Project Description

In 2010, Ta’n Weji-sqalia’tiek Mi’kmaw Place Names Digital Atlas and Website Project (formerly Pjila’si Mi’kma’ki: Mi’kmaw Place Names Digital Atlas and Website Project) was launched to document approximately 13,000 years of Mi’kmaw presence within Mi’kma’ki, the place of the Mi’kmaq, and to raise public awareness of this ancient history. The project was initiated by the Mi’kmaq-Nova Scotia-Canada Tripartite Forum, Culture and Heritage Committee, Place Names Subcommittee, co-chaired by Tim Bernard, Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq, and Rob Ferguson, Parks Canada Atlantic Region.  

In 2008, Dr. Trudy Sable, Director of the former Office of Aboriginal and Northern Research, Gorsebrook Research Institute for Atlantic Canada Studies, Saint Mary’s University (SMU), was contracted by the Tripartite Forum to undertake a study to assess the need and feasibility for the development of a place names website. The final recommendations from the study were based on input from focus groups within Mi’kmaw communities, interviews and surveys conducted with numerous stakeholders (librarians, government agents, NGO’s, academics, educators etc.), literature searches and identification of potential funding sources, as well as input from geomatics expert, William Jones. The evidence was clear: there was a long overdue need for an authoritative source to increase awareness of the history and culture of the Mi’kmaq across all social sectors, including and primarily for the Mi’kmaq themselves.

Major funding for the project initially came from two grants awarded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) with supplemental funding from the Tripartite Forum Project Fund, Saint Mary’s University, numerous student grants, and a wealth of in-kind contributions.  More recently (2017-2020), the Nova Scotia Communities, Culture and Heritage, Service Nova Scotia and Internal Services, Canada Council for the Arts, and SMU have provided funding for the continued development of digital atlas and website.

Project Partners have included the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq (CMM, 2008-present), SMU (2008-2016/2018-present), Union of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaw, Mi’kma’ki All Points Services (MAPS), (2010-2016), Parks Canada Agency (2008-2011), and the Nova Scotia Museum (2010-present), with initial support from Kwilmu’kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office (KMKNO) and the Mi’kmaq Association of Cultural Studies (MACS) (2010-2011).

A second, complementary project was launched in 2012, Re-thinking Mi’kma’ki: The Traditional Districts and Cultural Landscapes of the Mi’kmaq, with funding from a SSHRC Outreach Project Grant, the Tripartite Forum Project Committee, and SMU. This project was based on the research of Roger Lewis, Curator of Mi’kmaw Culture and Heritage, Collections and Research Unit, who was assisted by Dr. Trudy Sable, geomatics consultant, William Jones, and student researcher, Matt Meuse-Dallien.

A key aspect of our project has been the hiring and training of student researchers.  Since 2010, we have been able to fund over twenty student researcher positions for Mi’kmaw students through SSHRC, Tripartite Forum, and SMU funds, as well as a number of various student grants offered through government agencies and SMU. The student researchers have been exposed to a wide range of learning experiences and research skill development including language training; recording and mapping place names in interviews with Mi’kmaw Elders and community members; video editing; setting up databases, and conducting historical research. To date, the research team has recorded approximately 1,500 place names collected through the interviews, an extensive list compiled by Gillan Allen through the Aboriginal Title project, as well as historical documents and dictionaries, primarily those of Father Pacifique and Silas Rand, missionaries to the Mi’kmaq in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Over 700 of these names have been translated and transliterated into the Smith/Francis orthography (spelling system) under the supervision of linguist, Dr. Bernie Francis. These names were then geo-referenced by our student researchers with supervision from Roger Lewis of the Nova Scotia Museum, William Jones and Greg Baker, geomatics consultants for the project, and Dr. Trudy Sable. The names were then entered into a database as the basis of the digital atlas and interactive maps featured on the site. We have also developed numerous map layers for cross-referencing physiological and cultural/historical information as can be seen on the interactive map.

The digital atlas also forms the basis for Ta’n Weji-sqalia’tiek Mi’kmaw Place Names Website. We envision this website will become a multimedia, interactive, educational website that will be accessible throughout the world. The digital atlas and website will directly support other Mi’kmaw activities including the development of educational products for schools, enhance Mi’kmaw tourism and promote cultural awareness about Mi’kmaw people.