Press Release: Mi’kmawey Debert Partners with RBC to Fund New Programing

Mi’kmawey Debert celebrates new partnership with RBC for Roots of Reconciliation Program

Truro, Nova Scotia, October 14: Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre (MDCC) is pleased to announce a new partnership with RBC, which will provide multi-year support for its Roots of Reconciliation Program (ROR). This new funding commitment of $225,000 will enable MDCC and its partners (Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey and Treaty Education Nova Scotia) to deliver a free, accurate, engaging, and meaningful program encompassing elements of Mi’kmaw culture and experience specifically through three content levels: Foundations, Treaties and Renewal, and Reconciliation to 120,000 students across Atlantic Canada over the next four years.

“We’ve heard from educators across Nova Scotia that there’s a demand for treaty education content and resources,” says Tim Bernard, Executive Director of MDCC. “Our Roots of Reconciliation program is a specific response to this demand. This new commitment from RBC will help us grow the resources necessary to inform the next generation of treaty people in our schools and communities and will guide everyone toward understanding and reconciliation.”

The ROR is a progressive, inquiry-based, hands-on program that will be the first comprehensive treaty education resource to be made available in Mi’kma’ki. A print version will be available to schools across Nova Scotia and beyond, where educators and students can access the resource directly in the classroom. Other education materials will be made permanently available to students, educators, community organizations, and the public as an online resource through MDCC’s website and its future digital portal. The program will also pilot eight learning experiences.

“Education plays a critical role in the journey toward truth and reconciliation, but to be effective, any educational initiative must be accessible,” says Vinita Savani, Regional President, RBC, Atlantic Canada. “It is a privilege for us to share in this partnership that aligns with our organizational goals on reconciliation, is available to so many students across this region, and provides an opportunity for us to work collaboratively to honour the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action.”

The ROR program addresses a number of the Calls to Action issued by the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission including education (10, 12), language and culture (14,16), and education for reconciliation (62, 64, 65).

Additional Quotes

“The ROR program and the MDCC digital portal will empower our students by giving them access to Mi’kmaw voices and perspectives, lived experiences, and contextualized history details necessary to move all of us toward becoming culturally competent treaty people,” says Matt Arsenault, Teacher at Redcliff Middle School. “As we come to recognize, understand, and more fully engage with our relationships with the ongoing history and future of Mi’kmaki and its people, we can begin to reconcile our understandings of the past.”

“Our established partnership and relationship with MDCC aligns with our strategic direction to develop culturally relevant education materials so that our students are rooted in their identity, culture, and language.” – Blair Gould, Executive Director, Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey.

“Treaty Education Nova Scotia’s partnership with Mi’kmawey Debert Culture Centre successfully continues to move work forward to educate public schools, public sectors and the general public on the treaty relationship between the Mi’kmaw and the province of Nova Scotia in order to strive towards true reconciliation.” – Jacqueline Prosper, Treaty Education Lead, Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey

About Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre Project
The Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre (MDCC) project is a charitable, not-for-profit First Nations organization, mandated by all thirteen Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw Chiefs. The project is administered through The Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq, a First Nation tribal council. The Mi’kmawey Debert Cultural Centre became incorporated as a society in 2001 and gained charitable status as an organization in 2002. The MDCC is dedicated to sharing, protecting, and exploring the stories and lives of our earliest ancestors and those who have come after them in Mi’kma’ki.

About RBC
Royal Bank of Canada is a global financial institution with a purpose-driven, principles-led approach to delivering leading performance. Our success comes from the 88,000+ employees who leverage their imaginations and insights to bring our vision, values, and strategy to life so we can help our clients thrive and communities prosper. As Canada’s biggest bank, and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization, we have a diversified business model with a focus on innovation and providing exceptional experiences to our 17 million clients in Canada, the U.S. and 27 other countries. Learn more at rbc.com

We are proud to support a broad range of community initiatives through donations, community investments and employee volunteer activities. See how at rbc.com/community-social-impact

About Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey
As the collective voice for Mi’kmaw education, Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey’s (MK) primary mission is to actively promote excellence in Mi’kmaw education, interests and rights for Mi’kmaw communities and to facilitate the development of lifelong learning. MK works on improving the quality of education for the Mi’kmaq while remaining vigilant in maintaining and revitalizing the Mi’kmaw language. They continuously strive for academic excellence in their students and communities and continue to make great strides in their efforts to empower youth, and in turn, empower the Mi’kmaw nation. MK serves 12 out of the 13 Mi’kmaq communities found within Nova Scotia.