NL First Nations

About Miawpukek

Miawpukek Mi’kamawey Mawi’omi is a First Nation Reserve that can be found nestled at the mouth of the Conne River, deep in the South Coast of Newfoundland & Labrador.

Miawpukek Reserve was established according to traditional oral history in 1870. It was officially designated as Samiajij Miawpukek Indian Reserve under the Indian Act in 1987

The current membership is 822 on-Reserve and 2238 off-Reserve persons. For more information on this Reserve, I encourage you to follow their social media.

Personal Engagement

Last July, my family and I have the distinct honor to attend the 2024 Pow Wow in Conne River. It was a beautiful day filled with traditional dances, drumming and craft work. I already can’t wait to attend again. I truly believe everyone should go to at least one Pow Wow in their lifetime. The display of respect to a culture, that most of us are ignorant to I might add, is altering.

Over the past several years, my family has expanded our knowledge and engagement in my Husband’s Indigenous ancestry. My husband is Ojibway and is rooted to Mississauga First Nation, Ontario. During our many visits to the area, we have had the privileges of watching our Nieces dance, see Elder’s honored in traditional ceremonies and even witnessed our daughter take her first steps near the arbor.

 To me, it is both fascinating and heartbreaking in all the same breath. 

With all this spectacular beauty comes, also, a thick layer of darkness. The history of Indigenous life in Canada, and even Newfoundland & Labrador, flickers with grim moments. The Missing & Murdered Women & Girls, the Residential Schools, the many failed agreements with the ‘white man’. I implore you to educate yourself on these topics. The smoke of these flickering, dark, moments still linger. This was not so long ago.