October is Mi’kmaq History Month, a time to celebrate and learn about Mi’kmaq culture and heritage.
The theme for Mi’kmaw History Month 2025 is A’tukwemk aq A’tukowinu’k – Storytelling and Storytellers. “This theme celebrates the power of stories in Mi’kma’kik—stories shaped by the land and waters, carried through generations, and alive with laughter, teaching, and truth. Storytelling remains a living record of Mi’kmaw science, history, and values, connecting people to each other and to the ancestors who came before.” Learn more at mikmaqhistorymonth.ca.
October 1 is Treaty Day, which commemorates the treaties between the Mik’maq people of Nova Scotia—who have occupied the land for thousands of years—and the Crown. Learn more about Treaty Day here.
Saint Mary's University acknowledges that the university is located on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. Learn more.
Chief Wilbert Marshall, Isaiah Bernard, Indigenous Student Advisor Kylar Jonhson
The Mi’kmaq tradition of storytelling has long been a way of carrying culture, history and teachings across generations. At Saint Mary’s University, that same tradition is carried forward in two large dream catchers installed by son and father duo, former SMU student Isaiah Bernard and Chief Wilbert Marshall of Potlotek First Nation.
“The university is on Mi’kmaq land, so we should be showcased within the campus. I brought the idea to the university President and to SMUSA (Saint Mary’s University Students’ Association), and they all agreed.”
Bernard and Chief Marshall built and installed dream catchers on campus in 2020. On October 1 – Treaty Day – Isaiah Bernard and Chief Marshall returned to Saint Mary’s campus, alongside Indigenous Student Advisor Kylar Johnson, to unveil newly installed plaques commemorating the dream catchers.
Events
Sisters in Spirit Film Screening: The Body Remembers when the World Broke Open
Tuesday October 7, 2025
6-8:30 p.m.
Atrium 101
Please join the Qomoti Centre and the Sexual Violence Support Centre to commemorate Sisters in Spirit Day with a Film Screening of The Body Remembers when the World Broke Open. The film follows two Indigenous women as they navigate the effects of Intimate Partner Violence. All are welcome and refreshments will be served.
Sisters in Spirit Day is a national day that honours and remembers Murdered and Missing Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people. To learn more, please visit the Native Women's Association of Canada.
Too Ghoul for School: Colonial Gazing and Monstrosity in Rhymes for Young Ghouls
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
3:30 p.m.
Halifax Central Library
Part of SMU’s first Monster Fest, Dr. Krista Collier-Jarvis presents a talk on Rhymes for Young Ghouls, an Indigenous horror film about one Mi'kmaw girl's experience living beneath the colonial gaze and temporarily within the walls of the fictional St. D's residential school. Read the full session description here.
Blood Quantum Screening and Scholar-led Panel Discussion
Wednesday, October 29, 2025
6 p.m.
Halifax Central Library
A public-facing, free screening of Jeff Barnaby’s Blood Quantum and a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Krista Collier-Jarvis and led by Indigenous scholars and activists Fallen Matthews, Tiffany Morris and Dr. Margaret Robinson.
Resources
Qomuti is an on-campus space designed by and for Indigenous students. Located in Loyola Academic Room 286, Qomuti (pronounced ho-mo-dee) is a Mi’kmaw word meaning “a place of safe haven.” This space was created through community consultation and is intended to be a welcoming home on campus for Indigenous students to gather, study, share, smudge, and feel rooted in culture and connection.
Visit Qomuti or meet with the Indigenous Student Advisor, Kylar Johnson. Find out more about the space and how to connect with Kylar at smu.ca/indigenous-community.
Permanent Mi'kmaw Heritage Exhibit – Visit the Library to see Ta’n Etl-klo'tasik koqoey (a phrase meaning “where the items are kept or taken care of”), an exhibit celebrating the enduring legacy and culture of the Mi’kmaq people. This exhibit features a collection of Mi’kmaw cultural objects selected by community members, and is on loan from the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History.
The Patrick Power Library has a Mi'kmaq History Month collection available on campus or online. All books can be borrowed with your SMU ID card or accessed online using your SMU email and password.
Other resources to support learning and reflection about Indigenous culture and experience include:
Red Dress Display: October 4 is the National Day of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people (MMIWG2S), also called Sisters in Spirit Day. Red dresses hang in the library windows as a symbol of those who never returned home and to bring awareness to the ongoing violence against Indigenous communities. Learn more.
Indigenous Studies Research Guide – Your starting point for academic and community-based resources on Indigenous research topics, featuring suggested journals, search strategies, databases, government information and other resources.
SMU Theses on Mi’kmaw and Indigenous Research – Discover original research by Saint Mary’s University community members in the Institutional Repository.
Indigenous Peoples of North America Database – A digital archive covering the political, social, and cultural history of Indigenous Peoples from the sixteenth century into the twentieth century. Access is available through the Library.
Streaming Media Collections – Watch Indigenous films and documentaries through the NFB, CBC Curio, Films on Demand, Audio Cine and Criterion databases. Access is available through the Library.
Related
Learn more about Indigenous history, perspectives and culture through the Saint Mary’s lens
Find resources on our online Indigenous Community Hub
October 17: Graduate Studies Information Session for Black and Indigenous Undergraduate Students