PCOM660_AGould_FINAL

First Nations Cultural Preservation
Adam Edward Gould
June 1, 2011
adam.gould01@bellaliant.net
Word count: 6089

2 First Nations Cultural Preservation
ABSTRACT
For Canada’s First Nations, cultural preservation is one of the highest priorities in
addition to economic development and sustainability. Previous studies in academia
focus on each subject respectively but little, if any, is available on the two together. The
International Organization of Standards, or ISO, is a series of business guidelines
designed for organizations and governments to improve practices and exceed customer
demands. Membertou First Nation is the first Aboriginal and indigenous government in
the world to be certified ISO 9001:2000. Using the indigenous paradigm, an urban
Aboriginal researcher will demonstrate how acquiring ISO standards allows for
indigenous cultural preservation.
KEY WORDS
First Nations, ISO, culture, economic development, indigenous

First Nations Cultural Preservation
INTRODUCTION
For generations transcending a dozen millennia, Aboriginal peoples of Turtle
Island shared existences in literal and figurative paradises. Aboriginals like the Mi’kmaq
of Mi’kma’ki (Atlantic Canada) had very simple lives which they made off the lands
provided by Kisu’lk, The Creator. The worries were minimal and resources abundant;
L’nus never took more than necessary because it was known that these offerings from
Kisu’lk. You demonstrated respect for them as they may not always be available.
One essential aspect about being Mi’kmaq, or L’nuk, is our culture. Mi’kmaq
culture encompasses our teachings, values, legends, practices, and language. Through
colonization and imperialism, my ancestors were losing culture and identity through
segregation, assimilation, European ideologies, and racism. I am a proud descendant
of the Mi’kmaq and since childhood was taught legends about Kisu’lk, Kluskap, Niskam,
and other beauties of my culture. While a proud descendant, I am also a member of
what my peers and I call ‘The Generation Gap’ where we are disconnected with our
culture, especially our language which I cannot speak fluently. I felt that I owed my
ancestors and culture something, but was unsure what. I decided to write this paper
about a topic that related to my people and the sustainment of future generations. As
the most marginalized group in Canada, the Indigenous First Nations struggle in several
different ways to maintain identity, culture, life and society (Retziaff, 2005).
This paper will discuss the preservation of First Nations culture through a newly
assimilating but accepted method that is not ‘indigenous’ to our culture. I will
demonstrate that First Nations’ culture is preserved by First Nations communities, or

‘reservations’, becoming certified by the International Organization of Standards, or ISO.
This idea is something I believe as I am a community member of the first Indigenous
government and First Nations community in the world to be certified ISO 9001:2000
(now ISO 9001:2008) – The Membertou First Nation of Sydney, Nova Scotia
(Membertou First nation, N.D.-a; N.D.-b). Membertou is one of five Mi’kmaw
communities located in Cape Breton Island, or Unama’ki, and of 13 in Mi’kma’ki
(Mi’kmaq Resource Centre, 2010). As a reader you may wonder the difference
between Mi’kmaq and Mi’kmaw. The former is the pluralized version of the term while
the latter is singular and also an adjective.
In the following sections you will hear the voices of six different people of various
backgrounds: my own and five participants who were interviewed as part of my
research. As the literature linking ISO 9001:2000 to cultural preservation or Aboriginal
culture is unavailable, the words of people involved in ISO-certified First Nations, ISO-
licensing agents, and First Nations history is ideal. As First Nations and non-Native
people working in or with ISO-certification, they provide understanding of the ISO
procedure and of First Nations culture. For this manifest, I am your storyteller.
Additional to interviews, I provide a content analysis of available literature relating
to ISO 9001:2000, which focuses on quality assurance and total quality management.
Though available literature on ISO 9001:2000 is unrelated to cultural preservation, it is
necessary to consult articles to gain understanding of how ISO works, how it is
implemented, what organizational types attempt certification, why these organizations
seek certification, and what outcomes organizations experience through higher
standardization. Because the International Organization of Standards was only first

