Your Premier data source for Mi'kmaq FirSt Nations

Explore Our Data

Painting by Loretta Gould

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What is Mawkim?

In Mi'kmaq, the word 'mawkim' means to count and record. The Information Governance & Data Projects (IGDP) office, which is housed at the Union of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq (UNSM), administers data related projects on behalf of all thirteen Nova Scotia First Nation Communities, the two Prince Edward Island First Nation Communities, one First Nation in New Brunswick, and the only land based First Nation Community in Newfoundland. Learn more about which specific communities we serve here.

We support the utilization of this information about our communities with the intention of recording our stories and shaping our future with the things we learn.

This website is an open and free resource to all First Nations people who wish to know more about their communities. We are proud to inform all users that the Information Governance & Data Projects only administers research projects that employ the First Nations principles of OCAP®, which are a set of standards that support First Nations to assert their inherent right to govern their information - this means how our data should be collected, protected, used, or shared.

Learn more about us

Learn about our regional health survey project

The First Nations Regional Health Survey (FNRHS, or RHS for short) is the only First Nations-governed, and on-reserve First Nation specific national health survey in Canada. It collects information about on reserve and northern First Nations communities based on both Western and traditional understandings of health and well-being.

  • The first iteration of the RHS that took place in 1997 is sometimes referred to as the “pilot phase”. It involved both First Nations and Inuit peoples from across Canada. The developers (FNIGC) intended for the RHS to be a longitudinal study, meaning the survey would be completed by the same participating communities and First Nations individuals over 4 cycles. in 2008-10, the RHS removed the longitudinal element for various reasons, and continued with random sampling methods to select communities and First Nations respondents.
  • Data collection for the next round of surveys took place between the Fall of 2002 to mid-2003. This phase of the study is referred to "RHS Phase 1". Nationally, a total of 22,602 surveys were completed in 238 First Nations communities across Canada. In Nova Scotia, 13 First Nations Communities participated with a ____ total number of surveys completed. The response rate for this phase was ___
  • Since the deployment of RHS Phase 1, a second phase (Phase 2) was completed between 2008-2010. A total of 21,757 surveys were collected from 216 First Nations communities.
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Learn about our early childhood, education, and Employment Survey Projects

The First Nations Regional Early Childhood, Education and Employment Survey (FNREEES) builds on the success of the Regional Health Survey (RHS). Much like the RHS, the FNREEES was developed to address the ‘data gap’ by developing a survey that is driven by Western and Aboriginal understandings of well being in the areas of Early Childhood Development, Education and Employment.

  • The survey is to be carried in First Nations communities across 11 provinces and territory – NS, PEI & NF, NB, QC, ON, MB, SK, AB, BC, and YT. Like the RHS, the FNREEES only surveys registered on-reserve First Nations.
  • The UNSM surveyed a total of 13 communities for the FNREEES. 9 of the communities were from Nova Scotia (Acadia, Afton, Chapel Island, Eskasoni, Indianbrook, Membertou, Millbrook, Wagmatcook and Waycobah), 2 from PEI (Abegweit, Lennox Island), 1 from Newfoundland (Miawpukek), and 1 from New Brunswick (Tobique). The sample size for all 13 communities was 2160, compared to a population of over 10,000.
Learn more...

What have We Learned?

We've learned so much about our First Nations communities since our initial pilot projects and first surveys back in 1997. After every new phase of a project, there are always major takeaways that propel us into action, either to protect our citizens, empower our self-governance, or preserve our culture. These outcomes highlight the importance of our ongoing data projects. We are dedicated to seeing this learning continues and remains firmly in the hands of our First Nation communities.

How is it Affecting NS first nations?

As we mentioned, after every new phase of a project, there are always major takeaways that propel us into action. For example, in our most recent study we found an alarming amount of our youth were suffering from suicidal thoughts in Nova Scotia. This discovery lead to the immediate creation of many youth-oriented suicide prevention resources, such as hotlines and community engagement projects that have already resulted in a lower suicide rate in our communities - saving lives and empowering our youth!

Access our data & surveys

Access, explore, and utilize data collected by the Information Governance & Data Projects team. This data allows our communities to make informed and evidence based decisions for responsible community planning.
Our data our helps our communities learn, grow, and improve our quality of life.
If you need any assistance accessing what you're looking for our staff are always here to help!

Open UNSM Survey & Data Tool