Robert Johnson Jr., MD, received the award for his achievements at Dalhousie University and is the first Mi’kmaw physician.

Mi’kmaq burn braids of sweetgrass, cedar, tobacco, sage and pass the smoke over their bodies and faces to cleanse the mind and spirit. This is a common practice among First Nations; the herb used to smoke varies according to the area. Mi’kmaq also use sweetgrass in basketry.

Men and women would be buried with everything they might need, including unfinished projects, so they would be well prepared in the Ghost World. This practice is continued by some Mi’kmaq today.

The Mi’kmaq referred to themselves as L’nuk, or the people. Settlers who learned the language called them “Mi’kmaq”, or kin-friends. Lentuk means deer.

The Mi’kmaq have used a system of hieroglyphics, particularly for religious texts, for centuries. Whether the hieroglyphics representations (i.e. memory aids), but words that can be used to write unique phrases. The first recording of hieroglyphics is in 1677 by a Jesuit priest named Chrestien Le Clercq in the Mi’kmaw community of Nipisiguit along the Miramichi River in New Brunswick. The Mi’kmaw system of hieroglyphics was used to translate numerous religious texts and these texts along the syllabaries can still be found in families and in some museum collections. The use of the hieroglyphics, however, does not change the fact that Mi’kmaw culture is primarily an oral culture in that histories, stories, and everyday life were anchored in conveying knowledge through speaking rather than writing.

Don’t eat your hat.

The Algonquian language family is the largest in North America and includes numerous indigenous languages stretching from the easternmost shores of Mi’kma’ki to the territories of the Blackfoot and Plains Cree in Alberta to as far south as the state of South Carolina in the United States. Within the Algoniquian language family there are more than 40 languages.

Raccoons are clever and adaptable creatures, adjusting well to city life. Remember the next time you’re cleaning up after one; that he thinks you live in his back yard.

Donald Marshall Jr., a Mi’kmaw, was pronounced not guilty of the charges of fishing in violation of federal fishery regulations, based on the court’s recognition of Mi’kmaw treaty rights.

Porcupine quill embroidery and basket-weaving.