developed in 1987 (International Organization of Standards, 2010a), there is only a two-
decade span of literature available. It is important to note that Membertou became
certified in 2002, which allows for a nine-year span of community observation and case
study. The certification was renewed in 2010 (Membertou, N.D.-c).
While there is a generous cache of peer-reviewed research available on First
Nations, there is minimal available on how communities are able to preserve culture.
Much of the available research focuses on areas such as colonization, health, economic
sub-categories, history, and industry which usually related to forestry and fisheries. I
narrowed my search for topics related to Aboriginal identity, culture, and economic
development which links to ISO. As resource on First Nations study is limited, I
consulted research on ethnic cultures outside of First Nations. Studies on cultural
preservation of Oceanic Aboriginals – Maoris and Aborigines – provide wonderful
insight on how related groups attempt to preserve their culture through digital and
technological means (Michael & Dunn, 2006; Burns, 2008; Santone & Straw, 2009).
Chinese studies that focus on the negotiation of culture in areas of tourism provide
useful insight as it offers information on how a homogeneous culture interacts with
people from an outside culture. I am aware that First Nations in Canada live amongst
people of many other cultures in essence, the fact is many of Canada’s First Nations
tend to be situated in home communities where members of other cultures may come to
us; similar to how tourists visiting China, for example, visit different areas for different
reasons.
LITERATURE REVIEW

The International Organization of Standards is a non-government organization
which focuses on the implementation and maintenance of higher standards and
business practice for organizations in the global market. ISO was established in 1987
(International Organization of Standards, 2010) and has experienced tremendous
growth and interest from thousands of international businesses and organizations. This
literature will focus on one area of the ISO ‘family’, ISO 9001:2000, which replaced
earlier ISO 9000 family members from 1994 and 1987 (Dick, 2000).
ISO 9001:2000 was designed with the intent to make the series more user
friendly for current users while also attracting new clients (Douglas, Coleman & Oddy,
2003). This new model had the focus of quality assurance and total quality
management, designed to deliver better business practices with focus on the customer
and to lend organizational accountability. In short, ISO 9001:2000 delivers quality
management systems.
Previous studies on the ISO 9000 family of professional norms focused on a
diverse range of areas including adoption motives, cost benefits analysis (Pinar &
Ozgur, 2007), adoption time length (Wang, 2008), its long- and short-term impacts, the
benefits to business, satisfaction, financial performance, and whether standardization
actually works. While studies focused mainly on these aspects, it is important to note
that previous research also included areas related to culture and ethnicity as literature
was based in nations such as Turkey, China, United States, and Singapore (Calisir,
Bayraktar, & Beskese, 2001; Kajula & Lillrank, 2004; Chan & Leung, 2006). Each
country is unique and culturally-based; each having different methods on how to
conduct business with a diverse range of customers.

As First Nations people is Canada’s fastest growing nation, studies parallel to
this national growth focus on economic development in communities; more studies are
focusing on economic programs and development on Aboriginal lands. Much of the
previous studies on Aboriginal peoples focused on the anthropological issues using
non-participant observation (Wilson, 2008; Liamputtong, 2010) and simple
documentation of rituals and daily lives. As research was conducted by non-Natives,
the rituals of my ancestors was alien to the Eurocentric mind that chose not to become
involved or to ask further questions into what the ‘subjects’ were doing. These practices
by non-Native researchers produced results that were skewed by ignorance; not always
out of malice but also of ignorance, agenda, and apathy. Aboriginal research did more
to hinder the image and culture of the subjects rather than learning the facts.
Now, even as more researchers found in Aboriginal and First Nations
communities may be mirror reflections of the ‘subject’ or participants, these indigenous
researchers face challenges based on experiences and perceptions that any research
to be done will only produce negative results. Aboriginals were made to look like
savages or primitive by researchers so any and all researchers will simply do the same,
even if the researcher is of an indigenous culture or a community member. There must
be credibility in research and in Aboriginal/indigenous research; there must be trust
(Roberts, 2005). For example, Roberts (2005) conducted previous community-based
research on health care but faced barriers as her people felt they were treated as
objects instead of people. She writes that peers saw her as becoming assimilated into
the Eurocentric culture and away from her people (p. 103) and this would be a factor in
other communities. In contrast, I was received by my community when conducting

