Reconciliation

As part of my reconciliation responsibility, I am committing to updating my land acknowledgement on an annual basis. As a descendant of a settler, it is my responsibility to learn more about the Indigenous communities who walked this land well before my ancestors arrived.

Ever Forward Books is located in Sin So’sepe’katik (sin-SO-say’bay-a-tik), the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people, known today as Bridgewater, Nova Scotia.

The Covenant Chain of Peace and Friendship Treaties between the Wabanaki Confederacy (that included the Mi’kmaq nation) and the British Crown was created throughout the eighteenth century; the first was signed in 1725, and the last in 1779.

Treaty rights were recognized and affirmed in Section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act. Canada’s Oath of Citizenship includes a solemn promise to “recognizes and affirms the Aboriginal and treaty rights of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.” We are all treaty people.

These agreements were fundamentally different from land cession treaties, instead establishing principles of coexistence, mutual recognition, and ongoing nation-to-nation relationships that the Mi’kmaq maintain were never surrendered or extinguished. The contemporary significance of these treaties has been repeatedly affirmed by Canadian courts, most notably in the 1999 Marshall Decision, which recognized constitutionally protected commercial fishing rights based on 18th-century treaty provisions, demonstrating the living nature of these historical agreements and their continued relevance to contemporary Indigenous rights and sovereignty.

In 2022, the Government of Nova Scotia adopted the Mi’kmaw Language Act, which “established principles for preserving and promoting Mi’kmaw, the first language spoken in what is now Nova Scotia”. The Act came into force on October 1, 2022, to coincide with Treaty Day. This act formally recognizes Mi’kmaw as an official language and the first language of Nova Scotia.

As a publisher, I am committed to honouring this relationship. I will actively work with our Mi’kmaq friends and neighbours to create a space for learning, share stories, and support the work of reconciliation. By understanding our shared history, we can help build a better future together.