CBU Stands by the Rights and Freedoms of Indigenous People

To the University community,

Cape Breton University has a long and important history with Indigenous people and communities. For more than 40 years, Cape Breton University has been working with and in Indigenous communities across Atlantic Canada. We have grown to be Atlantic Canada’s post-secondary education leader in Indigenous education and we are very proud of that distinction.

In building on our relationship, and as part of our University’s 2019-2024 strategic plan, we have committed to Indigenize the L’nu Way. As part of that commitment, we engage Elders and knowledge keepers, and embed L’nu perspectives in the curriculum and campus traditions. We create spaces and opportunities for recognizing truth and seeking reconciliation to name just a few. One thing we will also do, is stand by the rights and freedoms of Indigenous people and communities. It is in that regard that, at this time of unrest in our province, Cape Breton University honours the legacy of Donald Marshall Jr. and supports the rights of the Sipekne’katik First Nation, and all Mi’kmaw nations, to earn a moderate livelihood through their treaty-defined fishing rights.

We are all Treaty People. Let us move forward as two nations in Friendship and Peace.  We are hopeful that the current unrest can be put aside as people respectfully try and resolve this most important issue.

Yours very truly,

David C. Dingwall

This video was produced through Unama’ki College in 2017. It is a brief interview with Trevor Bernard, Executive Director (and lawyer), Membertou Band Council discusses the Marshall Decision in 1999.