On November 22, 2024, after several years of planning, including extensive community engagements across Mi’kma’ki, the Kinu Tourism Project will celebrate the launch of its first Indigenous student cohort, as well as the public release of their related research report titled Charting a Course Kinu (Together): Identifying Facilitators and Barriers to Participation of Indigenous Students in Post-Secondary Tourism Education Programs in Atlantic Canada. Kinu is a Mi’kmaw word, meaning inclusive of/us/everyone.
The Kinu Tourism Project was developed by Indigenous community leaders and representatives from MSVU’s Tourism and Hospitality Management Program to increase Indigenous access to post-secondary tourism education via an Indigenous student cohort (believed to be the first of its kind in the country) and support the growth of the Indigenous tourism sector in Mi’kma’ki. The project also aims to preserve Mi’kmaw culture, history, and traditions, as well as integrate Indigenous knowledge into MSVU’s Tourism and Hospitality Management curriculum for all students.
The project is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Sectoral Initiatives Program.
All are welcome to join in this event.
Note to media: Interviews with Kinu Tourism Project leaders and participants are welcome at the event or can be arranged to take place in advance of November 22.
Where: Fred and Elizabeth Fountain Atrium in the Margaret Norrie McCain Centre for Teaching, Learning and Research at MSVU [campus map – building 1]
When: 11 a.m. to noon on Friday, November 22, 2024
Presenters will include:
- Elder Cathy Martin
- Bradley Paul, Kinu Tourism Project Coordinator
- Davina Bernard, Student in the Kinu Tourism cohort
- Jordynn Bernard, Kinu Administrative Assistant
- Kelsie Johnston, Kinu Tourism Project Manager
- Jennifer Guy, Kinu Tourism Project Co-Lead
There will be Mi’kmaw music and dancing, featuring Sacred Flight, Jesse Benjamin, and Noel Julian, as well as Mi’kmaw craft and artist vendors starting at 9:30 a.m.
The research to be shared on November 22 was rooted in Etuaptmumk, (Two-Eyed Seeing), a concept coined by Elders Murdena and Albert Marshal which supports inclusion of both Indigenous and Western ways of knowing. The research report makes recommendations on how to advance post-secondary tourism education for Indigenous students, from student recruitment to graduation and beyond.
MSVU is located in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), part of Mi’kma’ki, the unceded ancestral territory which remains the homeland of the Mi’kmaq.
Media contact:
Gillian Batten
Director, Communications
Mount Saint Vincent University
902-441-0505
gillian.batten@msvu.ca