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Humanities

Every institution of higher learning has developed a course of studies called the humanities that has been core to education. Contextually, philosophy, religion, history, languages, literatures and arts have been described as belonging to Eurocentric humanities. Areas of anthropology, sociology, education, law, and Native Studies have since been added to the humanities. 

While the humanities have deep roots among Indigenous peoples in their livelihood and traditions, Indigenous forms of knowledge keeping, transmission, and creation have not been structured or conveyed in the frames, divisions, and vocabularies of contemporary educational systems, nor have they been conceived or much celebrated in the humane disciplines of philosophy, history, theology, languages and literatures. Rather the Eurocentric humanities have maintained a virtual monopoly on disciplinary knowledge thought, although this Eurocentric grip and gaze are changing. This section seeks to illustrate an awareness of the depth and breadth of Mi’kmaw humanities and to find the connections between the Eurocentric humanities and their gaps to address how the Mi’kmaw humanities can help to build a learning starting from place in the Atlantic region where Mi’kmaq people largely have served as stewards to the land, renewing the ecologies, connecting to the spirit/s of the land and where inspiration and creativity in this humanity has shaped their conception of space, place, humanity, ideals, values and beliefs that continue to today.

 
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Mi’kmaq ingenuity and creativity has been a well-documented aspect of Mi’kmaq life in Atlantic museums and beyond. Whether it is how they built their canoes, or wigwams, or beaded the coats they...

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The Mi’kmaw language is an important and integral part of the culture and world view of the Mi’kmaq.  Through our language, our way of seeing our life is...

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Every institution of higher learning has developed a course of studies called the humanities that has been core to education. Contextually, philosophy, religion, history, languages, literatures...

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Mi’kmaw storytelling has been an integral part of Mi’kmaw way of life. Mi’kmaw elders and leaders and parents have provided each generation with the required prerequisite knowledge, know-how,...

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The Mi’kmaq resided in, and for a considerable time after the onset of the Europeans, a civilization where respect for the good works of the Great Spirit was its...

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Mi’kmaq peoples have had a long relationship with the Holy Roman Empire and the Catholic Church. Father Christian LeClerq found in his journeys among Mi’kmaq in the mid to late 1600’s a people...

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From the early 1900’s to the 1950’s, the Mi’kmaq were largely absent from authorized programs of study and prescribed textbooks. When they were mentioned, images were those of “vanishing Canadians...

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Mi’kmaq people have lived in multiple places throughout the Atlantic region of Canada and along the coastal regions of the United States. Their Mi’kmaq knowledge is understood as the collective...

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Law

Mi’kmaw law is based on the understanding that things in life are interconnected, known to many Mi’kmaq as “Netukulimk”. This law describes the rights and responsibilities of the Mi’kmaq with...

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