The Mi’kmaw were likely the first people that European explorer John Cabot met in 1497 on the East Coast of what would come to be Atlantic Canada. That legacy of welcome, of bridging two worlds, lives on in songs and fiddling of Cape Breton’s breakout roots artist, Morgan Toney.

With thousands of years of tradition behind him, Toney melds the Scottish heritage of this Nova Scotian island with Mi’kmaq songs, stories, and language in his own genre of music: Mi’kmaq and Celtic, which he calls “Mi’kmaltic” – a fusion created by Morgan Toney and his musical co-host, Keith Mullins.

His JUNO award-winning album, “Heal The Divide,“ recognizes the difficult history of the L’nuk (Mi’kmaq People) that all First Nations peoples have had in Canada, but it also celebrates the L’nu legacy in Canadian culture. It’s part of Toney’s larger vision to bring people together, to set our differences aside, and walk toward a place that Toney calls the “Promised Land,” a path ahead for Truth and Reconciliation.

Morgan Toney proudly welcomes the rest of Canada and the world to L’nu traditions as they contain many universal teachings.