaq humanity.” It contains information, articles, and lists of suggested resources pertaining to Mi’kmaw history, culture, and law. It is a good introductory source to learning about the Mi’kmaq peoples and a good starting place to find related sources.

A Policy Options editorial piece by Schulich School of Law professors Naomi Metallic (Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation) and Constance MacIntosh. Acting on treaty right recognized in the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision 21 years ago in R v Marshall, the Sipekne’katik First Nation launched its moderate livelihood fishery in the waters off southwest Nova Scotia in early September. Since the fishery’s launch, some have suggested the Canadian government has broad authority to dictate how the Mi’kmaq’s treaty-based fisheries can operate. While the Court in Marshall (and in a subsequent, related decision in Marshall 2) acknowledged Canada could lawfully “regulate” the treaty right, regulate does not mean Canada may legislate and limit the treaty right in whatever way it sees fit. Far from it. As two law professors who teach Aboriginal law, we have decided to weigh-in to provide clarification. Our clear answer is that Canada’s actions, thus far, would not meet Constitutional muster.

An article by Jerry Wetzel published in the Dalhousie Journal of Legal Studies. Between 1869 and 1985, the Indian Act presumed that once the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia could be christianised and civilised, they would voluntarily embrace enfranchisement. By 1949, almost no Mi'kmaq had volunteered. A Parliamentary review of the Indian Act concluded that voluntary enfranchisement as a policy of assimilation was not working. In 1949, when Newfoundland's confederation with Canada was negotiated, federal officials refused to assume their constitutional obligations to the Mi'kmaq, and other First Nations, in Newfoundland and Labrador, by not recognising them as Aboriginal peoples pursuant to the Indian Act. What the Indian Act had failed to accomplish in respect to assimilating Mi'kmaq people in Nova Scotia with their consent, federal officials attempted to make happen in Newfoundland and Labrador by their unilateral use of Liberal democratic theory. Federal officials asserted that because the Mi'kmaq and other First Nations peoples in Newfoundland and Labrador had been de-Indianized by their contact with white colonial society and because they had a theoretical right to vote, they could not be considered as Indians under the Indian Act. Federal officials applied a policy of “forced” enfranchisement for the first time in Canadian history to the Mi'kmaq and other First Nations peoples in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1965. This policy is still in force today in Newfoundland and Labrador.

An article by Jaime Battiste (Mi'kmaw, Eskasoni First Nation) in the Dalhousie Law Journal. Over the past 250 years, the recognition and implementation of the aboriginal and treaty rights of the Santi Mawio'mi of the Mi'kmaq has been a hard and bitter struggle for justice. Building on Mi'kmaw Aboriginal knowledge and legal traditions that inform their aboriginal and treaty rights, the Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed a Mi'kmaw right to hunt, fish, and gather in their traditional territory. The author focuses on the progression of Mi'kmaw law, drawing on the original teachings of the Mawio'mi embedded in Netukulimk and then shifting to the current legal strategy that creates a constitutional jurisgensis and a foundation for a long awaited constitutional reconciliation with the Mawiomi in Atlantic Canada. The argument not only reaffirms the importance of language, teachings, and history towards litigating Aboriginal law but also affirms the preexisting Aboriginal sovereignty of the Mawiomi as understood in their creation stories.