Chief's Treaty Day promise to Mi'kmaw youth: 'We will protect them'

As Abegweit First Nation Chief Junior Gould paid tribute Sunday to his late father as a residential school survivor, he made a promise to his grandson and other Mi'kmaw youth.

What happened to their ancestors won't happen to them.

"As I teach him what had happened to my father and my grandfather over time, I measure that education with reassurance that it will not happen again," Gould said.

"We have a good premier that will not allow the history and the badness of the past to come again. We have good chief leadership who will make sure our Mi'kmaw people are protected and sheltered and not put into a residential school. We will protect them. That is a solemn oath."

Gould was speaking in Charlottetown on Treaty Day on Prince Edward Island. He was joined by Lennox Island Chief Darlene Bernard, P.E.I. Premier Dennis King and other community leaders.

We have to understand each other before we can move forward in a good way— Chief Junior Gould

Gould said his grandson has the same concerns as other children on P.E.I., and is learning the same truths about residential schools and reconciliation. 

"I wanted to share this today because it's part of treaty negotiations and negotiating in good faith. We have to understand each other before we can move forward in a good way."

Gould said future generations of Mi'kmaw will never have to hide their culture, including singing the Honour Song, which was openly on display Saturday afternoon during a Mawi'omi, or gathering, at the Eastlink Centre.

'There was a time when we weren't allowed to do these songs, we had to pray and hide in the woods to do our sun dances," he said. "We had to have a sweat lodge hidden in the back. We had to hide from the church, the government and from people who told us, we know better than you. Those days are behind us."

King said Treaty Day is an opportunity to renew the province's commitment to make a "better Prince Edward Island for all of us."

Housing agreement

He noted the provincial government recently signed a historic agreement with P.E.I. First Nations for a housing project in the Hillsborough Park area of Charlottetown.

The agreement allocates serviced land, including water, sewer and road access, to the P.E.I. First Nations to build housing amounting to 10 per cent of the total allowable housing units of the Hillsborough Park project, according to the province.

King said it demonstrates "the desire and the ability that our First Nations have to help us tackle some of the complex challenges that our society faces today, housing just being one of those."

Government will also be rolling out mandatory online reconciliation training for all new public sector employees, and King said the new geographical naming program will help eliminate terms hurtful to the Indigenous community.

"What we're trying to do is build upon the strengths and the friendships that we have, but I think we're also building an agreed-upon set of principles that we can all work toward going forward."