research; ISO may play a factor or perhaps my community was not scrutinized like
Roberts’ was. In any type of indigenous research, the process itself outweighs any
outcome (p. 103).
METHOD
This paper is produced utilizing the Indigenous Research Paradigm by an
indigenous researcher. The indigenous research paradigm focuses on the actual
process of gathering information and performing research rather than the expected or
unexpected outcome. It is designed to assist researchers, indigenous or non-
indigenous, to perform research that does not subjugate the participants or bring any
harm to them or their communities in any form (Weber-Pillwax, 2004; Liamputtong,
2010). Instead of harm, the ideal is to bring positive reuslts to participants and
communities. As an urban aboriginal researcher, I intend to not bring harm to or to
discredit my community, culture, or people. I chose the indigenous paradigm as the
methodology for this paper because I wish to present our side of research and to
introduce studies that may be built upon in the future by other researchers about cultural
preservation through economic development and standardization. Economic
development is important to consider (Anderson, 1999; Alcantra, 2008) because ISO
certification allows First Nations communities like Membertou new economic programs,
capital and infrastructure to generate revenue and receive funding, create jobs, increase
its labour force, and produce morale in the community.
While academic and peer reviewed research on the subjects of ISO and First
Nations culture is abundant, there is none available on the two subjects together. In
short, this is the first study – to my knowledge – that will discuss and analyse whether

ISO brings cultural preservation. I rely on the available previous research on ISO 9001
which is available in texts focusing on quality management, business practice and
management, and various industries.
Although a member of an ISO-indigenous community, I know little about exactly
what ISO is. I require a knowledge base about the topic itself in order to understand its
essence. The International Organization of Standards homepage, iso.org, is a fantastic
source of information on the 9000-family but is presented to readers in very complex
language that may be difficult to comprehend if one does not possess a background in
business or economics. Without the peer-reviewed texts, this author would present ISO
literature using terms and phrases that would be confusing to myself and the reader.
Aboriginal-focused study is also available but not as abundant as business-
related research. To add, the available studies focus on areas such as industry, health
care, history, and culture. While history and health care are vital to First Nations, they
were put aside to focus on culture, identity, and economic development considering the
allotted space for this manifest. I must also be mindful of the topics specifically instead
of focusing on one area of aboriginal business (again, forestry, for example). Aboriginal
economic development in forestry is ideal for First Nations if the natural resources are
available and this is why geography is also very important (Anderson, 1999; Widdowson
& Howard, 2008).
If your community is on land with valuable natural resources such as trees or
minerals, you have potential economic benefits (job creation, products, etc.) whereas
other communities do not. For example, Membertou itself is mainly built on marshlands
and had no natural resource available, yet is still successful by taking other avenues to

its development. I recall my family’s basement flooding almost yearly during a long
period of rain.
A search for texts on preserving traditional culture did not produce any related to
First Nations but to other related groups – Australia’s and New Zealand’s Aboriginals,
who are using digital means to record their culture for preservation. This literature was
important as ISO creates economic development which brings resource such as
information technology and recording systems. With available capital, First Nations
communities like Membertou can acquire digital recording equipment to record audio
and visual presentations and then save them in a database, such as the Membertou
Data Centre which is housed at the Membertou Trade and Convention Centre.
The Membertou Trade and Convention centre also houses various artefacts of
historical importance dating back thousands of years. For my research, I thought
photographing the displayed items and presenting them in this paper would give
readers a glimpse of the cultural preservation that is in practice in my community
(Appendices C to F). I contend that such displays – and the centre itself – would not be
standing today if not for Membertou’s standardization. A current project is the
construction of the Membertou Culture and Heritage Park (Appendices A and B).
It is vital to now have recorded information and research to contend with the
challenges of Eurocentric thinking and Euro-based research ideologies as little
credibility is given to oral knowledge. Oral knowledge is a key feature of First Nations
people like the Mi’kmaq who did not use writing systems despite having language
systems. Hence, upon contact, my ancestors were seen as illiterate because we did
not read; we did not read because we did not write; we did not write because

