2025 Honouree: Nora Bernard

Nora Madeline Bernard (1935–2007) was a Mi’kmaq activist from Millbrook First Nation. She played a key role in securing justice and compensation for survivors of the Canadian Indian Residential School system. As a survivor, she founded the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School Association in 1987 and initiated a class-action lawsuit, inspiring the largest such lawsuit in Canadian history.

Learn more about her story at heritageday.novascotia.ca