Mass celebrated in Mi'kmaq

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Mi'kmaq people came from all across the Atlantic region to renew their 384-year alliance with the Roman Catholic Church during annual Treaty Day celebrations this month.

"When I hear the comment that Christ was shoved down our throats, I get very irate," Murdena Marshall, an Eskasoni resident, told at least 200 Mi'kmaq people gathered for a morning mass held at St. Mary's Basilica in Halifax.

"In 1610 our nation became a Catholic state. I have too much faith and respect for my ancestors to believe they were forced to accept Christianity," said Marshall, a professor at the University College of Cape Breton.

The Concordat of 1610, an agreement between Mi'kmaq people and the Vatican, was kept alive through oral history, Marshall said.

On June 24, 1610 Grand chief Membertou was baptized as a Catholic, and a covenant was made to protect Catholic priests and the French who brought priests among Mi'kmaq people. A two-metre long wampum belt records the Concordat, the Mi'kmaq Nation's first alliance with a foreign power.

Though Treaty Day has been celebrated in Halifax for the past eight years, Oct. 1 marked only the second time Mi'kmaq traditions were incorporated into the Treaty Day Mass.

The Sons of Membertou Singers, a drumming group, played an honor song at the start of the mass. Then a procession led by members of the Mi'kmaq Grand Council and the Elders, and followed by veterans, walked to the front of the church to signal the beginning of the mass.

Before they could say mass, the archbishop and priests were purified with sacred herbs - sweetgrass, sage, cedar and tobacco. Blessings were made in seven directions to acknowledge gifts from the Great Spirit in each direction.

During the mass, hymns and prayers were sung and spoken in Mi'kmaq. While reading scripture readers held up an eagle feather to show they were speaking the truth.

Since 1986 Mi'kmaq people have celebrated Treaty Day every Oct. 1 to commemorate treaties signed between their ancestors and the British Crown, particularly the Treaty of 1752.

In 1985 the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Aboriginal hunting and fishing rights under the Treaty of 1752 and since then Mi'kmaq representatives have met with Nova Scotia government representatives every year to renew the treaty.

"(Treaty Day) is there to remind people that we still have treaties that are recognized by our people," said Ben Sylliboy, Grand Chief of the Mi'kmaq Grand Council. "The Treaty of 1752 is still valid, even in 1994."

Alex Denny, grand captain of the Mi'kmaq Grand Council, said Treaty Day is significant for what it teaches young people.

"They will see what we have begun and they will see it continue," said Denny, who is also the president of the Union of Nova Scotia Indians.

Treaty Day events included a meeting between Mi'kmaq representatives and Nova Scotia Premier John Savage on Friday, a flag-raising ceremony to honor war veterans and a reception at Halifax City Hall on Saturday. A feast wrapped up the celebrations Saturday evening.