Our History
In 1976 Grand Chief Donald Marshall Sr. helped turn the sod for the construction of the College of Cape Breton, and in doing so, he symbolically laid the cornerstone for establishing a home for Mi鈥檏maw students’ post-secondary education.
In 1980 the first Mi鈥檏maw students attended the College, and in each successive year, Mi鈥檏maw students continue to come to study and graduate.
In the 1980s, Indigenous faculty members Sr. Dorothy Moore and Murdena Marshall worked with Dr. Stephanie Inglis, Dr. Charles Mac Donald Humanities Department chair, to establish Native Studies courses at what was now the University College of Cape Breton (UCCB).聽 Increasing Indigenous student enrollment and led to the development and creation of an academic Concentration and Major in the discipline of Mi鈥檏maq Studies.
In the 1990s, Mi鈥檏maq Studies faculty joined the Department of Heritage and Culture.聽 This 鈥淢i鈥檏maq Initiative鈥� of the early 1990s was conceived by the late Grand Keptin, Alexander Denny in consultation with the Union of Nova Scotia Indians, Mi鈥檏maw communities, educators, and students, to create a Mi鈥檏maq Studies program to provide services for the students, and blend Mi鈥檏maw ways of knowing into the university curriculum.
With the addition of new department members, Eleanor Johnson and Joe B. Marshall, and with the assistance of Mi鈥檏maq language specialists from the 福利免费在线看, the academic discipline of Mi鈥檏maq Studies courses were set in two streams: language/culture and governance/history.
In 1998, UCCB established the Mi鈥檏maq College Institute (MCI) to broaden the offering of Mi鈥檏maq and Indigenous courses, programming and support at the university.聽 That year also saw the opening of the L’nu Resource Centre (LRC) as a repository of academic and research documents related to Mi鈥檏maw history, culture, tradition, and language.
One of the proudest milestones in Mi鈥檏maw education was the development of the Integrative Science program and Dr. Cheryl Bartlett鈥檚聽2002 Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Integrative Science based on the collaborative efforts of Dr. Bartlett and Murdena and Albert Marshall.
By July 1, 2010, the MCI had evolved into Unama鈥檏i College, aiming to enhance Mi鈥檏maw educational opportunities at CBU. Also, to broaden its horizon as it reaches out to Indigenous students nationally and internationally.
To fulfill this mandate, the Department of Indigenous Studies was formed. It offers Mi鈥檏maq Studies and Integrative Science/ Toqqa鈥檛u鈥檏i Kjijitaqnn courses, many of them in Mi鈥檏maw communities.聽 These “In-Community” courses have expanded to include offerings across Mi’kma’ki, providing more Mi’kmaq students with access to post-secondary education.
Also, in 2010, Dr. Keith Brown was named the first occupant of the Purdy Crawford Chair. 聽The chair promotes interest among Canada鈥檚 Indigenous peoples studying business at the post-secondary level, and undertakes pure and applied research specific to Indigenous communities. The Chair will focus attention and research efforts on the Membertou Business Model, Unama鈥檏i Partnership Model, and national and international comparative business analysis.
May 1, 2012, saw the official opening of the primary centre for Mi鈥檏maq language research at CBU, the Kji-Keptin Alexander Denny L鈥檔ui鈥檚ultimkeweyo鈥檏uon, under the direction of linguist Dr. Stephanie Inglis.聽 In conjunction with Mi鈥檏maw Kina鈥檓atnewey (MK) and the Nova Scotia Department of Education, the lab has as its mandate Mi鈥檏maq linguistic research and development and delivery of language courses for non/semi-speakers of Mi鈥檏maq.
The collaborative partnership between Mi鈥檏maw communities and Unama鈥檏i College has developed a successful model for Indigenous post-secondary education in Canada.聽 The graduation of over 1000 Indigenous students has established Unama鈥檏i College as a provider of quality post-secondary education and support for the next generation of Indigenous leaders.
Unama’ki College continues to support all Indigenous students under the leadership of Dean Laurianne Sylvester, a Mi’kmaw woman, mother, and kiju from Membertou First Nation. Laurianne has a deep background in Western education and leadership and her traditional learnings and 福利免费在线看 knowledge to draw upon as she leads the organization into the future.
