Feast (Wi'kapaltimk Aqtapuk) is an ancient
Mi'kmaw Feast. It was celebrated shortly after the first new moon
of Punamuiku's(January) Mid-winter was the end of the year and the
start of the new ceremonial year for the ancient Mi'kmaq.
The Mid-winter Feast purpose was the presentation of thanksgiving
to all the spiritual forces, especially to the Great spirit, for
the blessings of life, health, and sustenance and the privilages
of social life." 2* Our ancestors had elaborate celebrations and this
being their main one, it was most likely celebrated by speeches, dances
rituals and fasting.
The Mid-winter feast was re-newed by Lillian B. Marshall in Chapel Island in 1989 as a result
of supporting and showing our appreciation for our hunters who risked
prosecution by joining the illegal moose hunt in the Cape Breton Highlands on September 17, 1988 that was staged by the Union of Nova Scotia
Indians. The Union was protesting the lack of government action in
settling treaty rights disputes, claiming a right to do so under the
treaty of 1752. 3*
The Feast has continued to the present day. It consists of a one day
thanksgiving celebration with mass at the Chapel and a big meal with
traditional mi'kmaw food and entertainment afterwards. It's held on a
Sunday following the first new moon of January.
Chapel Island Mission
There is an historical island off the Chapel Island
Reserve in the Bras D'or Lakes. It has been a meeting place
for the Mi'kmaq of the maritime provinces since time
immemorial. The island has been called by different names.
It was called one name by the French and another by the English,
but to the Mikmaw it was and still is, simply called, Mniku.
(island) It was chosen by Father Maillard missionary, 1735-1762
for his ministry to the Mi'kmaq. He said the first mass on the
island on a boulder in 1742. In the early 1750's he was able to build
a chapel.
Mniku, the little island is the oldest reserve in what was the colony
of Cape Breton island. Mniku became a reserve when Grand Chief Michael
Thomas asked for and was granted a land grant in 1792 by the new provincial
government. The purpose of the grant was so that a new mission church could
be built on the island.
Chapel Island Reserve, Called Barra Head until the name change in 1958
compared to the historic island, is relatively new. It was given it's land
grant in 1834.
There has been an annual mission on Chapel Island (mniku since 1742,
making it the longest continuous mission in Canada. The Present church
on the island is the sixth church, the fifth one burned down on December 11, 1976.
