Mi'kmaw youth archaeology camp

Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site

Kwe (Hello)! Welcome to Elapultimk, a camp for Mi’kmaw youth aged 9 to 16 to learn about archaeology and Mi’kmaw heritage, held at Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site. New this year: the camp is a weeklong, overnight camp!

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Elapultimk – "looking toward" or "looking forward to"

Come join us at Elapultimk for a fun and educational adventure! Kids will have fun outdoors and get their hands dirty searching for artifacts. They’ll be immersed in the amazing Indigenous cultural landscape with a visit to the petroglyphs, swimming in the lake, a canoe trip, and learning about Mi’kmaw culture from Mi’kmaw counsellors, archaeologists, and Elders. Kids will receive free camp swag like t-shirts, hoodies, and hats.

2024 applications are now closed

Wela'lioq/thank you to everyone who applied to Elapultimk, our archaeology camp for Mi'kmaw youth. We had an incredible amount of interest in this year's camp and applications are now closed.

We hope to run Elapultimk again next summer.

Dates and times

July 14 to 19: ages 9 to 12

July 21 to 26: ages 13 to 16

There is a maximum of 20 participants per week, Monday to Friday.

Cost

Admission is free for Mi’kmaw youth and includes:

all food and program supplies
round trip transportation from regional Mi’kmaw communities
space nearby for families to camp while their child attends Elapultimk

Activities

Each day will include archaeology – digging at a real dig site under the guidance of professional archaeologists and Mi’kmaw counsellors – and an educational program or adventure.

Sunday

Arrival from 1 pm to 3 pm
Waltes and campfire

Monday

Archaeology, swimming, tour, waltes, and campfire
Medicine workshop with Jill Francis

Tuesday

Archaeology, swimming, waltes, and campfire
Drum bag making with Cherry Whynot

Wednesday

Canoe camping trip to Ritchie Island
Swimming and campfire
Turtle tracking with the Earth Keepers

Thursday

Canoeing and campfire
Birch Bark Canoe workshop with Todd Labrador
Drum making with Emily Roberts
Traditional Feast with Sam Purdy and Abel Stevens

Friday

Archaeology, swimming, and petroglyph tour
Departure from 1 pm to 3 pm

Camp leaders 2024

Camp supervision and educational programming will be provided by an impressive team of Mi’kmaw counsellors, artisans, Earth Keepers, and Elders.

More details
Name	Role	Profession	Nation
Ella Stevens	Camp Co-ordinator	Parks Canada	Acadia First Nation
Jess O’Halloran	Head counsellor	Archaeology student at Dalhousie University	Glooscap First Nation
Jonah Bartlett	Counsellor	Traditional Harvesting Knowledge Holder	Acadia First Nation
Gordon Pictou	Activities counsellor	Mi’kmaq cultural coach at CCRCE	Millbrook First Nation
Grey O’Halloran	Activities counsellor	Grade 12 student	Glooscap First Nation
Emily Roberts	Archaeology counsellor	Indigenous Support and Outreach Coordinator at the University of King's College	Millbrook First Nation
Anastasia Nevin	Earth Keeper	CMM student	Bear River First Nation
Jordyn Duffney	Lifeguard	Kinesiology student at Acadia First Nation	Qalipu First Nation
Debbie Wray Nickerson	Cook	Cook	Acadia First Nation
Jodi Howe	Archaeology team	Mi’kmaq researcher/archaeologist	Sipekne’katik First Nation
Kamden Nicholas	Archaeology team	MDCC cultural associate with collections	Pictou Landing First Nation
Kait MacLean	Archaeology team	Law student at Dalhousie University and Mi’kmaq underwater archeologist	Millbrook First Nation

More information

Kejimkujik-Mikmaw-Camp@pc.gc.ca

Collaborative archaeology

This pilot project is part of the Kejimkujik collaborative archaeology program, involving the joint efforts of Parks Canada and the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia.