The Sipekne'katik First Nation is composed of four Mi'kmaq First Nation reserves located in central Nova Scotia. As of 2012, the Mi'kmaq population is 1,195 on-Reserve, and approximately 1,190 off-Reserve. The First Nation includes

Indian Brook 14, Nova Scotia Indian Brook 14 is a Mi'kmaq reserve located in Hants County, Nova Scotia. In the 2016 Census, the reserve has 1,089 residents. It is administratively part of the Sipekneꞌkatik First Nation. History Father Louis-Pierre Thury sought to ga ...

, near Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia. The band was known as the Shubenacadie First Nation until 2014 when the traditional spelling and pronunciation of its name was officially adopted.

Name

The

Mi'kmaw The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nort ...

term ''Sipekne’katik'' translates as "where the wild potatoes grow".

History

Father

Louis-Pierre Thury Louis-Pierre Thury (c. 1644, Notre Dame de Le Breuil-en-Auge, Breuil en Auge (Department of Calvados), France-June 3, 1699, City of Halifax, Halifax, Nova Scotia) was a French missionary (secular priest) who was sent to North America during the tim ...

sought to gather the Mi'kmaq of the

Nova Scotia peninsula The Nova Scotia peninsula is a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of North America. Location The Nova Scotia peninsula is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada and is connected to the neighbouring province of New Brunswick through the Isth ...

into a single settlement around Shubenacadie as early as 1699. Not until Dummer's War, however, did Antoine Gaulin, a Quebec-born missionary, erect a permanent mission at Shubenacadie (adjacent to Snides Lake and close to the former Residential school). He also made seasonal trips to Cape Sable, LaHave, and Mirlegueche. The Shubenacadie mission's dedication to Saint Anne speaks to a spirit of accommodation on the part of both the French and the Mi'kmaq. Anne, traditionally identified as the mother of Mary, was the grandmother of Jesus himself. The esteemed position of grandmothers in Mi'kmaw society was a point of agreement between Roman Catholicism and the Mi'kmaw worldview, and highlights the complexity and contingency of the 'conversion' process. In 1738, Father Jean-Louis Le Loutre arrived in October of that year at Mission Sainte-Anne, having spent the previous winter in Cape Breton learning the Mi'kmaw language with Abbé Pierre Maillard. During Father Rale's War and

King George's War King George's War (1744–1748) is the name given to the military operations in North America that formed part of the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). It was the third of the four French and Indian Wars. It took place primarily in t ...

, Mission Sainte-Anne was a sort of military base along with being a place of worship. Coulon de Villiers' hardy troop passed this way on their brutal mid-winter march toward the

Battle of Grand Pré The Battle of Grand Pré, also known as the Battle of Minas and the Grand Pré Massacre, was a battle in King George's War that took place between New England forces and Canadian, Mi'kmaq and Acadian forces at present-day Grand-Pré, Nova Scoti ...

in 1747, and Mi'kmaw warriors used the site as a staging point for their attacks on Halifax and Dartmouth during Father Le Loutre's War. During Father Le Loutre's War, Captain Matthew Floyer arrived at the Mission on August 18, 1754 and recorded: :Half after Twelve we came to the Masshouse, which I think is the neatest in the Country, 'tis Adorned with a Fine lofty Steeple and a Weather Cock. The Parsonage House is the only Habitation here, the land is good & seems to be more so on the opposite side. Floyer's map, which accompanied his written report, suggests the presence of three structures at the mission site. Twelve months later, the Expulsion of the Acadians began during the French and Indian War and by October 1755, Mission Sainte-Anne appears to have been destroyed. Oral tradition says the Mi'kmaq destroyed the mission to prevent it from falling into the New Englanders possession and dumped it into Snides Lake, which was adjacent to the mission. The reserve was established by Governor Michael Francklin in 1779. Members of the community are involved in an ongoing dispute over a self-regulated indigenous fishery.

Notable residents

Daniel N. Paul Daniel Nicholas Paul, , (born December 5, 1938) is a Miꞌkmaq elder, author, columnist, and human rights activist. Paul is perhaps best known as the author of the book '' We Were Not the Savages''. Paul asserts that this book is the first such his ...

- Mi'kmaq elder, author, activist *

Jean-Baptiste Cope Jean Baptiste Cope (Kopit in Mi’kmaq meaning ‘beaver’) was also known as Major Cope, a title he was probably given from the French military, the highest rank given to Mi’kmaq. Cope was the sakamaw (chief) of the Mi'kmaq people of Shubenac ...

- Leader of Mi'kmaq militia * Jean-Louis Le Loutre - Missionary Priest *

Cathy Elliott Cathy Elliott (1957–2017) was a Mi'kmaq artist, musician, composer and playwright and member of the Sipekne'katik Mi'kmaq First Nation in Nova Scotia, Canada. She was known for working with Indigenous youth across Canada to express their cult ...

- actor, writer, and teacher

Composition

Sipekne'katik is composed of five parts as shown:

References

External links