Feather Story

Kwe! I had promised to post the story behind the feather design we use here at First Nations Storytellers. When I decided on walking down this road I wanted to make sure our logo was something meaningful.  It was always going to be a feather but I was not happy with just that.

It occurred to me that the lands I was going to be operating in were the traditional unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik and I am a Mi’kmaw.  I have lived here at the headwaters of the Wolastoq since 2001 and since my mission was to bring awareness and appreciation of our Indigenous cultures to the greater Saint John area, a place that was lacking in this exposure, I felt I had to make sure all our Nations were represented.   

In New Brunswick, there are 16 of our communities.  Our feather is comprised of 16 sections that represent each community.  The sizes approximate the relative size of those communities by population.

Not every community in New Brunswick are the same Nation, so I changed the colours to represent them.  The golden colour (as the tip of the feather) represents the Mi’kmaq that live in 9 communities.  The brown colour represents the Wolastoqiyik (6 communities) and the single reddish segment are our Peskotomuhkati friends.

There are about 50 different nations across Canada, not to mention the many distinct nations in the United States. Take some time to discover what Nations whose land you are on and learn their names.  Then, once you learn their names, learn how to say it, how to spell it and honour them by using it.

Most are not aware of the number of distinct cultures and languages that exist across Turtle Island and I hope that I have had some success in opening up your mind, just a little, to learn more.  Storytelling matters.