SNHU Agents of Change Podcast · SNHU Social Sciences

Season 3 Episode 12 Learning from Mi’kmaq nation, Nova Scotia, Canada

·29 min·1 clip

The elder's line is simple: 'we have two ears and one mouth.'

1. SNHU's Agents of Change episode on Mi'kmaq restorative practices centers on indigenous roots in Nova Scotia, Canada. 2. Host Laman Tash speaks with Alan, a Mi'kmaq guest, because his community teachings frame the episode's subject. 3. The episode asks what restorative approaches were before modern labels, and what higher education can learn from them. 4. Alan says the Mi'kmaq used oral storytelling, customary law, and talking circles instead of the terms 'restorative justice' or 'restorative model.' 5. He describes grand councils, chiefs, elders, and community members using circles to discuss daily issues and conflict. 6. He says circles were used when someone was harmed or a family was harmed, with outcomes negotiated in community. 7. Alan emphasizes that everyone in the circle carries some accountability when harm has occurred. 8. He contrasts that circle with a criminal justice pyramid, where authority flows from the top down. 9. He explains that talking circles are tied to ceremony, including smudging before a circle starts. 10. He names tobacco, sage, sweet grass, and cedar as the medicines used in smudging. 11. He says tobacco is an offering that thanks the Creator, ancestors, land, skies, Mother Nature, Mother Earth, and Turtle Island. 12. He says sage purifies, sweet grass grows only where salt and fresh water meet, and cedar protects. 13. He adds that an eagle feather may be used because the eagle flies highest to Creator, but another feather or no feather is also acceptable. 14. Alan describes smudging as washing over the head, eyes, ears, mouth, heart, arms, legs, toes, feet, and tummy. 15. He says the process helps remove negative energy and starts the circle in a good way. 16. He later calls restorative practice a 'frame of mind' and a 'way of being' that shapes daily interactions. 17. He argues that higher education can use circles for conflict resolution, conflict prevention, and shared problem-solving. 18. He says institutions are colonial in nature, but they can still create spaces that support needs, voice, and collective solutions. 19. People interested in indigenous teachings, restorative justice, and higher-education conflict resolution would likely value this episode. 20. Listeners wanting a fast entertainment episode with no policy focus may want to skip it.

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