In the fall of 2021, a group of Mi’kmaq artists embarked on a remarkable project to recreate a historic Mi’kmaq regalia gifted to Captain Henry Dunn O’Halloran in the early 1840s. This team of artists includes Sgoagani Mye Wecenisqon from Esgenoôpetitj First Nation, Oakley Wysote Gray from Listiguj First Nation, and Ingrid Brooks from Indian Island First Nation—all graduates of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. 

The original regalia was presented to Captain O’Halloran, a member of the 69th Regiment of Foot, who had gathered census information on Mi’kmaq communities along the Miramichi River under the supervision of New Brunswick Indian Commissioner Moses Perley. As an expression of gratitude, O’Halloran was made an honorary Mi’kmaq chief by Chief Joseph Maly Itkobitch and received the ceremonial regalia, believed to have been created by three Mi’kmaq women artists from the Miramichi region, likely in Esgenoôpetitj First Nation. 

We invite you to an evening of storytelling, reflection, and celebration of this important cultural art object and the women whose legacy endures. 

 For more information, click here.