This trading post on the Halifax waterfront was 270 years in the making

Sipekne'katik First Nation officially opened a traditional trading post on the Halifax waterfront on Tuesday, fulfilling a treaty promise that dates back more than 270 years.

According to the Treaty or Articles of Peace and Friendship Renewed 1752, the British promised that truck houses would be built so the Mi'kmaq could sell their wares and crafts. That never happened.

The Mi'kmaq were also promised waterfront land following the Halifax Explosion, before they were slowly moved out of the area.

Sipekne'katik Chief Michelle Glasgow said this new trading post, called the Treaty Truck House, fulfils a promise that has been a long time coming.

"It's for us just to have a place where we can come and we can sell our crafts, where we feel welcome," Glasgow told CBC Radio's Information Morning Nova Scotia.

Glasgow said 20 years ago, she would sell earrings at a small table on the waterfront, but she feared being kicked out.

"Having a spot here and knowing that this is a place where band members can come and they can sell their crafts out of here, I think it's a great thing," she said.

The trading post opened last fall, but Tuesday was its grand opening ahead of National Indigenous Peoples Day. It's owned and operated by the Sipekne'katik band.

The shop features artwork and crafts from Mi'kmaq across Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, including beadwork, mugs, weaved baskets, traditional smudging kits and musical instruments, paintings and wood-burned art.

"It's very significant to the Mi'kmaq people as it represents our history here in this territory. And to have presence on the water again in a city is huge for First Nations' community, so I'm very proud to be a part of it," said Brooke Willis, a Sipekne'katik band council member.