communicating interpersonally and through symbolic interactions were the norms (Paul,
2006). To summarize indigenous knowledge I quote McGuire-Kishebakabaykew:
“Indigenous knowledge is part of the broader discourse that challenges mainstream
knowledge and how it is generated, presented, and maintained.”
As secondary research on the topics was a fantastic starting point for research, I
felt it was necessary to hear from individuals involved in First Nations and ISO
certification. This information was acquired through interviews I conducted with a
number of individuals involved in either or both. Originally I hoped to secure between
five and 10 interviews but as of production time managed to conduct and finalize five.
Due to various factors, I opted to conduct interviews using Microsoft Word documents
that were emailed to participants. Some, however, were conducted via telephone and
one in-person.
When narrowing down potential participants, I looked to Membertou without
hesitation as it is my community and the original ISO-certified First Nations
government/community; this included elected members of council, quality assurance
representatives, former and current employees, and community members. From
Membertou, I approached Gespe'gewaq Mi'gmaq Resource Council (GPRC) and
Sagamok also but did not receive replies from either, which resulted in this paper being
part case study on Membertou specifically. It works out as starting small with one
community allowed for more time and quality and could allow for future study. Through
informal discourse with community members and peers, it was encouraged that I
contact the person who assisted in Membertou’s certification; so I did, and the individual
became a willing participant. Through Internet search engines using subject lines such

as “ISO certification” and “First Nations economic development” I came across two
particular Canadian organizations: Paradigm Consulting Inc. and First Nations
Governance Council (FNGC). After contacting both organizations, I had secured
another interview with Paradigm while FNGC did reply and showed interest. The FNGC
contact suggested contacting its quality assurance (QA) representative, which I did,
whom also responded with enthusiasm and asked for the list of questions. The QA rep
informed me that FNGC was approaching its fiscal year where priorities centred on
organizational reports but would offer assistance if time were available. As of paper
production, the interview was not conducted and follow-up emails were not returned.
This author understood the importance of business-related priorities.
Mi’kmaw scholars and historians were also considered and approached. The
most prominent included Dr. Marie Battiste, PhD, of the University of Saskatchewan,
who is originally from Potlotek (Chapel Island) First Nation in Cape Breton; and Dr.
Daniel Paul of Halifax and originally from Indian Brook, Nova Scotia. Dan wrote We
Were Not the Savages, a valuable piece of recorded Mi’kmaq history compiled by
documents and texts written by English traders and settlers since first contact. While
Dan was available for an interview, Dr. Battiste felt that she was not an ideal person to
speak about First Nations ISO upon review of the interview questions.
One of the five participants is Chief Terrance Paul of Membertou, who was
elected in 1984 and has served as elected leader consecutively ever since. When
Membertou became the first ISO-certified indigenous government in the world
(Membertou First Nation, N.D.-b), he was there - and saw the process through its
implementation and Membertou’s transformation from reservation into the successful

and thriving community it is today. Our certification came with the assistance of Rex
Boertjes of Hands On Quality Assurance Practitioners of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia.
Rex is non-Native and provides insight from the perspective of an ISO professional from
outside the First Nations community. Both he and Chief Paul were also instrumental in
the later certifications of Canada’s other ISO-certified First Nations communities,
Gespe’gewaq of Listuguj, Quebec (Gespe’gewaq Mi’gmaq Resource Council, 2010),
and Sagamok First Nation in Massey, Ontario (Sagamok Anishnawbek First Nation,
2010). Adam Malik owns Paradigm Consulting, an ISO licensing organization based in
London, Ontario. Like Rex, Adam worked with First Nations in his home province but
experienced different results and is also non-Native, allowing perspective of a
professional from outside the community and culture. Dr. Daniel Paul, author of We
Were Not the Savages, provides insight as a Mi’kmaw community member, cultural
activist, and accredited historian. By trade, he is an accountant who has worked with
First Nations communities, or Bands, in the past in areas of finance and reform. Finally,
I am what Silver et al (2006) describes as an urban Aboriginal living off-reserve as a
status-Indian and (community) member of the Membertou First Nation and Mi’kmaw
Nation. Marcella Marshall is a life-long friend and is a former quality assurance agent
with Membertou. She was involved with Membertou’s ISO since certification and
worked with Rex and others in the certification of other First Nations. While I was raised
‘on-reserve’, I became an urban Aboriginal at age 23 and an ‘indigenous researcher’ at
29. For reference, Marcella and Rex were instrumental in both GMRC and Sagamok’s
ISO certification.

