Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey
While many Indigenous communities and community organizations in Canada are still working toward this ideal, Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey (MK), a collective of Mi’kmaw communities in Nova Scotia, stands out as a unique example of the vision fulfilled.
About the Innovation
In contrast to dominant Eurocentric school systems and in the devastating aftermath of Indian Residential Schools, Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, a collective of 12 Mi’kmaq communities in Nova Scotia, has emerged as an education authority that is community-based and Mi’kmaq led. Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey has achieved this through collaborative governance, effective planning, strategic influence and transformative Mi’kmaq teacher education. The result has been an enabling environment for Mi’kmaq culture, language, and identity to thrive, all while achieving educational outcomes which far exceed national averages for on reserve and off reserve education.
About the Innovator
The achievements of Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey are captured in a quote from the Handbook of Indigenous Education (2019), “In 2010, the Assembly of First Nations renewed the call for First Nations Control of First Nations Education, a vision they first laid out nearly 40 years before. While many Indigenous communities and community organizations in Canada are still working toward this ideal, Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey (MK), a collective of Mi’kmaw communities in Nova Scotia, stands out as a unique example of the vision fulfilled. With high school graduation rates that range from 85% to 90% annually – more than double the graduation rate for Aboriginal students in the rest of the country – MK is undoubtedly the most successful Aboriginal Education system in Canada.” The result has been an enabling environment for Mi’kmaq culture, language, and identity to thrive, all while achieving educational outcomes which far exceed national averages for on reserve and off reserve education. In 2019 the federal government recognized the Mi’kmaq community for leading the country on Indigenous education by signing a 10-year education agreement worth $600 million. Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett said the “amazing success” can be attributed to the 1997 creation of the Mi’kmaw education authority. “When we come together to celebrate the success of MK, we are actually setting an example for the country — and for the world.”
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