Amlamgog launches Mi’kmaq audio interpretation on Muin Medicine Trail
A crowd gathered at the head of the Fort Folly Muin Medicine Trail on June 21 to mark National Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and celebrate the trail’s new Mi’kmaq language audio interpretive panels.
Chief Rebecca Knockwood told the crowd that the inclusion of Mi’kmaq language on the trail is a fundamental part of the process of bringing back the First Nation’s culture and identity.
Amlamgog cultural coordinator Nicole Porter organized the event, which was held at Amlamgog for the first time. Porter led the crowd in a prayer, and accompanied Amlamgog youth who drummed the Mi’kmaq honour song.
CHMA spoke with Amlamgog land manager Michelle Knockwood, who coordinated the trail upgrades through a partnership with Parks Canada.
The Muin Medicine Trail dates back to 2011, and included text panels in French and English. Bringing Mi’kmaq language to the trail is “something I’ve wanted for a very long time,” says Knockwood. “And it’s so nice that it’s finally come to fruition.”
Knockwood is particularly excited that Amlamgog youth and visitors will be able to hear spoken Mi’kmaq (recorded by Elsipogtog elder Kenneth Francis) and follow along with text on the panels.… Continue
‘Honouring all children’: Amlamgog’s first ever youth mini powwow
On today’s show, we head over to Fort Folly First Nation to talk with Nicole Porter and Zachary Dubé, organizers of the first ever Amlamgog Youth Mini Powwow happening next weekend on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Plus, a brief look at the agenda for Tantramar council’s committee of the whole meeting happening on Monday at 3pm. … Continue
Land donation contributes to growing Amlamgog First Nation conservation project
Amlamgog (also known as Fort Folly) First Nation has just announced another parcel of land to be protected under their Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) project. The small, three acre strip of land along the Petitcodiac river was given to Amlamgog First Nation by a Memramcook family, after an annual ancestor ceremony held nearby at Beaumont. The latest parcel is part of a growing collection of land protected by the first nation.
Amlamgog cultural coordinator Nicole Porter says the band’s IPCA project is acquiring land through donations and purchases from a fund setup for that purpose. “We hold it in trust for everyone to be able to use in a good way, in a sustainable way,” says Porter. “It won’t be harvested or clear cut. It won’t be developed or anything like that. It is strictly for conservation.”
Three other groups in the province also have IPCA projects underway, and Porter says they work in concert to protect land, and make it open, “to the Mi’gmaq people all across Mi’gmaqi.”
Porter says Amlamgog has identified lands to focus on, including in the Tantramar area, as sacred or useful for gatherings and ceremonial purposes. Part of the plan with the IPCA projects is for the province to match or donate Crown land identified for conservation, but Porter says that hasn’t quite come to fruition.… Continue
Back from the brink: Wild salmon return to inner Bay of Fundy following efforts led by Fort Folly First Nation
The Inner Bay of Fundy wild salmon population, which collapsed in the 1990s, is experiencing an apparent rebound following efforts led by Amlamgog, also called Fort Folly First Nation.
To mark the return of the endangered wild salmon this season, a ceremony is taking place to bless the waters for their safe passage at Alma Beach today, National Indigenous Peoples Day.
Tim Robinson, director of Fort Folly Habitat Recovery, credited the leadership of the small Mi’kmaw community with ensuring the survival of wild salmon in the inner Bay of Fundy.
“Chief Rebecca [Knockwood] speaks of salmon as being traditionally, culturally one of those iconic species that’s so important to the First Nations peoples across Canada and the non-Indigenous people as well,” Robinson said in an interview with CHMA.
“People want salmon back in their rivers,” he said. “And, you know, we’re determined to do our part and make that happen, and it’s just not acceptable to be inactive.”
Listen to the report from CHMA:
Wild salmon saw a major decline throughout the Atlantic region starting in the 1980s, particularly in the area known as the inner Bay of Fundy, which includes some 50 watersheds north of the Wolastoq River.
That population has been listed as endangered under Canada’s Species at Risk Act since 2003. … Continue
Climate change coordinator, watershed monitoring, wetland education, and energy retrofits in Tantramar among projects funded by NB’s Environmental Trust Fund
The province of New Brunswick has announced another year of project funding with its Environmental Trust Fund, and about $500,000 of the $8.6 million funding package will go towards 13 projects directly impacting the Tantramar region.
