Msit No'kmaq (m-sit no-guh-ma), according to the Mi'kmawey Debert Cultural Centre means:

“All my relations” and when Mi’kmaw people say “msit no’kmaq,” it is a way of saying “I understand that we are all related and I am grateful to be tied together in spirit with animals, plants and all living beings.” Many Mi’kmaq use this phrase during ceremonies to honour and thank the Creator for all life is the Mi’kmaw idea for interconnectedness.

It is tied to Netukulimk (neh-doo-guh-lim-k), which:

Is gathering what we need from the world around us to feed, clothe, shelter and do all the things we need to do to take care of ourselves. But, netukulimk also means that we take care of ourselves without harming the environment around us. In a Mi’kmaw worldview animals, plants and people are all related and we must respect those relationships.

I live in the Mi’kmaw territory (Mi’kma’ki) of Nova Scotia, and in this newsletter I want to dive in a little to First Nations culture and heritage in Canada. September 30 is National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and Orange Shirt Day (every child matters) in Canada. The day honours residential school survivors, their families, and communities, and recognizes the lasting impacts of Canada’s Residential School system.

Flashback (TW)

Several years ago in the Vancouver area, my place of work had an Orange Shirt Day event on campus. I walked over with a friend, both of us wearing orange shirts, and listened to a residential school survivor who recounted sexual abuse as a child. He’d been continually abused by an instructor who also gave swimming lessons.

In his world, the ocean had become an unsafe place. As the man recounted this memory, he had tears in his eyes, as by now those of us in his audience also did. As I do now, thinking of it. He said it took him a long time to feel safe in the ocean. He now was an older man who had since learned to embrace the ocean, but it took a long time. I’ll never forget that fall day and the emotions in that hall where he spoke.

Film of the month

At the Place of Ghosts, directed and written by Bretten Hannam, is a moving, bittersweet film that submerges the viewer into a journey through time as two Mi'kmaw brothers face an abusive moment from their past, when their father asks one brother to “shoot the fruit”…to kill his gay brother. What happens next is a nightmarish event that the brothers carry to their adulthood. When the father’s ghost begins to appear as decaying and covered with leaves, they navigate a river back to that one dark day in order begin to break free. Their journey highlights the heritage of all things connecting. Highly recommended.

World ecofiction series

This month I reboot my interview with Waubgeshig Rice, an author and journalist from Wasauksing First Nation. We talked about his novel Moon of the Crusted Snow, but since then the sequel, Moon of the Turning Leaves, has also been published.

When I asked Waub about environmental preservation being important for the Anishinaabe and most Indigenous peoples around the world, he replied, “When all our modern luxuries and infrastructures collapse, it’s the land that will sustain us, so it’s important to maintain a good relationship with it. That’s what I learned growing up in my home community, and it’s fairly natural for me to adapt those worldviews into my fiction writing.”

Other First Nations art & writing pieces

See Ecology Action Centre’s spring 2024 magazine, where I talked with Mi’kmaw author Tiffany Morris and artist Quentin Little Wolf Syliboy.

Tiffany had recently published her swampcore novel Green Fuse Burning. She said, “As an L’nu’skw (Mi’kmaw woman), land is everything. I feel very privileged to live in the place of my ancestors and to walk on the same land they did, even if it looks quite different than it did throughout their lifetimes.” She holds the sacredness of the land close and loves to explore the many forests, waters, and wild places of Nova Scotia. You can also read my interview with her.

Quentin developed his own unique art style, tying ancestral art with modern techniques and influences. Quentin paints things in nature, such as bees, hummingbirds, and ravens. He explained one of his paintings of a queen bee, “It’s also a message of humanity’s dependence on Mother Earth. And a beacon of hope. It reflects the hope that we can reconcile with each other as humans, and indeed with all life.”

Read more

• CBC’s 48 books by Indigenous writers to read to understand residential schools

• Queen’s University’s Resources for Decolonizing Your Teaching

• Calgary Public Library’s Award-winning novels by Indigenous authors

• CBC Radio’s 45 books that ‘share stories and truths’ from women and two-spirit Indigenous creators

Participate more

• CBC’s Honour National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with CBC

• Broadcast Dialogue’s A Day To Listen 2026 brings radio stations together for sixth year

• SaintJohn.ca’s Healing Walk

• Moose Jaw’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation event returning to Moose Jaw

• Daily Hive’s 7 Truth and Reconciliation Day events to check out in Metro Vancouver

• CBC’s How to mark National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Hamilton

• Blogto’s 8 Ontario events to attend on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation 2026

Dragonfly’s Indie Corner

This month’s Indie Corner spotlights Canadian author Andie Holman’s new book series, The Laughter of the Sun.

Andie writes contemporary fantasy fiction with sassy female leads and three-chili spice, but the main character is always Nature. The science in her stories is real. She’s an Earth roamer from Bermuda and lived in London and Colorado before nestling in western Canada with her husband and a menagerie of animals. When she’s not writing, she feeds the bees and talks to trees.

Resources

• Rewilding Our Stories: A Discord community where you can find resources, reading, and writing fun in fiction that relates strongly to nature and environment

• Reddit: Rewilding our Stories. A new subreddit that needs your voice and a new moderator.

• Book recommendations: a growing list of recs

• Eco/climate genres: They’re all over the place, and here’s an expanding compendium

• Inspiring and informative author quotes from Dragonfly’s interviews

• List of ecologically focused games

• List of eco/climate films and documentaries

• Eco-fiction links and resources

• Book database: Database of over 1,100 book posts at Dragonfly.eco

• Turning the Tide: The Youngest Generation: Fiction aimed toward children, teens, and young adults

• Indie Corner: The occasional highlight of authors who publish independently

• World Eco-fiction Series: Climate Change and Beyond: This series travels the planet exploring fictional stories close to natural landscapes and wildlife, often with environmental concerns.

• Artists & Climate Change. This site is no longer being updated but still has a wealth of info. I was a core writer for their team, and I’m both honored and grateful. Look for my “Wild Authors” series there.