Mawi’omi ceremony being held at NSCC

Celebrations forge friendship between the college and First Nations

The Nova Scotia Community College in Truro is hosting a traditional Mawi’omi ceremony to celebrate the region’s Mi’kmaq past at the end of this month.

People attending the Jan. 30 event can enjoy traditional dancing, drumming and music at the NSCC’S Sports and Wellness Centre. Organizers are expecting up to 600 guests to attend the Mawi’omi, now in its 12th year.

“The importance of this is we need to acknowledge that we’re on unceded Mi’kmaq territory and without them there’d be no settler population, because they taught the settlers how to survive when they arrived,” said Patrick Colley, who sits on the Mawi’omi organizing committee. “It’s a chance to learn the language and culture along with the traditions that make the Mi’kmaq.”

Colley himself is an African Nova Scotian and felt the Mawi’omi was important for everyone, saying “it’s one of the things that makes the Truro campus the Truro campus.”

In the Mi’kmaq language, the word ‘Mawi’omi’ means ‘gathering’ and is the equivalent of the powwow ceremonies observed by a number of other First Nations in North America.

Such gatherings are more social events than anything else, a chance for students and others to forge new friendships.

For non- First Nations guests, the Mawi’omi is a chance to learn about Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaq heritage, from clothing to food and music.

Among the guests will be students from Truro’s middle and high schools.

“It’s nice to see the effort that NSCC is putting in to strengthen the relationship with Mi’kmaq communities,” said Semisel Stevens, indigenous support worker and student services advisor at the Truro Campus.

The event begins at 11 a.m. on Jan. 30 and all are welcome to attend. People can enjoy some warm-up dances as well as onsite vendors before the Mawi’omi grand entrance, scheduled for 12:30 p.m.