A ceremony held at the Wikuom on the Mount Saint Vincent University campus on Monday, July 8, 2019 marked the start of the 2019 NSERC PromoScience Two-Eyed Seeing Day Camp. This is the second annual camp; the first camp took place this time last year (July of 2018). The campers are youth who just completed grades 7 to 9, from Sipekne'katik and Pictou Landing First Nations.
Guided by the principle of Two-Eyed Seeing (Etuaptmumk) and the knowledge and experience of a diversity of knowledge keepers and elders, the camp includes activities developed using teachings from Western and Indigenous Science. A team of Mount students worked closely with Dr. Shannan Grant (originally from Unama'ki/Cape Breton, Department of Applied Human Nutrition, MSVU), Ann Sylliboy (of Eskasoni, Unama'ki, Post Secondary Consultant, Mi'kmaw Kina'matnewey), Velvet Paul (Director of Education, Sipekne'katik), Sheila Francis (Director of Education, Pictou Landing) and countless others to develop the camp curriculum.
Chelsey Purdy was one of those students. A fourth-year Applied Human Nutrition undergraduate student and Dietetic Intern, Chelsey is a camp counselor and completed her honours thesis on camp quality assurance. The opportunity to work on this initiative has been a learning experience for her, too. "This has given me a chance to build relationships with and learn from our community partners," she noted. "As a member of Acadia First Nation, this camp has helped me expand my community; I now have strong relationships all over Mi kma ki."
