Mi'kmawey Mawio'mi: Changing roles of the Mi'kmaq Grand Council from the early seventeenth century to the present

The Mi'kmawey Mawio'mi or Mi'kmaq Grand Council is a spiritual and political body of the Mi'kmaq of the Atlantic provinces. It is an aboriginal construct governing the Mi'kmaq people and remains salient to Mi'kmaq culture and society today. This thesis explores the changing roles of the Grand Council historically from colonization to the implementation of the Indian Act. Today the Grand Council is experiencing a resurgence in its importance to Mi'kmaq national identity and distinctiveness. As the Mi'kmaq move toward self-government, the nature of the Council is pivotal to understanding the construction of Mi'kmaq political, spiritual, and social identity. How the Mi'kmaq negotiate their public identity and presence is analysed through a theoretical framework of identity formation and invented tradition. The Council is a fluid and dynamic structure which is constantly enduring the pressures of authentication. The Grand Council is confronted with new political and spiritual roles and responsibilities. It is in a transformative process allowing for a diversity of interpretations of those roles as the Mi'kmaq people strive to create an identity best suited to their needs.