Closing the Material Security Gap
across Mi’kma’ki:Nova Scotia
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Land Acknowledgement
We are in Mi’kma’ki, on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People, who have lived in harmony with the land for centuries. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1725. These treaties did not implicate or affirm the surrender or transfer of lands and resources to the British, but in fact recognized Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) title, establishing the rules for what was to be a long-standing relationship of mutual respect between nations.
The Flaxmobile Project recognizes that land dispossession in this country is rooted in and maintained by settler colonialism and began with colonial systems of enclosure for agriculture. This dispossession contributed to the loss of traditional bast fibre knowledge and the erasure of Indigenous material culture. Flax was a crop introduced by early settlers and it is our aim that knowledge of flax cultivation developed through this project will also support the re-establishment of Indigenous bast fibres in Mi’kma’ki: Nova Scotia.
We are treaty people and respect the rights and responsibilities of the treaties.
About
The Flaxmobile Project supports farmers and craftspeople across Mi’kma’ki: Nova Scotia to cultivate fibre flax as an alternative to fossil-fuel based fibres. The Flaxmobile Project is a three-phase research project that involves a mobile facility for educational immersion and fibre flax processing. The project is creating a critical network that connects farmers, fibre mills, craftspeople and consumers to explore the sustainable futures of textile supply chains and to address the material security gap across Mi’kma’ki: Nova Scotia.
Fibre flax thrives in our Maritime climate; it is fully biodegradable, zero-waste, and the plant source for linen. While robust networks for local textiles existed in Nova Scotia until the early 1920s, present systems of globalized commerce, and a migration away from rural communities has led to the decline of these sectors.
The Flaxmobile Project is encouraging the development of a local and sustainable fibre flax industry to provide a consistent supply of high-quality fibres and fibre by-products to support our culture sector. We intervene in existing systems of textiles and fashion production to initiate change through sustainable fibre-to-fabric value chains.
Our approach includes five objectives:
Reduce barriers for Nova Scotians who wish to access locally produced and sustainable textiles and clothing, as well as natural building materials, such as flaxcrete and bio-char
Generate local, green jobs across the agriculture, craft, and building sectors that are in line with principles of the circular economy
Contribute to a broader long-term shift toward buying local and removing virgin polyester and synthetic fibres from entering Nova Scotia and ending up in our waste stream
Generate sharable knowledge to support climate change adaptation in other Nova Scotian communities
Address Nova Scotia’s target for GHG emissions reduction by sequestering 68 tonnes of carbon by 2030 and 3,669 tonnes by 2050
2024 Farmers
Most recent additional farmers participating in the project.
2023 Farmers
Participating farmers in the 2023 season are distributed across Mi’kma’ki: Nova Scotia from the South Shore to the Margaree Valley of Unama’ki: Cape Breton.
2022 Farmers
Farmer Logs
Below is a selection of farmer logs from the 2024 growing season. Logs incorporate field notes taken at planting, weeding, flowering, and harvesting as well as a site report prepared by Perennia.
Click each image to read more.
2023 Crafts People
Click the images below to learn more about the participating craftspeople in the 2023 season partnering with this years farmers to create various works using flax.
