Mi'kmaw artists recreating 180-year-old regalia

Ernestine Francis from Elsipogtog First Nation is one of four Mi'kmaq artists working on a recreation of regalia that was gifted to a British captain by Chief Joseph Maly Itkobitch in the 1840s. Francis is pictured here working on a section to be added to the recreation. (Mrinali Anchan/CBC)

"This is the most challenging thing I ever done," said Ernestine Francis, as she pondered the beadwork she and three other Mi'kmaw artists have been painstakingly working on throughout the summer at the Metepenagiag Heritage Park. 

All four artists are graduates of the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design. Since June, they have been beading a series of intricate patchwork portions to go onto a modern day recreation of a coat, part of an original outfit that is almost 200 years old.

The history of the regalia dates back to the early 1840s, when British Captain Henry Dunn O'Halloran was given a ceremonial outfit by Mi'kmaw Chief Joseph Maly Itkobitch. 

O'Halloran was also made an honourary Mi'kmaq chief by Chief Itkobitch for his work gathering census information on Mi'kmaq along the Miramichi River. 

This original regalia is currently housed in the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que., where it will remain stored indefinitely because of its fragile condition. 

By Mrinali Anchan