Mi'kmaq-Wolastoqey Centre

Wabanaki Governance program at UNB centres Indigenous leadership and treaty knowledge Indigenous-led program at the University of New Brunswick builds governance skills rooted in Wabanaki law, land-based learning, and community priorities.

Happy Indigenous Peoples Day!
Today we celebrate the enduring cultures, languages, knowledge, and contributions of Indigenous Peoples, and we honour the Wabanaki Nations of this territory.
Explore the Wabanaki Collection: https://www.wabanakicollection.com/

Finding Our Talk — Wabanaki Collection Every fourteen days a language dies. By the year 2100 more than half of the world’s languages will disappear. These are tough statistics, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Indigenous people everywhere are fighting to beat the odds. It’s a remarkable story. We’re discovering and sharing the...

“As long as the sun shines, the grass grows and the river flows.”

Today, June 4th, we recognize Treaty Day in New Brunswick and honour the Peace and Friendship Treaties that continue to guide relationships between Wabanaki Nations and the Crown.
These treaties were agreements to live together in peace, respect one another’s rights, and maintain relationships based on mutual responsibility. Their spirit remains as relevant today as when they were first established.
We invite you to explore the Wabanaki Collection, where you can access resources, teachings and learning materials about treaties, Wabanaki history, cultures and governance.

Wabanaki Collection An organized & searchable collection of ready-to-go teaching resources, including First Nation lesson plans, about the Indigenous peoples of Atlantic Canada.

Are you looking to take in some activities for treaty day? Check out what’s happening in Mactaquac with the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick.

Honouring the Teachings of Hart Perley: Wolastoqey Turtle Clan Mother, Protector of Wolastokuk, Esteemed Educator

“We’re here. . . our fires are still burning strong. We each have our responsibility as nations to make sure our traditions are passed forward – that our culture stays alive for future generations.”
- Hart Perley

The Mi’kmaq-Wolastoqey Centre (MWC) at UNB joins with Waponahki communities and educators who are, this week, grieving the passing of Theresa “Hart” Perley, a traditional Turtle Clan Mother of the Wolastoqiyik, a land and water protector from Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation). We wish to publicly acknowledge some of the powerful ways in which Hart embodied the educational authority that her people have recognized for thousands of years – the authority of a Grandmother, entrusted with the wellbeing of the people and the survival of their ways.

Woliwon, Hart, for offering us a model of education that is rooted in responsibility, continuity, courage, and hope; for the way you championed and protected the wellbeing of the people and the land, even when it was difficult; for your conviction that our traditions must be actively lived, taught, and passed forward; for your steady belief that our fires are still burning and that our young people will keep them lit. We will teach one another about you to remember something essential and beautiful about ourselves: that the work of protecting the land and carrying a nation forward is deeply honourable, that this work is ours to inherit, and that we walk in the footsteps of loving grandmothers who never let the fire go out.

The MWC invites all members of the UNB community to acknowledge and honour what Waponahki people across this region already know: that Hart Perley was a vital teacher of the people, a protector of the water, a cherished grandmother to future generations, a critical pilar of strength for Waponahki people struggling against Western institutions and laws, and a generous scholar of treaty and of traditional knowledge. Honouring Hart as an esteemed Wolastoqey educator is an important step toward recognizing Waponahki knowledge in the university. It is important for Waponahki people to see the university taking these steps.

We’re having a gathering for all Indigenous students that are graduating this term. Come drop by and enjoy some light refreshments and receive a special gift!

We’re looking forward to seeing you at our virtual information session ! Don’t forget to register:
295644be-487d-41cb-98f7-fe81b8ccb63d@244e6ed2-339a-47f3-b95c-e45351c198b7" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/295644be-487d-41cb-98f7-fe81b8ccb63d@244e6ed2-339a-47f3-b95c-e45351c198b7

Join us for our upcoming virtual information session to hear directly from former students of the Wabanaki Governance program.

Students will share how they balanced education, family, and professional responsibilities while completing the program.

Featured speakers include:
• Current Band Councillors actively serving their community
• the Director of Human Resources for his Nation and current Wabanaki Bachelor of Education student

Hear what they gained and how it connected to their leadership and career pathways.

We hope you’ll join us for the conversation!

May 26th at 3 p.m. on Teams. Follow the link to register: 295644be-487d-41cb-98f7-fe81b8ccb63d@244e6ed2-339a-47f3-b95c-e45351c198b7" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/295644be-487d-41cb-98f7-fe81b8ccb63d@244e6ed2-339a-47f3-b95c-e45351c198b7

Join us May 21 at 4:30 PM in Marshall d'Avray Hall room 337 for the launch of the second edition of the Peskotomuhkati-Wolastoqey Latuwewakan dictionary! This is a free event and open to the public!