Welcome to our story
The Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society is a non-profit, board governed, and a charitable organization that currently operates over sixty-five core programs. It is one of one hundred and twenty-six Friendship Centres across Canada and opened its doors on September 17th, 1973. The society was incorporated on June 2nd, 1975.
The mission of the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre is to provide structured, social-based programming for Urban Indigenous People, while serving as a focal point for the urban Indigenous community, to gather for a variety of community functions and events.
About Us
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To improve the lives of Indigenous peoples living in an urban environment through social and cultural programming.
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The Society strives to provide all services and programs in a context that acknowledges the rich artistic and spiritual traditions of our people, so as to facilitate cultural knowledge transfer in an urban Indigenous environment. The Society has an open-door policy with all of our programs making our services available to all people.
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The Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society creates an environment of inclusiveness, openness, transparency and accountability.
We value our culture and are committed to working in a respectful way that is responsive to the needs of our community and fosters their active participation in everything we do.
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• To operate our Friendship Centre for the use and benefit of Indigenous peoples
• To assist Indigenous peoples to adjust to an urban environment
• To promote the educational, cultural and economic advancement of Indigenous peoples
• To assist in locating shelter for Indigenous peoples in the Halifax/Dartmouth Regional area
• To encourage the active participation of Indigenous peoples in all aspects of society
• To create mutual understanding and positive relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples
• To work with government and other organizations with similar aims to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples.
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The Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society has identified the following priority areas as being of greatest strategic importance to the organization over the next four years:
Program and Services
To offer a diverse and integrated selection of programs and services that are responsive to the physical, emotional, spiritual and cultural needs of Indigenous peoples in an urban environment.
Human Resources
To build the human resource capacity necessary to effectively and efficiently fulfill the Society’s mission and mandate.
Facilities
To have a healthy, safe and secure facility that meets the needs of the community and supports the delivery of programs.
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Tony Thomas • President
Roger Lewis • Vice-President
Dave Ladouceur • Treasurer
Aiden Gillis
Brian Blue
Chief Deborah Robinson
Miranda Pierro
Paula Marshall
Raymond Sewell
Valerie Armstrong
Yolanda Pennell
Our History
During the 1950s, there was a large number of First Nations People migrating to urban centres. Because of the negative transition problems that most were encountering, a plan to establish urban Native Friendship Centres was formulated. The federal government, acting in partnership with First Nations Peoples, searched for a proactive way to help Natives deal with the onerous task of adjusting themselves to a foreign social environment.
At the end of the 1950s, with the opening of Centres in Vancouver and Winnipeg, the Friendship Centre dream was a reality. These provided the prototypes for future Centres across the country. Halifax’s Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Center opened its Harris Street doors on September 17, 1973. Since then, it has moved twice and currently resides at 2021 Brunswick Street, suite 209.
