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New Cape Breton Campground Honours Acadian And Mi'kmaq Ties

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By Jennifer Bain - May 14th, 2022

The name of the new campground at Cape Breton Highlands honours Acadian and Mi'kmaq ties.

The name of the new campground at Cape Breton Highlands honours Acadian and Mi'kmaq ties/Parks Canada

Cape Breton Highlands National Park’s new campground — Terrain de Camping Cap-Rouge / Mkwesaqtuk Campground — will be the first French and Mi'kmaw facility name in the Nova Scotia park.

Reservations have just launched for bookings beginning July 1 for 47 walk-in sites, including five oTENTiks. The front-country campground boasts coastal camping with treed nooks to create a feeling of remoteness and privacy.

An August 2015 flash flood triggered breaches in the Chéticamp River watershed, causing significant damage to the Chéticamp campground. After a hydrology study examined the risk of future flood events, Parks Canada closed the lower Chéticamp campground and decided to relocate the site. The Trout Brook (Ruisseau des Maurice) day-use area was then chosen as the new campground location.

As construction nears completion, Parks Canada has worked in partnership with La Société Saint-Pierre and the Parks Canada-Unama'ki Advisory Committee to choose a name that will encourage Canadians to learn about the full scope of their shared history. The name honours Indigenous connections to this region and commemorates the Acadian peoples who were expropriated for the creation of the park in 1936.

The new campground opens July 1.

The new campground opens July 1/Parks Canada

Mkwesaqtuk is a Mi'kmaq word that describes a place or feature that distinctly changes to red. This Mi'kmaq expression once described the coastal area on the western side of the park that Acadians later called Cap-Rouge. “The French and Mi'kmaw names capture the intent and spirit of Etuaptamumk, also known as the Two-Eyed Seeing approach, which combines Mi’kmaq and Western perspectives,” says Parks Canada in a news release.

The collaborative naming process honours the history of the location, and offers opportunities for celebrating Mi'kmaq and Acadian cultural and linguistic connections.

"The Mi'kmaq are the first people of this land, and have been here, in present-day Nova Scotia, since time immemorial,” says Chief Wilbert Marshall, Lead, Culture, Heritage & Archaeology Portfolios for the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq Chiefs. “We are proud of our history and culture and we want to share it.”

The name represents the past, present and future of this national park, explains Mike Kelloway, Member of Parliament for Cape Breton-Canso. He calls the new campground “a valuable addition to the Cape Breton Island tourism recovery this season.”

There are five oTENTiks at the new campground.

There are five oTENTiks at the new campground/Parks Canada

Napoléon Chiasson is president of La Société Saint-Pierre, a local organization that promotes and preserves Acadian culture and language in the Chéticamp area. He says the expropriation of Acadian families from the area of the park shaped the lives of many families and descendants who are still living in the Chéticamp area.

“The expropriation experience is a painful part of our shared history though it is only one story,” says Chiasson. “The partnership with Parks Canada is an important step toward healing and an opportunity to tell a larger Acadian story through the creation of this new campground.”

Cape Breton Highlands boasts hiking, cycling, swimming and ocean kayaking. Friendly fishing villages dot the park's edges.

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