Roots of Reconciliation
Foundations
Treaties
Renewal and Reconciliation

F13: A Community of Leaders

Overview

In this LE, learners will brainstorm and then create a portrait of an ideal Mi’kmaw leader. Leadership portraits incorporate 3 elements: historical context, Mi’kmaw values, and Mi’kmaw governance practices. Learners trace the similarities and differences in Mi’kmaw leadership over time, which will help them understand that different times demand different kinds of leaders. Despite historical change, the protection of people, culture, and netukulimk remain priorities.

Learners will...

  • Incorporate Mi’kmaw governance practices with cultural values to determine leadership needs at different times.
  • See that different historical situations require different leadership skills.
  • Consider what the goals of Mi’kmaw leaders would be given a particular situation.
  • Understand that even when times change, some goals stay the same.
  • Figure out that the goals of Mi’kmaw leadership and the goals of other leaders might not be the same.

Focus

Working in groups, or as a class sequentially, learners use provided historical descriptions to create a portrait of an ideal Mi’kmaw leader.

Portraits are completed using a worksheet that asks learners to describe their leaders in 3 areas: 1) the qualities they need to guide Mi’kmaw communities well; 2) the skills they need to guide a community through their specific historical context; and 3) the goals a leader might have during their specific time period.

A follow-up class discussion will allow groups to share their portraits with each other, comparing their ideas.

Printable Learning
Experience (pdf)

PE!

It is important that learners have a clear understanding of the following content:

  • The Mi’kmaq as the indigenous people of Nova Scotia and the Atlantic region.
  • Mi’kma’kik as the ancestral homeland of the Mi’kmaq.
  • Mi’kmaw governance practices. (See Leadership introduction)
  • The concepts of netukulimk and msɨt no’kmaq, and weji-sqalia’tiek. (See LE F4, Family, Culture, Community introduction)
  • Primary Mi’kmaw values such as tpi’tnewey, consensus, asa ki’l, humour, etc. (See LE F8, Family, Culture, Community introduction)

LE Materials

COMING SOON!

Additional Resources

See the introduction to the Leadership section.