Halifax schools to acknowledge aboriginal territory in daily announcements

Halifax students will be getting a daily reminder that their schools sit on traditional Mi’kmaq territory starting this fall.

The Halifax Regional School Board unanimously agreed late Wednesday to have an acknowledgment read out as part of morning announcements in schools.

The statement will read: “We acknowledge that we are in Mi’kma’ki, which is the traditional ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people.”

It will also be used in board offices as part of any official ceremony or event.

Halifax school board meetings now start with a similar statement that reads: “We acknowledge that this meeting is being held on Mi’kmaq territory.”

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Daniel Paul, a Mi’kmaq elder, said he believes increased education on indigenous history is key to moving towards reconciliation.

“Curriculums are changing in schools, not only here in Nova Scotia but across Canada and the United States and people are beginning to learn the true history. Slowly but surely it’s getting there,” Paul said.

“It’s a matter of educating people and the educating is just getting underway in the last 20 years or so and it takes a long time to change attitudes and bring people on board.”

The Toronto District School Board introduced a similar motion last year. The message, read every morning at that board’s roughly 585 schools, recognizes they sit on traditional First Nations territories.

(Global News, The Canadian Press)

The Canadian Press

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