National Indigenous History Month in June is a time to learn about, celebrate and honour the cultures and traditions of Indigenous communities across the nation. Saint Mary’s University acknowledges its location in Mi’kma’ki, the traditional land of the Mi’kmaq Nation. The Mi'kmaq Grand Council Flag flies proudly on the university’s campus.
National Indigenous Peoples Day is June 21, the summer solstice and the longest day of the year. For generations, many First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities have celebrated their cultures, languages and traditions at this time of year. The summer solstice holds deep spiritual and cultural significance for many Indigenous Peoples, marking a time of renewal, connection, and celebration. Learn more.
Visit SMU’s online Indigenous Community hub to see news, events and resources for students, faculty and staff.
Campus news
Erin Denny BSc’25, center, drops the puck at a women’s hockey game during Indigenous Heritage Weekend
Huskies Indigenous Heritage Weekend creates space for community in sport
The SMU Huskies held a successful Indigenous Heritage Weekend in October during Mi’kmaq History Month, celebrating Indigenous contributions to athletics with a full lineup of home games. Teams showed support by playing the national anthem in Mi’kmaq and wearing “Every Child Matters” t-shirts to honour the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The weekend also featured a puck drop by SMU Huskies hockey alum Erin Denny BSc’25.
Denny’s work as a champion of representation and belonging in hockey has been recognized by Hockey Nova Scotia with the Erin Denny Award and the Erin Denny Scholarship, which were launched earlier this year.
Chief Wilbert Marshall, Isaiah Bernard and Kylar Johnson
Woven stories - dream catchers honour Mi'kmaq culture at Saint Mary's
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, Isaiah Bernard and Chief Wilbert Marshall of Potlotek First Nation.
More than art, the dream catchers are symbols of presence and visibility; threads of Mi’kmaq culture woven into the heart of campus.
Working with repurposed crab trap pipes and biodegradable rope, the pair created large dream catchers with two rings. “We put a little dream catcher in the middle—you’ll see the braided string that’s on there. It’s got the four directional colours on there also. Everything was done completely by hand.”
Saint Mary’s marks Red Dress Day with powerful display in the Patrick Power Library
Indigenous Student Advisor
Kylar Johnson, shown in the blue sweater, chats with students in the Indigenous Student space
Kylar Johnson BComm’23 is from the Mi’kmaw community of Potlotek First Nation in Unama’ki. As the Indigenous Student Advisor for Saint Mary’s, Kylar connects with Indigenous students to provide resources, supports, and services broadly across Mi'kma'ki, community partners, and the Elder in Residence. Learn more about Kylar and his role.
Students can meet with Kylar in the Qomuti: Indigenous Student Space located in Loyola 286. Email Indigenous.Advisor@smu.ca to connect with Kylar.
Academic opportunity
The Sobey School of Business is currently seeking an Indigenous scholar to fill a Tenure-Track Assistant or Associate Professor position in the Department of Management.
The Sobey School invites applications from Indigenous scholars within a management discipline (such as cooperative management, sustainability, responsible leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation, organizational behaviour, strategy, business ethics, industrial relations, and human resource management).
Explore our library collection
The Patrick Power Library strives to reflect Mi’kmaw presence, history and knowledge within our spaces and collections. We are proud to be the home of exhibits that support this vision, a dreamcatcher created by former student Isaiah Bernard and his father, Chief Wilbert Marshall of the Potlotek First Nation in 2020, and a Mi’kmaw heritage exhibit with Library resources and Mi’kmaw cultural artifacts on display from the Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History.
Online book display: https://bit.ly/PPL-IndigenousHistoryMonthBooklist
Indigenous Studies Research Guide: https://libguides.smu.ca/indigenousstudies
SMU Theses in the Institutional Repository on Mi’kmaq and Indigenous research topics
A wealth of films in our streaming media databases, including NFB, Films on Demand, Audio Cine, and Criterion (Access via SMU Library)