I was born and raised at Lennox Island. It was a very lonely life and felt very isolating as we were cut off from the rest of the world by not having a bridge to our Island or having electricity and had to pump water from a community pump. As a child I enjoyed sewing on my mom’s pedal sewing machine, and later in Home Economic classes, and then as an adult I enjoyed making doll clothes for my daughter and granddaughter.

While we did see farming, fishing and basket making at Lennox Island, we didn’t see much of our culture. We never experienced Regalia, beadwork, drumming and singing or Pow Wow’s (Mawiomi’s). We saw youth being sent to Residential schools and being boarded out to attend High Schools. Our native Mi’Kmaq language was only spoken by the elders and was slowly disappearing.

In the early 1970’s I moved to Rocky Point and became a member of the Abegweit First Nation. As Adults we worked to bring back what was taken from us. It is a joy to watch our people returning to traditional ways and hopefully our language will slowly return.

I take great pride in our Mi’Kmaq culture and in sharing of our traditions. I enjoy making women’s and girls’ ribbon skirts, shawls, regalia, and boy’s and men’s Ribbon shirts. Seeing our members, men, women and children proudly showing our dances, drumming, singing and colourful regalia are expressions of our culture that are vital for reclaiming and restoring pride in our Indigenous heritage.

I attend many Mawiomi’s to see our people dance, sing and drum. I register as a vendor and sell my ribbon skirts, shawls and ribbon shirts and have done so for the past eight years. During these vending events it is an opportunity to learn from our elders and other crafts people of their many skills in artwork, beadwork, leatherwork, quillwork, and basket making. We all know that there is painstaking work in obtaining products such as procuring ash wood, quills, fabric, ribbon, leather and beads and then producing the quality products is difficult and time consuming for our craftspeople. There are also many hours of work that goes into researching and producing genuine Indigenous crafts and artwork. When someone purchases an authentic Indigenous made product, that is our thanks and our reassurance that, indeed, our pride and culture if slowly being restored.