For Daniel Paul, a Mi’kmaq elder, an old piece of offensive and outdated legislation is on his mind, and he’s urging both the federal government and the Nova Scotia legislature to hear him out.
The elder is calling for a proclamation passed in 1756, by the then-commander and governor of the British colony of Nova Scotia, to be officially repealed.
READ MORE: Nova Scotia premier to apologize to Mi’kmaq for ‘conquered’ people law brief
Charles Lawrence had issued a bounty for the scalps of any Mi’kmaq men. Despite his later decision to end hostilities against the Indigenous People of the colony and establish treaties, the original scalping proclamation was never repealed.
It’s something that Paul says needs to be done.
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“I can’t understand, OK? Really, I can’t understand. Don’t make any sense to me. They can come forward and do it without any effort whatsoever. We’re not looking for any kind of compensation for it or anything. All we’re looking for is a simple apology and revoke it,” he said.
In 2000, the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly passed a resolution calling the proclamation “repugnant and offensive,” and also asking the federal government to confirm the status of the proclamation.
WATCH: Mi’kmaq say Treaty Day in Nova Scotia now about celebration
In an email to Global News, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada says the treaties made the scalping proclamation inoperative.
“It has no force or effect in law… the Proclamation is not a law in Canada and as such, Canada could not repeal it,” they wrote.
But that’s not good enough for Paul.
“The fact is, it’s still there, and as long as it’s still there, it’s an irritant, and why keep it?” he says.
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