Both Chief Terrance and Adam were interviewed via telephone while I recorded
the conversation with a digital recorder using the telephone’s speaker-phone options.
Dr. Paul set aside time for me to visit him at his home where we discussed my topic and
others for several hours. The interviews were recorded and later transcribed onto a
Microsoft Word document; one participant completed the interview on Word document
itself and submitted via email. I feel it is important to note that I did have nine
participants originally confirmed but due to various matters the remaining four did not
participate impromptu.
For reference, I choose to refer to my participants by their first names. In
Mi’kmaq culture, past and present, it was normal to refer to persons by their first names
in contrast to the European style or using titles such as Mr.
ANALYSIS
My interviews produced different results and different opinions; two participants
feel that ISO certification allows First Nations to preserve culture, one sees both sides,
and another two do not agree. Interestingly, the results were split amongst the
participants’ backgrounds also; one First Nations and one non-Native on each side of
the argument. The two who do not see a link between ISO and cultural preservation are
Adam Malik and Daniel Paul while Chief Terrance and Rex see otherwise. Marcella,
neice of Donald Marshall Jr., sees both sides of the argument.
Adam’s business, Paradigm Consulting, is operational for 11 years now and his
experience goes further. While having worked with other First Nations groups in the
past, his experiences are different from Rex’s. Adam’s experiences from working with
Aboriginals in Ontario contrasts Rex’s experience of working in Membertou and its

corporate office in Halifax, Nova Scotia; the former worked in very rural settings while
the latter worked in urban and even international settings. The clients Malik serviced
explained to him the ‘laws’ or rules that existed in the bush: “This is our land and there’s
no law here. Our laws apply here!” His clients’ business actually collapsed while Rex’s
client, Membertou, succeeded.
The other organizations Adam’s clients worked with were also other First Nations
communities and groups which provided a smaller range of doing business.
Membertou, on the other hand, decided to focus directly its own community but formed
partnerships with prominent corporations and had a wider scope with attempting to go
national and international. In this sense, the partnerships you create and other
organizations and customers your ISO services has a tremendous effect. If your client
or customer is not well established or has little revenue and resource, they cannot afford
to pay for the services rendered and your ISO suffers. Membertou opted to establish
community-based businesses, programs, and services as the premier customer was the
community itself; it maintained a close presence with the people in-mind.
Rex firmly believes that ISO allows First Nations to preserve culture as First
Nations are able to set their own standards which includes cultural criteria such as
ideals, traditional practices, and one of the most important aspects of Mi’kmaq culture –
language. For example, several of Membertou’s businesses and infrastructure feature
traditional Mi’kmaq words which are also promoted to members of other communities
(Appendices G and H). Rex says, “The reason that ISO is a good fit for a First Nation is
that there is no standard in ISO on how to produce a product or how to provide a
service. ISO is a standard for documentation and has requirements to have certain

