Meeting Mi'kmaw Knowledge Holder Shawn Feener

Shared Ground

During the waning of the Berry Ripening Moon, as it is called in the Mi’kmaw culture, I had the pleasure and honour of meeting Shawn Feener.

In this episode, Shawn introduces the moons of this time of year and how they relate to understanding animals and plants throughout the seasons, and about some of the relationships in the forest. He also talks about the importance of school students learning about Mi’kmaw culture and, in fact, all cultures, and becoming comfortable with cultural diversity. Shawn shares about Netukulimk, a way of living, and about how there can be differences in Mi’kmaw teachings from different communities, how all teachings are rooted in respect, and about the tolerance of Mi’kmaw people to hold these differences and a way that doesn’t designate right or wrong.

Shawn Feener is a Mi'kmaw knowledge holder and a conservationist. He has worked in the conservation field for many years as a fish biologist, and has recently entered the education field. Shawn has lived close Pijinuiskaq or the Lahave River his whole life and has had the pleasure of working with some of the beings that call Pijinuiskaq home. He completed a diploma in Wildlife Conservation at Holland College in Prince Edward Island, a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Management at the University of New Brunswick, and is currently working on a Bachelor of Education at St. FX in Nova Scotia.

Shawn and I met in the Sipekne'katik district of Mi’kma’ki, and the episode production occurred just across the river in the Kesputwik district. This is the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi'kmaq.

RESOURCES:

Moon phases online resource: "Time and Date"

Mi’kmaw Moons facebook page

Other podcasts of interest, mentioned in this episode:

"Below the Canopy" by Community Forests International

"Elder Voices", through How We Thrive

Both of these limited series podcasts are available through all major streaming platforms.