Page 6 • A Special Feature of The Nova Scotia Business Journal, July 2010
Union of NS Indians: 40th Anniversary
UNSI: The voice of the Mi’kmaw people By Matt Bubbers For 40 years the Union of Nova Scotia Indians, UNSI, has been giving an important political voice to Mi’kmaw people in the province. Since its founding in 1969, the Union has been instrumental in lobbying for Aboriginal rights and title, as well as improving the lives of the Mi’kmaq. UNSI was set up initially in response to the failure of the Maritime Indian Advisory Council, a group created by the federal government. “When Indian Affairs wanted to inform them or consult with them, they were called together and told what was going to happen in their communities,” says UNSI Executive Director Joe B. Marshall. As one of the founding members of the Union, Marshall has been a part of the long struggle towards the restoration of self-governance for the Mi’kmaq since the beginning. The first major test for the Union came in 1969 with the release of the infamous Indian Affairs White Paper which proposed the assimilation of First Nations people into the general Canadian population. UNSI helped spearhead opposition to the proposal in Nova Scotia by speaking with Mi’kmaw communities and — for the first time — providing them with a political force to lobby for their interests. In the following years, the Union focused on rights and title claims, undertaking a major research project to support their cause. In 1976,
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together with the Mi’kmaw Grand Council, they presented the Nova Scotia Aboriginal Rights Position Paper to the federal government. Marshall remembered that when a response finally came back a year later, the government said simply that Aboriginal claims were superseded by law. So, the Union tried a new approach. From 1975 to 1999 the UNSI was involved in a series of legal battles over hunting and fishing violations in an effort to prove their rights and claims dating back to the 1700s were still valid. The Mi’kmaq won five of those landmark cases in Nova Scotia, changing the way the treaties were viewed. The fallout from those cases saw money being poured into fisheries. “There was a big improvement in the economy of our communities,” Marshall says. Finally in 2002, the government was ready to negotiate as a direct result of those legal battles. The federal and provincial governments signed the Umbrella Agreement with the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia that recognized the existence of Aboriginal rights and title and committed to negotiations. In 2007, all parties agreed on the terms of negotiation by signing the Framework Agreement. Progress for UNSI has always come in incremental steps. But 40 years of incremental steps adds up to some large strides, says Marshall, and taken together the Union has moved a long way toward the restoration of self-governance.
The late Grand Chief Donald Marshall Sr. meets Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. - Photo Contributed
Best wishes and continued success to the Union of Nova Scotia Indians on your 40th anniversary from