documents in place. It is up to the organization on how they meet the requirements and
how they set the standard.” Conversely, Adam says, “I don’t know of any cultural
benefits. I haven’t seen any and I’ve done this a long time. Economic, yes; cultural I
don’t know. I don’t know about cultural benefits it would bring. Economic, guaranteed!
You’d get recognized but cultural, I don’t see the linkage.”
Daniel Paul also does not see the linkage. He feels that in order for First Nations
to preserve their culture and establish better economic development opportunities that
they first have to become more self-reliant and to create a sense of striving for
excellence. He says, “The best response is the prep work. The want has to be there;
the desire for self-reliance. Nothing’s going to help us unless we get that. If
accountability and ED are to help culture we need band constitutions, not bi-laws.” In
our conversation, he describes the ‘welfare office’ as being the greatest competition to
economic development and self-reliance. I will note that Dan is not overly familiar with
Membertou’s progress or with ISO actually, which I explained to him. He offers this
explanation in his own words:
People blame the Indian Act for our troubles, but forget it’s inanimate. It has no
life on its own. What brings a thing to life is people - for good or for bad. If the
bureaucrats who created the Indian Act did it with good intent we wouldn’t be
having this discussion today. But no, it was designed to exterminate us. If you
have a document or law it won’t positively or for positive change unless you have
the people who are managing the requirements of that document for best intent.
Bottom line - you’re looking at a piece of document. The people make it negative
or positive.
Certainly a set of standards or a piece of paper is not going to magically allow
First Nations to preserve culture; the human effort and mindset has to be in place as
well as the standards. And if these standards allow for greater accountability in First

Nations organizations and bands, then it is a good thing. A problem that First Nations
face, according to Daniel, is the sense of inferiority to others. If they are to succeed, like
an ISO, the mindset must change; this will cause ISO-certified First Nations, and the
certification, to reach what Sharma (2005) referred to as a self-fulfilling prophecy. The
pro-activity must be present and solid leadership is also needed (Jabnoun & Al-
Ghasyah, 2005).
Chief Terrance has served as community leader for 27 years and is a central
figure in Membertou’s standardization. He believes that Membertou’s ISO preserves
our culture as Mi’kmaq and will allow other First Nations to preserve theirs. He sees
economic development as a mechanism to move forward and earns a community its
own revenue with the potential to move beyond our present state of sustainability and
accomplishment. He cites Membertou’s ISO as, “a certification that tells people who are
interested in dealing with us that it’s an organization that’s well-managed and has good
policies and procedures in place.” The accountability is present. When I ask Chief
Terrance if ISO brings cultural benefits for preservation, he says:
I believe it does. One very real result of our certification is we have learned to
strategize where we want to get to and at the same time, very importantly; it’s in
our discussions that we bring culture along too. For example, we have a total-
immersion program in the kindergarten program that was totally unheard of; not
only in our school but in others. The renewed sense of pride in our culture and
our language is evident in the children and the young people. And we want to
capture that by addressing the desire of our people to learn and relearn their
language and their culture. So I believe that the way we’re organized and it is
part of how the community is managed. It’s one of the pillars that we keep our
culture and culture influences our decisions.
There are numerous reasons as to why organizations will seek ISO certification,
but cultural preservation is not one. For the most part, organizations and governments
are motivated primarily by wanting to better serve its customer base; for First Nations,

as an example, the customer base is First Nations people – the community. As
business is capitalistic and therefore competitive, Magd and Curry (2003) state that
organizations cannot afford to ignore strategic implications of quality. Calisir, Bayraktar,
and Beskese (2001) write that smaller organizations are more likely to adopt these
series of standards for reasons including improving efficiency and productivity, higher
quality products, and the overall market advantages. With pressure from customers,
organizations either adapt or fall behind other competitors.
Part of why ISO can be effective in the global market relates to its study (Dick,
2000). Previous study on ISO focuses on success and failure of ISO and much of the
literature demonstrates that businesses with certification to perform better (Pinar &
Ozgur, 2007). However, standardization requires organizational motivation and putting
words into action in order to be successful (Schenkel, 2004). This sentiment echoes the
previous words of Daniel Paul where human motivation is a requirement. Sharma’s
study (2005) reports that ISO 9000 certified organizations have higher qualities of work
life where morale, productivity, and goal-attainment were high. Defects, absenteeism,
and rework had decreased. The same study finds that ISO certified organizations also
have higher potential to increase customer base through credibility, accountability, and
customer satisfaction.
CONCLUSION
This manifest attempted to demonstrate that implementation of the International
Organization of Standards (ISO) 9001:2000/2008 would allow First Nations groups in
Canada to preserve their traditional culture and identities. In short, does ISO
certification allow First Nations to preserve culture? From the secondary research using

