L Sitkuk

L'sitkuk (pronounced elsetkook) is the original name for the Bear River Mi'kmaw community, which is part of the Mi'kmaw First Nation. Nestled close to the Bear River watershed, this tiny native community is regaining its culture, language and identity after hundreds of years of colonialism and assimilation. Living in the area for thousands of years, they were among the first people in Canada to have continuous contact with non-natives. This book preserves the memory of the elders through oral histories and old photographs, and tells who these people are and how they survived, prospered and sustained one another. The stories of everyday life reflect native values and the strong ideal of interconnectedness in the community. Darlene A. Ricker listened to the stories and learned about the traditions and culture of the closely knit Mi'kmaw community at Bear River. From her interviews with elders and young people, she has drawn this poignant oral history.

Transcontinental Dialogues brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous anthropologists from Mexico, Canada, and Australia who work at the intersections of Indigenous rights, advocacy, and action research. These engaged anthropologists explore how obligations manifest in differently situated alliances, how they respond to such obligations, and the consequences for anthropological practice and action. This volume presents a set of pieces that do not take the usual political or geographic paradigms as their starting point; instead, the particular dialogues from the margins presented in this book arise from a rejection of the geographic hierarchization of knowledge in which the Global South continues to be the space for fieldwork while the Global North is the place for its systematization and theorization. Instead, contributors in Transcontinental Dialogues delve into the interactions between anthropologists and the people they work with in Canada, Australia, and Mexico. This framework allows the contributors to explore the often unintended but sometimes devastating impacts of government policies (such as land rights legislation or justice initiatives for women) on Indigenous people’s lives. Each chapter’s author reflects critically on their own work as activist-scholars. They offer examples of the efforts and challenges that anthropologists—Indigenous and non-Indigenous—confront when producing knowledge in alliances with Indigenous peoples. Mi’kmaq land rights, pan-Maya social movements, and Aboriginal title claims in rural and urban areas are just some of the cases that provide useful ground for reflection on and critique of challenges and opportunities for scholars, policy-makers, activists, allies, and community members. This volume is timely and innovative for using the disparate anthropological traditions of three regions to explore how the interactions between anthropologists and Indigenous peoples in supporting Indigenous activism have the potential to transform the production of knowledge within the historical colonial traditions of anthropology.

What people wore in the distant past is often challenging to determine, owing to the disintegration of natural textiles and materials over time. Yet when new findings from archaeological excavations are compared with documentation about early Acadia, a fascinating picture of the society’s early fashions is revealed. Fashioning Acadians is a history of clothesmaking and dress in Acadia from 1650 to 1750. Through the analysis of four Acadian settlements in what is now Nova Scotia, Hilary Doda uncovers the regional fashions and trends that had begun to emerge prior to the violence of the deportations of 1755. Men’s and women’s wardrobes are described from head to toe, from headdresses and hairstyles down to stockings and shoes, along with accessories such as buttons, buckles, and jewellery. While Acadians retained many aspects of the fashion systems of France, New France, and New England, a distinctive Acadian identity can be seen to take shape as their dress evolved and was influenced by other regional styles. Exploring the possibilities of a new methodology for identifying lost or decayed garments, Doda argues that surviving notions, sewing tools, and accessories – the small finds of archaeological sites – are important sources of information not only about domestic life, but about manufacturing processes, dress and textile cultures, and the influence of intersecting fashion systems in colonial spaces. Fashioning Acadians expands our understanding of Acadian lives and their connections to both the Atlantic world of goods and the landscapes of Nova Scotia.

