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Description area
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History
Joel Denny, son of Noel R. Denny and Sarah Johnson (Sarah Denny), was born on August 23, 1952. He was a traditional Mi’kmaw chanter, dancer, artist, musician and pipe carrier. He wrote many Mi’kmaw traditional songs. He was a master in making traditional waltes/ atestaqnk, wapnaqnk, medicines, drums, and regalias. When he was young, he was a bricklayer and carpenter along with his father and brother. Joel, with the help of others, completed the masonry work on the Mala Mass altar and cross in Malagwatch, NS. Annually, he helped serve feasts and held Mala Masses with his family in Malagwatch, NS. Joel performed in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Chile and for Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Family in the United Kingdom. Nationally, he was an Elder for Tourism Canada and he brought the National Dance Symposium to Eskasoni in 2003. Joel had his own filming company, Kewniq Recordings and Productions Eskasoni, through which he created and edited films; he also served as an actor in the following documentaries: CBC’s Spirit Wind, The Mi’kmaq Family, and The Mi’kmaq Series (1978). In 2018, he was awarded The Indigenous Musicians of the Year award from NS Indigenous Tourism Enterprise Network & was nominated for the East Coast Music awards. He passed away on December 25, 2020.