the indigenous research paradigm and interviews conducted, I can say that yes, ISO
implementation and higher standards allow First Nations to preserve their culture.
However, ISO does not provide cultural preservation itself; it is a tool that is useful in
preservation.
The secondary literature posed a challenge as no previous study on both ISO
and cultural preservation of any kind is available. There is also no literature available
on ISO and First Nations together. From the interviews with ISO and quality assurance
representatives, a First Nations leader, and a Mi’kmaq historian, it is clear that ISO does
not preserve culture as it is designed for better business practice and to provide
accountability to organizations, as well as economic development opportunities. The
ISO literature assisted in the discussion of business practice and importance of
economic development however.
When a First Nations organization and community now implement ISO
9001:2008, they are able to preserve their respective cultural traditions and identities
because the First Nations people set the standards for their own ISO program. These
standards can be set with First Nations culture, identity, tradition, and practices in-mind,
which then become manifested in practice, production, and promotion to other peoples.
Simply, ISO does not preserve any ethnic culture, but ethnic groups that implement
standardization create the new standards systems with cultural input. Marcella says, “I
don’t feel that ISO certification brings cultural benefits to First Nation communities....but
it does allow the flexibility for it. Since you set the standards, you can infuse your culture
into them.” To her, the culturally related benefits that ISO brings to the First Nations
are, simply, anything that is wanted is included.

In order for ISO to work and if First Nations are to preserve their culture, several
items must be apparent. The community or organization must have strong leadership in
its governance, usually the Chief and Council. If the standardized community or
organization wishes to succeed, it must also work with people from outside the
community and culture as there is space for independent input and sharing culture with
non-Natives (Belanger, Newhouse, & Fitzmaurice, 2008). Most importantly, there must
be the want to succeed in the organization and the community itself. ISO will not do
either job – preservation or business – by itself; the onus is on the people. As a case
study, Membertou First Nation is an excellent example of how ISO 9001:2000/2008
certified Aboriginal communities are preserving their communal and Mi’kmaq culture
through its historical displays, recording of history, and building of infrastructure that will
share and promote Mi’kmaq culture with the world. At the end of the business day, you
are still Mi’kmaq.

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APPENDICES
Appendix A
A sign promoting the upcoming construction of the new Membertou Heritage Park that will
house the Membertou Culture & Heritage Centre.

Appendix B
Broken ground: site of the future Membertou Heritage Park, adjacent to the Membertou
Trade & Convention Centre.

Appendix C
Authentic historical Mi’kmaq artefacts and information housed at the Membertou Trade
& Convention Centre.

Appendix D
More of the artefacts that find home at the MTCC.

Appendix E
Mi’kmaq and Membertou’s recorded history on display.

Appendix F
Waltes, or Woltestaqun, a traditional Mi’kmaq game using items made of bone, wood,
and leather. It dates back to ancient times and is still played today.

Appendix G
The sign for Kiju’s Restaurant, originally named Mescalero’s, located in Membertou.
The name change or rebranding took place as Membertou wished to have a name that
was more traditional and in sync with our language. Kiju, translated from Mi’kmaq,
means ‘mother’ and can be a term of affection for any matriarchal figure of the Mi’kmaq
family. It is what I called my great-grandmother as a young child. Customers now have
a chance to learn even just one term in Mi’kmaq language.

Appendix H
The Muin Room located at the MTCC also. It is a break-out style room for meetings
and other functions. This, like Kiju’s is an example of Mi’kmaq language being
preserved and also promoted to non-Mi’kmaq people. Muin means ‘bear’ and it is also
the animal totem for my lineage. In Mi’kmaq legends, Muin was once a small animal
and was given his larger size by Kluskap after Muin demonstrated that he could leave
peacefully amongst people and vice versa.

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