Mi'kmaq demand apology for centralization, still awaiting Canada's response to petition

Mi'kmaq survivors of centralization arestill waiting for a response from the federal government, after petitioningfor an apology for the policy that forced them from their lands and onto reserves.

"We, the Mi'kmaq survivors of centralization are here to declare we need a public apology from the Government of Canada for this horrific failed experiment/policy and alienation of our historic lands," states the petition,signed by 44 people.

Centralization was a 1942 federal policy to forceFirst Nations people in the Maritimesonto centralized reserves.

Wallace Nevin, who is Mi'kmawfrom Sipekne'katik, about 50 kilometresnorth ofHalifax, is a human rights activistand researcher.

He's beencirculatingthe apology petition the last couple of years and said he sent a copytoCrown-Indigenous Relations MinisterMarc Millerin February.

"I want the federal government to apologize for the economic racism and the cultural genocide that they did to the people," said Nevin, 73.

Thepolicy of centralizationmoved the First Nations populationsinto centralized reserves like Eskasoni, Elsipogtog, Sitansisk and Sipekne'katik.

Nevin saidhe heard first-hand stories from over 20 survivors about the conditions they were forced to endure because of centralization.

He saidhis family was forced to move from Saint John, N.B., to Sipekne'katik.This all happened before his birth, but Nevinsaidthe move forced his father from hisestablished job and home, to a community without the resources to handle the influx of people.

He said at the timeMi'kmaq worked in every sector of the economy except for white collar jobs. They were hunting, trapping, fishing and harvesting lumberand earning incomes for their families.

Therewaslittle workin the new communities and in order for people to leave the reserves, they needed permission from the Indian Agent. Nevin saidthisled to cultural lossbecause families were now separated from their lands.

The new houses familieswere promised were shoddy and often built using green lumber. He saidsome survivors rememberonce they were boarded onto buses to be transported to the centralized communities, their old homes were torched.

"We can't return to what we once were and I hold the federal government responsible for that," said Nevin.

Apology isn't enough, says author

Daniel N. Paul, 83, is a columnist and author of We Were Not the Savages.Hewas born in Sipekne'katikduring the time of centralization. Paul saidthe communities were often poverty and disease stricken so he fled to Boston when he was 14.

He's spent most of his life researching policies and documentation from Indian Agents to understand what happened tohis people.

"At the time the Canadian government was hell bent and determined to exterminate the Indigenous people of Canada," said Paul.

On his website, he details how First Nationspeoplewere seen as a problem and centralization was an attempt to make the Indian Agents' jobs easier. Instead oftracking families in theirtraditionallands, the agents just had to go to the reserves.

Paul said centralization caused a lot of harm for both the Mi'kmaq and Wolastoqey, and an apology isn't enough. He wants a class-action lawsuit.

"I can't understand why there's no movement on that issue," said Paul.

Crown-Indigenous Relationsdid not respond to requests for comment by time of publication.