Nora Bernard (September 22, 1935 – December 26, 2007) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

who sought compensation for survivors of the

Canadian Indian residential school system In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school sy ...

. She was directly responsible for what became the largest

class-action lawsuit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...

in Canadian history, representing an estimated 79,000 survivors; the

Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...

settled A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

the lawsuit in 2005 for upwards of 5 billion dollars. In 1945, when Bernard was nine years old, her mother was told that if she did not sign the consent forms to send her children to a residential school, the

child welfare Child protection is the safeguarding of children from violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. Article 19 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provides for the protection of children in and out of the home. One of the ways to e ...

system would take her children into "protective custody"; as a result, Bernard attended the

Shubenacadie Indian Residential School The Shubenacadie Indian Residential School operated as part of Canadian Indian residential school system in Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia between 1930 and 1967. It was the only one in the Maritimes and children from across the region were placed in t ...

for five years. In 1955, she married a non-native man, and consequently lost her legal status under the

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' (, long name ''An Act to amend and consolidate the laws respecting Indians'') is a Canadian act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still ...

; the relevant section of the Indian Act was repealed in 1985, but this did not automatically lead to reinstatement as a band member, and it was not until March 2007 that she was voted back into the

Millbrook First Nation The Millbrook First Nation is a Mi'kmaq First Nation band government in Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provin ...

. In 1995, Bernard began an organization to represent survivors of the Shubenacadie school; she subsequently convince
Halifax lawyer John McKiggan
to represent the Shubenacadie survivors in a class-action suit. After the Shubenacadie suit became public knowledge, many other survivors' associations across Canada filed similar suits; these were eventually amalgamated into one national lawsuit. In McKiggan's words, "(...) if it wasn't for Nora's efforts, and other survivors like her across Canada, this national settlement never would have happened. (...) After we filed our lawsuit, a number of other students from other schools filed similar class actions." In 2005, she testified before the

House of Commons of Canada The House of Commons of Canada (french: Chambre des communes du Canada) is the lower house of the Parliament of Canada. Together with the Crown and the Senate of Canada, they comprise the bicameral legislature of Canada. The House of Common ...

about the abuse children suffered in residential schools: On December 27, 2007, Bernard was found dead in her home in

Truro, Nova Scotia Truro (Mi'kmaq: ''Wagobagitik''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Truru'') is a town in central Nova Scotia, Canada. Truro is the shire town of Colchester County and is located on the south side of the Salmon River floodplain, close to the river's mouth at ...

; although she was originally thought to have died of natural causes, on December 31, police arrested her grandson James Douglas Gloade and charged him with her murder. She had been stabbed to death. On January 23, 2009, Gloade was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In 2008 Bernard was posthumously awarded the

Order of Nova Scotia The Order of Nova Scotia (french: Ordre de la Nouvelle-Écosse) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Instituted on August 2, 2001, when Lieutenant Governor Myra Freeman granted Royal Assent to the Order of Nova ...

. In December 2022, Halifax council voted to rename Cornwallis Street, in the city's north end, after Nora Bernard. The neighbouring Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre and

New Horizons Baptist Church New Horizons Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Halifax, Nova Scotia that was established by Black Refugees in 1832. When the chapel was completed, black citizens of Halifax were reported to be proud because it was evidence that former slaves ...

had earlier called on council to rename the street, which commemorated

Edward Cornwallis Edward Cornwallis ( – 14 January 1776) was a British career military officer and was a member of the aristocratic Cornwallis family, who reached the rank of Lieutenant General. After Cornwallis fought in Scotland, putting down the Jacobi ...

, a British governor who sought to drive the Mi'kmaq out of the

Nova Scotia peninsula The Nova Scotia peninsula is a peninsula on the Atlantic coast of North America. Location The Nova Scotia peninsula is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada and is connected to the neighbouring province of New Brunswick through the Isth ...

and proclaimed that a bounty would be paid for the scalps of Mi'kmaw people. Halifax council convened a special committee to advise on the matter of municipal assets commemorating Cornwallis. The task force recommended renaming the street. "Nora Bernard Street" topped a public poll of potential new street names.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard, Nora 1935 births 2007 deaths 20th-century First Nations people 21st-century First Nations people Canadian activists Canadian women activists Members of the Order of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq people People murdered in Nova Scotia Sipekneꞌkatik First Nation 20th-century Canadian women

See also

References