Mi’kmaq event to be largest of its kind in Atlantic Canada
Posted Apr 21, 2010 04:39:21 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Music concerts won’t be the only big events on the Halifax Common this summer.
Details were unveiled Wednesday for the Membertou 400 Celebrations. The late June event commemorates the 400th anniversary of the baptism of Grand Chief Henri Membertou.
Grand Chief Membertou is credited with laying the foundation for peaceful relations with the early white settlers in Nova Scotia. In 1610 he and his family embraced the teachings of the Catholic church by getting baptized.
Wacobah First Nation chief Morley Goo Goo says the events in June in Port Royal and on the Halifax Common honours Membertou’s accomplishments..
“How the Mi’kmaq were open to accept other people and other belief systems and other cultures,” says Goo Goo. “To this date it’s really a result of how we get along with everyone.”
Events on the Halifax Common will include a traditional Mi’kmaw village, native drum and dance competitions and a free concert by Buffy Ste Marie.
Premier Darrell Dexter says it’s a great way to kick off the summer tourist season.
“It will be the largest of its type ever held in Atlantic Canada and it will be much more than a cultural display the event will also be deeply spiritual,” says Dexter.
The celebrations will run from June 24-28.
