The contemporary Traditionalism movement in Salt Harbour dates back to the 1960s. 57 At that time, a number of Salt Harbour residents, including the Chief, were active in the
American Indian Movement (AIM) in Canada, advocating for improved social and economic conditions for their community, and protesting federal policies that separated them from their traditional lands and resources. Throughout the 1960s and 70s, AIM drew international attention to the social, cultural and economic injustices perpetrated on Native North American peoples (and Native peoples elsewhere), and encouraged a resurgence of Native pride and cultural awareness and practice (Josephy, et al. 1999). The work of AIM activists resulted in the establishment of lobbying, research and support groups at national, regional and local levels. For instance, the National Indian Brotherhood – today the Assembly of First Nations – was formed in the midst of the controversy over the 1969 White Paper, a proposal of the Canadian government of the day to repeal the Indian Act, strip Canadian aboriginal peoples of their status,
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and expedite their assimilation into mainstream Canadian society. The tremendous, organized backlash against the White Paper led to its quick abandonment – a victory for the movement and a solid base from which to address other issues.
AIM set out with the intention of building its base by helping aboriginal peoples reconnect with the meanings, practices and values that had been important to them prior to European contact and influence. To this end, a handful of Salt Harbour band members travelled to the western United States and Canada and learned ceremonies and teachings from Native spiritual leaders. They then brought the teachings and ceremonies back to Salt Harbour and began teaching them there, where they took on legitimacy among many as authentic Mi’kmaq culture and tradition. None of these original Salt Harbour Traditionalists were still alive in 2007, and no one in the community was able to recall which tribes these first Traditionalists visited. However, photos from the period show the Traditionalists – and even the Chief – posing in full feather headdresses, suggesting that they visited American Indian communities from the plains region along their journey.
When I asked my historian friend, Sally Atwin, why Traditionalism gained such a following in the community in the 1960s, and why she thought it was still going strong today, she said that teaching culture was very difficult in Salt Harbour in the first half of the twentieth century. Not only had the federal Indian reserve system separated Mi’kmaq people from their hunting and fishing grounds and from their travel and trade routes, but many Mi’kmaq children throughout the Maritime provinces were forcibly made to attend the Indian Residential School at Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia from the 1930s until the school closed in the early 1960s. At the school, among other atrocities, children were not allowed to speak the Mi’kmaq language or participate in any Mi’kmaq cultural practices. Consequently, not only were cultural practices
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becoming more and more restricted, but the removal of children from the community and their subsequent language and culture “loss” made cultural transmission nearly impossible for many Mi’kmaq families. According to Sally, knowledge of a great deal of Mi’kmaq ceremonies and teachings had become “faded memories” by the 1960s, and the early Traditionalism movement in the community sought to reinvigorate Mi’kmaq culture by infusing it with elements of Native teachings and spirituality “borrowed” from western peoples. The thought behind the early Traditionalism movement in Salt Harbour was positive, Sally said; people were proud to be Native people and were empowered to assert their aboriginal and treaty rights to fish and hunt. However, over the past 15 years or so, the Traditionalism movement had taken on a “new age feel” that made Sally and some other community members uneasy.
The contemporary incarnation of the Traditionalism movement in Salt Harbour
coalesced around 1993, following a devastating wave of young adult suicides in the community. Over six months in 1992 and 1993, seven young people committed suicide and dozens more attempted suicide (Chenier 1995). Many people I interviewed described to me the sense of deep grief and helplessness that enveloped the community during this time. During my time in Salt Harbour, this period was frequently referenced and no family was unaffected by the loss. With the assistance of the federal government and neighboring communities, both Native and non-Native, community members participated in grief counseling, healing ceremonies and suicide prevention programs. Many people also turned to Traditionalism for comfort and a way to build positive identities and envision healthy futures. Sarah Prentice was in her early 20s in 1992 and 1993 when too many of her peers were attempting suicide, and she recalled the prominent role of Traditionalism in providing spiritual support for community members who were suffering. One family was hit particularly hard; three of their teenage sons all died by suicide within several months of each other. This family, Sarah said, attended a healing retreat
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where they were taught about the Traditionalism movement. When they returned home, they did not drink alcohol anymore and were “traditional believers.” Sarah said that when other people in the community saw this family’s strategy for coping with their loss, they, too, turned to Traditionalism, and the movement gained popularity and strength. In 2007, the
Traditionalism movement continued to play a prominent role in on-reserve drug and alcohol abuse treatment programs, as well as in mental health and anger management programs. In fact, Joe Hall, who ran the treatment center on the reserve, estimated that 90% of the people who participated in annual Salt Harbour Sundance had been through his substance abuse treatment program.