Wanda Joundrey-Finigan: Mi’kmaq mother shares culture with youth

Other students consulted history books and tourism pamphlets. Wanda, one of two Mi’kmaq students in her school—her sister was the other one—consulted her elders.

Her elders told Wanda that the Mi’kmaq had lived in Kejimkujik, and throughout Nova Scotia, long before the Europeans came. And when the English arrived, their policy was to eradicate First Nations people.

In what may well have been one of the earliest incidents of germ warfare, General Amherst promoted ‘sharing’ smallpox contaminated blankets with the Mi’kmaq. At Bear River there is a mass graveyard with the bodies of 4,000 First Nations people—testimony to the success of the British effort to wipe out the Mi’kmaq.

When General Cornwallis placed a bounty on the scalps of Mi’kmaq men, women and children, Wanda’s ancestors took refuge deep in the woods of Kejimkujik.

The petroglyphs at Kejimkujik are the written records of the Mi’kmaq who lived there.

Wanda proudly handed her five-page essay to her teacher and a day later received it back—with a zero on every page.

That event may have dampened Wanda’s enthusiasm for public school—she left before graduating. In many ways, however, the paper she produced as a grade 8 student was the beginning of her own role as a teacher.

Wanda completed her high school education, years later, as an adult and is now a tourism-certified heritage and culture interpreter.

Last week, she traveled with four young girls to the Petit Riviere Mi’kmaq-Acadian Festival and Reunion, an annual celebration of the two cultures. The children made their first public performance as drummers. And as they drummed, they also sang the Mi’kmaq songs Wanda had taught them.

“I grew up in a home where both of my parents spoke the language,” says Wanda, “so I was very fortunate.”

The children she took to Petit Riviere live off reserve. “I really want to connect with children who have had little or no exposure to their Mi’kmaq culture,” she says, “so this is a beginning.

At Bear River, Wanda currently works at the reserve’s Heritage and Cultural centre, so her connection with the adults and children who live on the reserve, where she also resides, is well established.

Over the years she has offered courses in the Mi’kmaq language to her people, since many have grown up in homes where it was rarely spoken.

She also seizes every opportunity to share her knowlege with those who may know little about First Nations people. She is a guest when Elderhostel tours come to town, and she always invites those people to join her in passing the talking stick, a Mi’kmaq tradition that is both social and spiritual.

Wanda says she is ‘in demand’ by schools throughout Nova Scotia—especially on National Aboriginal Day (June 21) and during Mi’kmaq History Month (October). She loves sharing her culture with teachers and students, but perplexed that schools teaching Canadian history confine their interest in Canada’s native people to specific times of the year.

She says she would like to see schools set aside at least a day each month when children study cultures other than their own.

Wanda says she has had many wonderful experiences working with children in schools. One of her most memorable moments is when she and her sister, Marlene, were invited to visit the school they once attended—the school where her teacher rewarded her in-depth study of Kejimkujik with a zero.

The teachers and children responded enthusiastically to their presentation, and when she suggested she might walk through the halls of her old school chanting and drumming, that idea, too, was warmly received. She says when she and Marlene left the school two eagles flew overhead.

“It’s something that’s rarely seen,” says Wanda, “and it’s a wonderful omen.”

Wanda says she is certain that sharing the history, culture and language of the Mi’kmaq is her calling, and she will be happy to continue to do so for the rest of her life.

“Sharing is the Mi’kmaq way,” she says.