In partnership with Unama’ki College (Cape Breton University) we are pleased to announce the official launch of Visioning a Mi’kmaw Humanities: Indigenizing the Academy, edited by Marie Battiste.

A native of Potlotek and professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Dr. Battiste, led a team of scholars and researchers to bring new perspectives and new sensibilities to how Mi’kmaq and other Indigenous peoples have come to know and appreciate the deep spiritual treasure they have in them.

What is understood as the humanities celebrates the educational and humane disciplines of philosophy, history, theology, languages and literatures. Undeniably Eurocentric, the humanities are embedded in disciplinary knowledge that ignores core capacities of all societies and cultures.

As Dr. Battiste writes, the current vision of humanities education is a kind of “cognitive imperialism” that is its own authority to define what is considered normal and desirable.

“All other ways of thinking, learning and understanding the world are viewed as deficient,” she writes, “it’s the cognitive equivalent of racism.”

In Visioning a Mi’kmaw Humanities, eleven educators contribute their perspectives and research demonstrating how generations of Indigenous peoples have endured the Eurocentric education forced on them, not just in residential schools, but also in provincial public and federal schools and in postsecondary institutions.

Eurocentric approaches have cost indigenous peoples plenty: erosion and even loss of many of the indigenous languages; loss of spiritual identities and traditions linked to their ways of knowing; disconnections from Elders, lands, livelihood; and spiritual communicative connections to the land and much more.

The authors urge an agenda of restoration—a vision of society and of education where knowledge systems and languages are reinforced, not diluted, where they can respectfully gather together without resembling each other, and where peoples can participate in the cultural life of a society, education and their community with dignity.

Visioning a Mi’kmaw Humanities is already in bookstores and on-line stores, including as an e-book. The official launch is scheduled for Tuesday, May 16, 2-4 p.m., in the Unama’ki College department (L-151) at Cape Breton University. Everyone is welcome.

“Each chapter in its way speaks to the continuing relevance of the treaties and the great need for continued work toward realizing the promise of these peace and friendship agreements,” reads a review in the Journal of Folklore Research review of Living Treaties: Narrating Mi’kmaw Treaty Relations, edited by Marie Battiste.

“Toward the stated end of educating Mi’kmaw, Canadian, and UK readers about the ongoing importance of treaty relations, the book is written in a lively and accessible narrative style. Even the more technical legal sections are relatively free of specialized jargon. Many readers will appreciate that most chapters begin with a personal introduction from the author. Much of the writing manages to convey complex and exigent arguments while avoiding the sometimes obtuse stylistic conventions of the scholarly article.

“This collection stands alone among literature exploring the political life of Canada’s Atlantic provinces. Living Treaties is an invaluable resource for those interested in the Mi’kmaw nation, yet it is also applicable for other First Nations community members, lawyers, scholars, activists, and allies, as well as anyone interested in Canadian history and politics.”

Link here to the comprehensive review