Post by Okwes on Apr 5, 2007 15:04:12 GMT -5
Native woman accepted back into band
By The Canadian Press
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MILLBROOK — A 71-year-old Mi’kmaq woman has been accepted back into her First Nation, more than four decades after having her membership removed due to her marriage to a non-native man.
Nora Bernard has lived a stone’s throw away from the community she was born in, but since 1955 she hasn’t officially been part of it.
Recently, band members voted to grant her that right.
Bernard was 17 when she was married, and lost her status as a resident of the reserve.
When the Indian Act was changed in 1985 she received her status back but not the entry into the band.
She had tried unsuccessfully many times to be voted back onto the reserve, often losing by just a few votes until the recent victory.
"Each time I was three or four votes away and I was getting very discouraged," she said.
She even considered giving up the fight but said the principle of losing the right and the encouragement of elders and family members kept her going.
After so many disappointments, she finally was granted inclusion.
"My feelings are numb. I don’t know how to take it," she said from her living room looking out the side window to the reserve. "They have welcomed me back home but it was a long journey and yet it’s only 37 feet."
The fight has made her stronger, she said, and gives her the push to keep fighting for what is right.
She is the director of the Survivors of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School and has been heavily involved in the fight for compensation for the survivors which is still ongoing.
The Millbrook Band has a plebiscite every five years where new members can be voted in. Bernard was one of four members to received the required votes this year.
By The Canadian Press
ADVERTISEMENT
MILLBROOK — A 71-year-old Mi’kmaq woman has been accepted back into her First Nation, more than four decades after having her membership removed due to her marriage to a non-native man.
Nora Bernard has lived a stone’s throw away from the community she was born in, but since 1955 she hasn’t officially been part of it.
Recently, band members voted to grant her that right.
Bernard was 17 when she was married, and lost her status as a resident of the reserve.
When the Indian Act was changed in 1985 she received her status back but not the entry into the band.
She had tried unsuccessfully many times to be voted back onto the reserve, often losing by just a few votes until the recent victory.
"Each time I was three or four votes away and I was getting very discouraged," she said.
She even considered giving up the fight but said the principle of losing the right and the encouragement of elders and family members kept her going.
After so many disappointments, she finally was granted inclusion.
"My feelings are numb. I don’t know how to take it," she said from her living room looking out the side window to the reserve. "They have welcomed me back home but it was a long journey and yet it’s only 37 feet."
The fight has made her stronger, she said, and gives her the push to keep fighting for what is right.
She is the director of the Survivors of the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School and has been heavily involved in the fight for compensation for the survivors which is still ongoing.
The Millbrook Band has a plebiscite every five years where new members can be voted in. Bernard was one of four members to received the required votes this year.