Mi'kmaw Reflection
So, it’s been 100 years since the enfranchisement of women in Newfoundland.
In 1921 the vote was first extended to property owning women over the age of 25 in St. John’s.
The rest of Newfoundland’s women would be enfranchised in 1925, and, in 1928, got their first chance to vote and run in a general election.
This included Indigenous women. Compared to the history of Indigenous suffrage in the rest of Canada, Newfoundland’s Indigenous women won a major early victory that wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of Armine Nutting-Gosling and like-minded women who led the enfranchisement movement.
And while this was overwhelmingly positive, the legacy of these events becomes a little complicated within Mi’kmaw communities.
As a dominion of the Commonwealth, there were no laws or statutes that explicitly barred Indigenous people in Newfoundland from voting, as long as they met the other criteria.
So, in 1925, Indigenous women essentially gained enfranchisement along with white-settler women.
Meanwhile, in Canada, it wasn’t until 1960 that all Indigenous people, specifically women, were allowed to vote without voluntarily giving up their Indian Status and indigenous identity.
So, we were afforded our rights 35 years before our Canadian counterparts. That’s something to celebrate.
That said, it was partly because of that early enfranchisement that Indigenous people, specifically the Mi’kmaw of the island, were omitted from the Terms of Union during Confederation.
I know that the famous words of Joey Smallwood were that we didn’t exist, but the fact is that our place in Newfoundland was well documented at the time, and it caused a lot of fuss when the Terms were being negotiated.
As early as 1947, there were discussions happening about whether the government of Canada would be responsible for and to the Indigenous communities of its newest province, the way they were in the rest of the country.
The Canadians were concerned that, because we on the island were already enfranchised, it would set a precedent for Indigenous enfranchisement in the rest of the country, specifically Labrador.
Mass indigenous enfranchisement was something they weren’t willing to consider.
So, the official story is that the Mi’kmaw of Newfoundland were left out of the Terms of Union, and therefore ineligible for Indian Status, because the Canadian Government would have been forced to disenfranchise them.
Looking back, considering the erasure of the Mi’kmaw from the history and culture of Newfoundland, the fight for Status recognition under Canadian law, and other struggles faced by our communities… one has to wonder what might be different if our enfranchisement hadn’t been such a sticking point for Canada during Confederation.
After all, no Newfoundlanders voted from 1934 to 1949, after Newfoundland gave up the right to self governance under the Commonwealth.
We were all dressed up in enfranchisement with nowhere to go and no one to vote for.
If Indigenous Newfoundlanders hadn’t gotten the right to vote in 1925, the Canadian government wouldn’t have had such a convenient reason to deny us Status in 1949. And Mi’kmaw women would only have had to wait another 10 years for full federal voting rights.
Would that trade-off have been worth it?
I have to wonder what effect it might have had on our communities if things had turned out differently - for better or worse.
Like I said, it’s complicated.
In 1921 the vote was first extended to property owning women over the age of 25 in St. John’s.
The rest of Newfoundland’s women would be enfranchised in 1925, and, in 1928, got their first chance to vote and run in a general election.
This included Indigenous women. Compared to the history of Indigenous suffrage in the rest of Canada, Newfoundland’s Indigenous women won a major early victory that wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of Armine Nutting-Gosling and like-minded women who led the enfranchisement movement.
And while this was overwhelmingly positive, the legacy of these events becomes a little complicated within Mi’kmaw communities.
As a dominion of the Commonwealth, there were no laws or statutes that explicitly barred Indigenous people in Newfoundland from voting, as long as they met the other criteria.
So, in 1925, Indigenous women essentially gained enfranchisement along with white-settler women.
Meanwhile, in Canada, it wasn’t until 1960 that all Indigenous people, specifically women, were allowed to vote without voluntarily giving up their Indian Status and indigenous identity.
So, we were afforded our rights 35 years before our Canadian counterparts. That’s something to celebrate.
That said, it was partly because of that early enfranchisement that Indigenous people, specifically the Mi’kmaw of the island, were omitted from the Terms of Union during Confederation.
I know that the famous words of Joey Smallwood were that we didn’t exist, but the fact is that our place in Newfoundland was well documented at the time, and it caused a lot of fuss when the Terms were being negotiated.
As early as 1947, there were discussions happening about whether the government of Canada would be responsible for and to the Indigenous communities of its newest province, the way they were in the rest of the country.
The Canadians were concerned that, because we on the island were already enfranchised, it would set a precedent for Indigenous enfranchisement in the rest of the country, specifically Labrador.
Mass indigenous enfranchisement was something they weren’t willing to consider.
So, the official story is that the Mi’kmaw of Newfoundland were left out of the Terms of Union, and therefore ineligible for Indian Status, because the Canadian Government would have been forced to disenfranchise them.
Looking back, considering the erasure of the Mi’kmaw from the history and culture of Newfoundland, the fight for Status recognition under Canadian law, and other struggles faced by our communities… one has to wonder what might be different if our enfranchisement hadn’t been such a sticking point for Canada during Confederation.
After all, no Newfoundlanders voted from 1934 to 1949, after Newfoundland gave up the right to self governance under the Commonwealth.
We were all dressed up in enfranchisement with nowhere to go and no one to vote for.
If Indigenous Newfoundlanders hadn’t gotten the right to vote in 1925, the Canadian government wouldn’t have had such a convenient reason to deny us Status in 1949. And Mi’kmaw women would only have had to wait another 10 years for full federal voting rights.
Would that trade-off have been worth it?
I have to wonder what effect it might have had on our communities if things had turned out differently - for better or worse.
Like I said, it’s complicated.
Leahdawn Helena (she/they/nekm)
Leahdawn Helena is a multidisciplinary Mi'kmaw theatre artist and award winning playwright, with family roots in Nujio'qonik, Ktaqmkuk (Bay St George, Newfoundland).
They hold a BFA in Theatre and a BA in Sociocultural Studies from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Grenfell Campus.
Their first published work, Stolen Sisters (Breakwater Books), explores the life and legacy of Beothuk and Mi'kmaw women, as well as the complications and nuances of Indigenous Newfoundland history.
Leahdawn Helena is a multidisciplinary Mi'kmaw theatre artist and award winning playwright, with family roots in Nujio'qonik, Ktaqmkuk (Bay St George, Newfoundland).
They hold a BFA in Theatre and a BA in Sociocultural Studies from Memorial University of Newfoundland, Grenfell Campus.
Their first published work, Stolen Sisters (Breakwater Books), explores the life and legacy of Beothuk and Mi'kmaw women, as well as the complications and nuances of Indigenous Newfoundland history.
