10/02/2026
MIâKMAW HISTORY MONTH
WIKEWIKUâS 2026 / OCTOBER 2026
Nepisulti'k
We Are Healing
An Elderâs teaching
Elder Murdena Marshall encouraged us to understand healing as a process. For her, healing and health are not something a person âachieves.â They are a journey people live every day. For Murdena, understanding why our bodies, minds and spirits become ill begins with understanding where sickness comes from. Finding roots of illness may mean different things. Maybe learning an illness runs in your family helps a diagnosis. Maybe a caretaker made expressing yourself difficult and now saying how you feel is hard. For many people, the causes of illness are found in the histories of our families and communities. The more we understand about how and why we feel the way we do, the healthier we can be.
Healing is about understanding.
Understanding your puzzle
Healing journeys are like jigsaw puzzles. Each piece we add creates a fuller picture of our lives, guiding us on our journey physically, emotionally or spiritually. Often, people around us help by adding pieces. Someone who shares the same illness can answer questions we might have. Sometimes, we learn something much later in lifeâfrom a friend or family memberâthat is essential to our journey. Learning more about a loved one can help us make sense of confusing experiences we shared with them.
What are your missing puzzle pieces?
All roads are good
Acknowledging that we are on healing journeys can be overwhelming. We may feel grief, sadness and anger as well as happiness, excitement and relief. Healing takes time and looks different for everyone. Ceremony can help some people. Others may start a new hobby like boxing classes or painting. We might feel happy and sad at the same time. All of this is okay! Every path is different. Each one takes courage. All are sacred.
Feeling is okay, and there are lots of ways to do it!
Kekkunit aq klnikn
In Miâkmaw culture, kekkunit aq klnikn are roles that show us how important caring for one another is. Parents choose a kekkunit for each child. Kekkunitk guide, teach, and care for klniknk. Elder Murdena explained that nkekkunit (my kekkunit) translates to âs/he/they has me in his/her/their possession. I belong to him/her/them.â Nklnikn (my klnikn) is âmy pillar of strength, my strength lies within her/him/them, my stronghold.â Put simply, each person is stronger because the other is there for them. The people we belong to and who belong to us are key to our journeys. When we help others, and let others help us, our healing becomes stronger.
Who do you carry? Who carries you?
Think about who you love!
Msɨt Noâkmaq
The health and wellbeing of Msɨt Noâkmaq (all my relations) are important to healing journeys. Just as all living things are related, all healing is related too. Healing is not just about each of us feeling better or finding puzzle pieces. When we care for all our relations (think Mother Earth, water, and air!), we help with healing everywhere. Often, we are strengthened through preventing others from being hurt in the ways we have been. Raising money for research, sharing with one another, or repairing habitats are examples of healing activities that acknowledge all our relations.
Who do you take care of?
Antle and friends are characters created by Miâkmaw Kinaâmatnewey.
The charactersâ names are in Miâkmaw:
Antle
Piktoâl
Kalolin
Aliet
Kiju
