Melissa Peter-Paul is a Mi'kmaw artist from Abegweit First Nation, [1] [2] Epekwitk/Prince Edward Island. Her work is primarily Mi'kmaq quillwork, and utilizes porcupine quills, along with birch bark, sweet grass, and spruce root. [2] [3] [4] She has won multiple awards for her work, which has been featured in group exhibitions in Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Maine, as well as publications. [1] [5] [6] In addition to her quillwork, Peter-Paul has designed a crosswalk in Charlottetown. [3] In 2019, the city was also the location of her first solo exhibition. [4]
Quillwork is a traditional Mi'kmaq craft, but is no longer commonly practised. [4] [7] Peter-Paul's great-great-grandmother was a quiller, and examples of her work can be found in the Nova Scotia Archives. [4] Peter-Paul was first introduced to the craft by her cousin. [4] Additionally, her parents help her harvest ingredients for her work. [2] [6]
Peter-Paul considers her work a revival of the art form, as well as carrying on her family tradition. [4] [2] She has stated, "The ancestors' presence when I do quillwork is so strong and I really feed off of it", [4] as well as that it is "integral" to her identity as a Mi'kmaw person. [4] She is a founding member of The Quill Sisters, "a community of skilled quill workers on Epekwitk that seeks to revitalize the traditional art form through collaborative projects". [6]
Prince Edward Island is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. While it is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, it is the most densely populated. The island has several nicknames: "Garden of the Gulf", "Birthplace of Confederation" and "Cradle of Confederation". Its capital and largest city is Charlottetown. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces.
The Confederation Bridge is a box girder bridge carrying the Trans-Canada Highway across the Abegweit Passage of the Northumberland Strait, linking the province of Prince Edward Island with the mainland province of New Brunswick. Opened May 31, 1997, the 12.9-kilometre (8.0 mi) bridge is Canada's longest bridge and the world's longest bridge over ice-covered water.
The Mi'kmaq are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland, and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as Native Americans in the northeastern region of Maine. The traditional national territory of the Mi'kmaq is named Miꞌkmaꞌki.
Miꞌkmaw hieroglyphic writing or Suckerfish script was a writing system for the Miꞌkmaw language, later superseded by various Latin scripts which are currently in use. Mi'kmaw are a Canadian First Nation whose homeland, called Mi'kma'ki, overlaps much of the Atlantic provinces, specifically all of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and parts of New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador.
Rita Joe, was a Mi'kmaq poet and songwriter, often referred to as the Poet Laureate of the Mi'kmaq people.
Quillwork is a form of textile embellishment traditionally practiced by Indigenous peoples of North America that employs the quills of porcupines as an aesthetic element. Quills from bird feathers were also occasionally used in quillwork.
Edward Cornwallis was a British career military officer and member of the aristocratic Cornwallis family, who reached the rank of Lieutenant General. After Cornwallis fought in Scotland, putting down the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, he was appointed Groom of the Chamber for King George II. He was then made Governor of Nova Scotia (1749–1752), one of the colonies in North America, and assigned to establish the new town of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Later Cornwallis returned to London, where he was elected as MP for Westminster and married the niece of Robert Walpole, Great Britain's first Prime Minister. Cornwallis was next appointed as Governor of Gibraltar.
The history of Prince Edward Island covers several historical periods, from the pre-Columbian era to the present day. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the island formed a part of Mi'kma'ki, the lands of the Mi'kmaq people. The island was first explored by Europeans in the 16th century. The French later laid claim over the entire Maritimes region, including Prince Edward Island in 1604. However, the French did not attempt to settle the island until 1720, with the establishment of the colony of Île Saint-Jean. After peninsular Acadia was captured by the British in 1710, an influx of Acadian migrants moved to areas still under French control, including Île Saint-Jean.
Nora Bernard was a Canadian Mi'kmaq activist who sought compensation for survivors of the Canadian Indian residential school system. She was directly responsible for what became the largest class-action lawsuit in Canadian history, representing an estimated 79,000 survivors; the Canadian government settled the lawsuit in 2005 for upwards of C$5 billion.
Hilda Mary Woolnough was an artist with a wide range of media as well as a teacher, who exhibited her work worldwide. She lived in the artistic community of Breadalbane, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Woolnough was an art activist and supported art institutions and young artists on P.E.I.
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, 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.
Paqtnkek Mi’kmaw Nation is a Mi'kmaq Band in northeastern Nova Scotia. Its populated reserve is Paqtnkek-Niktuek 23. As of December 2019 the total registered population was 598. It is a member of the Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq. The name Paqtnkek means “by the bay” or "Above the water ". The area has long been important to Mi'kmaq for the fishing of eel and other species.
The Statue of Edward Cornwallis was a bronze sculpture of the military/political figure Edward Cornwallis atop a large granite pedestal with plaques. It had been erected in 1931 in an urban square in the south end of Halifax, Nova Scotia, opposite the Canadian National Railway station. Cornwallis was the Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia (1749–1752) and established Halifax in 1749. A Cornwallis Memorial Committee was struck in the 1920s and a statue was raised to pay tribute to Cornwallis and to promote tourism.
Ursula Johnson is a multidisciplinary Mi’kmaq artist based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Her work combines the Mi’kmaq tradition of basket weaving with sculpture, installation, and performance art. In all its manifestations her work operates as didactic intervention, seeking to both confront and educate her viewers about issues of identity, colonial history, tradition, and cultural practice. In 2017, she won the Sobey Art Award.
Mi'kmaq History Month is promoted annually in Nova Scotia as a way to build public awareness of Mi'kmaw culture and heritage. It begins on Treaty Day, October 1. It was proclaimed in 1993 by then Premier John Savage and Mi'kmaq Grand Chief Ben Sylliboy.
Christiana Morris was a Mi'kmaq crafts person, known for her skill at porcupine quillwork, as well as her respected position in 19th century Halifax, Nova Scotia.
CIYR-FM is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 93.7 FM serving the Potlotek First Nation, Nova Scotia. The station broadcasts a First Nations-oriented community radio format branded as Mniku Radio.
Norman Sylliboy is the 11th Grand Chief or Kji-Saqmaw of the Mi'kmaq Nation. The Mi’kmaq traditional government is known as Sante' Mawio’mi or Grand Council.
shalan joudry is a Mi'kmaw writer, storyteller, and ecologist. She is known for her poetry collections, including the multi-award nominated Waking Ground.
Amanda Peters is a Canadian writer from Falmouth, Nova Scotia, whose debut novel The Berry Pickers was the winner of the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, 2023 Barnes and Noble Discovery Prize, 2024 Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence, and 2024 Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction.