Clean-up of Mi'kmaw cultural trail continues after post-tropical storm Fiona

The clean-up continues on theMi'kmawey DebertInterpretive Trail in Nova Scotia, more than six months afterpost-tropical storm Fiona.

The hikingtrailnear Debert, N.S., about65 kilometres north of Halifax,offers visitors lessons about the continued Mi'kmaq presence on the land.

Tim Bernard, executive director ofthe Mi'kmawey DebertCultural Centre, said the trail has been closed since Sept. 24 for safety reasons.

He said Fiona damaged boardwalks and railings and they're still clearing out downed trees and widow makerspieces of broken trees that haven'tfallen yet.

"I got like two calls this week from school groups looking for an opportunity to bring their classes out and we can't bring them out safely until the trail has been cleaned up," said Bernard, who is from Millbrook First Nation.

He said Debert has many ancestral sites and is an important place for the Mi'kmaq, so 20 years ago they built the trail to help educate nearby communities about the area's significance.

There are five information panels on the 4.7 kilometre trailthat share the natural history of the land along with information gathered by local community elders. They shared legends, stories and ancestral knowledge about the area.

The trail isusually openyear round but had to close due to the damage fromFiona's fierce winds. Repairs will costroughly $10,000 in total, Bernard said.He hopes the trail will openin late spring.

The N.S. Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritagesaid by email it was providing repair funds to the Mi'kmawey Debert Interpretive trail through the Nova Scotia Trails Federation, which received $400,000 in funding for repairs caused by Fiona.

'Wow' factor

Alasdair Veitch,a volunteer hike leader for the Pictou County YMCA,said for the past four years he's taken a group up to Debert to hike the trail in the spring. Veitch said the trail is easy and the sights are amazing.

"It was kind of magical in there because we were walking on this really nicepine needle trail. You could imagine yourself being back 9,000 years ago, you know, walking those same trails," said Veitch.

He said manyNova Scotia hiking trails were damaged bythe stormand going back to some hard hit areas has been devastating to him.

Veitch saidhe looks forward to hiking the Debert trail again.

"I always talk about wow factors on trails and a good trail is where you go 'wow' afew times," he said.

"Debert was definitely one," said Veitch.

Bernard said they're still working to secure funds for a cultural centre in Debert and hope to make upgrades to the trail also.