A large share of the funding—$190,000—will go to the Southeast Regional Services Commission for five different projects including mattress recycling, glass recycling, a re-use expo, waste education, and a program to help communities clean up illegal dump sites.
Another large share will go to EOS Eco Energy, to help fund three ongoing projects: water quality monitoring in the Rockport-Dorchester area, a program to help residents with energy retrofits for their homes, and another to help people in the Chignecto area reduce their flood risk.
EOS is also involved in a fourth project in partnership with the town of Tantramar. The town will receive $35,000 in funding towards continuing its climate change coordinator position. Corporate services director Kieran Miller shared the news with council this week, and said they would see a motion come through as soon as the province sends a formal letter of offer.
“This is the Environmental Trust Fund that we’ve applied for for the past three years to fund the climate change coordinator position,” said Miller.… Continue
Knockwood on Mi’gmaq title claim: ‘It’s about time we asserted our rights’
Last week, eight Mi’gmaq First Nations in New Brunswick jointly issued a statement asserting title over the land and waters of most of the province. Sackville and Dorchester neighbour Amlamgog (Fort Folly) is one of the nations joining in the title claim, led by Mi’gmawe’l Tplu’taqnn (MTI), a non-profit organization representing New Brunswick’s Mi’gmaq nations.
CHMA dropped in on Amlamgog chief Rebecca Knockwood on Tuesday to find out more about the title claim and what it means.
The nations are asking the provincial government to negotiate with them over the recognition and implementation of the title. Ideally, says Amlamgog Chief Rebecca Knockwood, ”[the province comes] to the table, they sit down with us, and they negotiate. And we start doing some resource revenue sharing with the province.”
Knockwood says the title assertion is a way of notifying the provincial government and the public that, “the lands and waters in New Brunswick that we and our ancestors have used, occupied, stewarded and cared for during thousands of years—they belong to us.”
The map published by MTI shows their title assertion covers most of New Brunswick, except for a narrow portion along the western border and a larger area in the southwest. Despite the size of the claim, Knockwood says average New Brunswick property owners should not be worried.
“We’re not seeking to take people’s homes and cottages away,” says Knockwood.… Continue
‘Honouring the spirits of the children’ at Fort Folly sacred fire on the second annual TRC day
Canada’s second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation came and went last Friday, and thanks to Nicole Porter, people in the Tantramar region had a chance to reflect and learn.
Mi’kmaq knowledge keeper Nicole Porter and her son Zachary Dubé, a firekeeper, invited people to a sacred fire on Cherry Burton Road. CHMA stopped by to talk with Porter and Dubé, and some of the people who made their way to the fire:
Porter spent the whole day speaking to comers, helping them feel comfortable engaging with the fire and pointing them to ways to learn more, such as the nearby Fort Folly community walking trails which feature interpretive panels. Porter says a steady stream of families came to the fire, as well as larger groups such as daycares and the Mount Allison soccer teams.
“It’s good to see the public coming out and wanting to educate themselves,” says Porter. “We’re just so honoured that we can share the culture with every one.”
16-year-old Zachary Dubé tended the fire, and took the time to explain the customs around it to people who came, many of whom took the opportunity to offer some tobacco to the fire.
“It’s just like when you’re praying to God,” says Dubé. “There is no right or wrong way to do it. You just speak your mind or your heart.”… Continue
Fort Folly lends a helping hand to inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon
These days, Alanah Annis spends her days catching fish. But as a senior technician with Fort Folly Habitat Recovery, Annis is not your typical fisher.
Annis and her team are working in the Pollett River as part of the Inner Bay of Fundy Salmon Recovery project, collecting out-migrating Atlantic salmon smolts, and bringing them to an open net pen farm to grow safely into adult salmon.
Hear Alanah Annis on Tantramar Report:
The smolts are juvenile salmon, who’ve spent three to four years growing in rivers, and are now ready to head out to sea to feed in the Bay of Fundy.
“We take out-migrating smolts who are trying to make their way out to the ocean,” says Annis. “We intercept them, and then bring them out to the sea cage where they are grown to maturity. Once mature, we release them back to their natal rivers to spawn naturally.”
At one time, there were up to 40,000 adults in the inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon population, but by 1999, less than 250 remained, and the entire population was facing extinction. These days, says Annis, it’s estimated there are less than 200 left.… Continue