The Wolastoqewi mothers and grandmothers who are affiliated with Connecting to the Land are experienced educators, and they can provide or facilitate online or in-person educational sessions or workshops for you or your company on these or other topics:
- Cultural awareness and sensitivity
- Treaty rights and responsibilities
- Wabanaki or Wolastoqey history
- Consultation and/or Free, Prior, Informed Consent
- The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Systemic racism targeting Indigenous peoples in New Brunswick
- Justice for Wabanaki peoples
"I do in behalf of His Majestys Said Governour and Government . . . promise the said Tribes all marks of Favour protection and Friendship and further Ingage and promise . . . that the Indians shall not be molested in their persons, Hunting, Fishing and Planting Grounds nor in any other their Lawfull Occassions. . . ”
- Mascarene's Promises, Treaty of 1725
Educational Materials
In the Peace and Friendship Treaty of 1725, as the historian Andrea Bear Nicholas has written, the British promised to "respect Aboriginal access to fish and game in Nova Scotia, not as an English-given right, but as an English obligation to recognize and respect the pre-existing and continuing reality of Aboriginal survival derived from the land and its resources." Canadians today are the inheritors of this promise; Treaties are the foundation of Canadian legal legitimacy.
Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, provides,
In 2017, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples proclaimed a "standard of achievement to be pursued in a spirit of partnership and mutual respect." The Declaration recognized, among many important needs and ideas, an "urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources."
Indigenous rights are inherent, enshrined in Treaties, affirmed by Section 35 in Constitution Act and in international law in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. They are not conferred or determined through legislation or by any Canadian institution or government. Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC) refers to the rights of Indigenous peoples to say "yes" or "no" to any activities that would affect their lands, territories, and resources.
The Wabanaki Collection is a database of educational resources created by David Perley and hosted by the Mi'kmaq-Wolastoqey Centre.
Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, provides,
- “The existing aboriginal and treaty rights of the aboriginal people in Canada are hereby recognized and affirmed.
- In this Act, “Aboriginal Peoples of Canada “includes the Indian, Inuit, and Métis Peoples of Canada.
- For greater certainty, in subsection (1), “treaty rights” includes rights that now exist by way of land claims agreements or may be so acquired.
- Notwithstanding any other provision of this act, the aboriginal and treaty rights referred to in subsection (1) are guaranteed equally to male and female persons.”
In 2017, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples proclaimed a "standard of achievement to be pursued in a spirit of partnership and mutual respect." The Declaration recognized, among many important needs and ideas, an "urgent need to respect and promote the inherent rights of indigenous peoples which derive from their political, economic and social structures and from their cultures, spiritual traditions, histories and philosophies, especially their rights to their lands, territories and resources."
Indigenous rights are inherent, enshrined in Treaties, affirmed by Section 35 in Constitution Act and in international law in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. They are not conferred or determined through legislation or by any Canadian institution or government. Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC) refers to the rights of Indigenous peoples to say "yes" or "no" to any activities that would affect their lands, territories, and resources.
The Wabanaki Collection is a database of educational resources created by David Perley and hosted by the Mi'kmaq-Wolastoqey Centre.