Originally written in 2023, updated with new reflections.
I recently learned something that really shifted how I experience one of my favourite places: Point Pleasant Park: where I live, work, play, and offer nature-informed therapy sessions and group workshops. I learned that this park was originally called Amntu’kati, meaning “place for spirits” in Mi’kmaq.
Before colonization (pre-contact), ALL Mi’kmaw people in Atlantic Canada and surrounding areas would gather in Point Pleasant Park for a full week during the first full moon in Spring EVERY YEAR. It wasn’t a park, it was a sacred space for connection, ceremony, and community.
Like many Indigenous nations, the Mi’kmaq protected this land fiercely. Colonization brought violence, disease, and displacement, and while treaties were eventually signed, there was never real compensation for what was taken. Holding that reality matters to me in my work.
It deepens how I think about connection to land, not as something new or trendy, but something that’s always been known and practiced. I’m not trying to take that on as my own, just to acknowledge it with respect.
I’m grateful to live, work, and facilitate on Mi’kmaw land, and to keep learning how to do that with care.