Pictou Landing First Nation and Sobeys bring Mi'kmaw language to grocery shopping

Walking through the Westside Sobeys in New Glasgow, N.S., shoppers can now familiarize themselves with the original language of Nova Scotia, Mi'kmaw. 

Customers can scan QR codes to hear the Mi'kmaw pronunciation of 15 items, such as pie'skman (corn), samqwan (water), wisawipuneksit (carrot) and tapatat (potato).

The initiative was launched in partnership with nearby Pictou Landing First Nation and the voice behind the recordings is Jackie Alex, a Mi'kmaw language teacher.

"I'm very proud to do this and I'm happy that others can hear our language," Alex said.

Alex worked to translate and ensure proper spelling and pronunciation for the 15 words that were decided on by the chief and council.

She hopes the initiative can grow next summer, adding more Mi'kmaw words to the store.

Her sister, Andrea Paul, Nova Scotia's regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations, began working with Sobeys to develop this project when she was chief of Pictou Landing.

In a statement, Paul expressed pride in her sister's work, her fluency in the Mi'kmaw language and passion for encouraging others to speak the language.

"She was raised by our kiju (grandmother) who never allowed English to be spoken in her home and I am grateful for that because we were able to learn and speak our language," said Paul in the statement.

Paul also praised current Pictou Landing Chief Tamara Young and community members for carrying forward and continuing the language work being done with the grocery store. 

Young said she's happy that community members can see parts of their culture represented at the store just 10 kilometres away from their community. 

"We need to start telling people our story and and showing what reconciliation really looks like," said Young.

"We hear the term reconciliation a lot and it doesn't really mean anything unless there's action."

Building a relationship

Heather Head, communications director for Pictou Landing, said the Westside store has shown a commitment to reconciliation, from displaying Mi'kmaw artwork to offering discounts for community food hampers and making contributions to events and community projects. 

Head said that Pictou Landing reached out to the store and the grocer was receptive to building a relationship.

"They decided to work with Pictou Landing since Sobeys was formed and started in Stellarton, N.S. and Pictou Landing is the closest [First Nations] community," said Head. 

Head said when you walk into the store you're greeted by artwork by Mi'kmaw artist Cheryl Denny, and read pjila'si (welcome). When you leave, you see wela'lin (thank you), and wela'lin is also printed on the receipts. 

Heather DeBlois, Sobeys' director of diversity, equity, and inclusion, said working with Pictou Landing First Nation has been a special partnership.

"We saw immediately how special the idea was to honour the first language of Nova Scotia," said DeBlois.

"We couldn't think of a better way to do that than through food, which has the power to unite all of us."

A Sobeys location in Thompson, Man., has done a similar initiative with the Cree language and DeBlois said there have been responses from customers and teammates hoping to see this in more stores across the country.