What do animals—other than human animals—have to do with religion? How do our religious ideas about animals affect the lives of real animals in the world? How can we deepen our understanding of both animals and religion by considering them together? Animals and Religion explores how animals have crucially shaped how we understand ourselves, the other living beings around us, and our relationships with them. Through incisive analyses of religious examples from around the world, the original contributions to this volume demonstrate how animals have played key roles in every known religious tradition, whether as sacred beings, symbols, objects of concern, fellow creatures, or religious teachers. And through our religious imagination, ethics, and practices, we have deeply impacted animal lives, whether by domesticating, sacrificing, dominating, eating, refraining from eating, blessing, rescuing, releasing, commemorating, or contemplating them. Drawing primarily on perspectives from religious studies and Christian theology, augmented by cutting-edge work in anthropology, biology, philosophy, and psychology, Animals and Religion offers the reader a richer understanding of who animals are and who we humans are. Do animals have emotions? Do they think or use language? Are they persons? How we answer questions like these affects diverse aspects of religion that shape not only how we relate to other animals, but also how we perceive and misperceive each other along axes of gender, race, and (dis)ability. Accessibly written and thoughtfully argued, Animals and Religion will interest anyone who wants to learn more about animals, religion, and what it means to be a human animal.

Drawing upon oral and documentary evidence, this volume explores the lives of noteworthy Mi’kmaw individuals whose thoughts, actions, and aspirations impacted the history of the Northeast but whose activities were too often relegated to the shadows of history. The book highlights Mi’kmaw leaders who played major roles in guiding the history of the region between 1680 and 1980. It sheds light on their community and emigration policies, organizational and negotiating skills, diplomatic endeavours, and stewardship of land and resources. Contributors to the volume range from seasoned scholars with years of research in the field to Mi’kmaw students whose interest in their history will prove inspirational. Offering important new insights, the book re-centres Indigenous nationhood to alter the way we understand the field itself. The book also provides a lengthy index so that information may be retrieved and used in future research. Muiwlanej kikamaqki – Honouring Our Ancestors will engage the interest of Indigenous and non-Indigenous readers alike, engender pride in Mi’kmaw leadership legacies, and encourage Mi’kmaw youth and others to probe more deeply into the history of the Northeast.

This new, thoroughly updated edition of Bradt’s Nova Scotia remains the most comprehensive guide available to this increasingly popular region of eastern Canada. New direct flights from the UK make visiting easier than ever before, helping to fuel the growth of tourist numbers to the many new distilleries and wineries, all of which are covered in this new edition. Virtually surrounded by the sea, the region boasts 4,600 miles of coastline, superb seafood, a rich folklore, quiet roads and a wealth of outdoor pursuits. Travelling here feels like going back to a time when life's pleasures were simpler: shopping at a Farmers’ Market or a roadside fruit stall, buying lobster fresh off the boat at the wharf, or photographing the lighthouse by the old fishing village. What’s more, it's not hard to get off the beaten track here.

Between 2004 and 2005, Acadians observed two major anniversaries in their history: the 400th anniversary of the birth of Acadie and the 250th anniversary of their deportation at the hands of the British. Attending many of the commemorative activities that marked the anniversaries, Ronald Rudin has documented these events as an "embedded historian." Conducting interviews and collecting the opinions of Acadians, Anglophones, and First Nations, Remembering and Forgetting in Acadie examines the variety of ways in which the past is publicly presented and remembered. A profound and accessible study of the often-conflicting purposes of public history, Rudin details the contentious cultural, political, and historical issues that were prompted by these anniversaries. Offering an astounding collection of materials, Remembering and Forgetting in Acadie is also accompanied by a website (www.rememberingacadie.concordia.ca) that provides access to films, audio clips, and photographs assembled on Rudin's journey through public memory.

Acadian Redemption, the first biography of an Acadian exile, defines the 18th century society of Acadia into which Joseph dit Beausoleil Broussard was born in 1702. The book explains his early life events and militant struggles with the British who had, for years, wanted to lay claim to the Acadians' rich lands. The book discusses the repercussions of Beausoleil's life that resulted in the evolution of the Acadian culture into what is now called the Cajun culture. More than 50 vintage photographs, maps, and documents are included.