Already a national park and a historic site, the ancestral sacred land of the Mi’kmaq Kejimkujik is now immortalized in space.
The International Astronomical Union recently christened the asteroid between Jupiter and Mars as the province’s historic gem. He made the call earlier this month. The news was reported by EarthSky on Tuesday, National Day of Indigenous Peoples.
The Royal Astronomical Society of Canada declared Kejimkujik a dark sky reserve in 2010.
Discovered by Canadian astronomer Paul Wiegert in 2006, the asteroid is a small, irregular, rocky object in the asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
Dartmouth amateur astronomer David Chapman was among a team of six who presented the historic Mi’kmaq site.
Chapman was more than happy to see that EarthSky also saw the occasion as great news.
“I am delighted that EarthSky has turned the asteroid Kejumkujik into the main story for its quarter of a million global followers,” Chapman said in a Facebook post on Tuesday. “Additional congratulations on publishing it on National Indigenous Day!”
Kejimkujik is derived from the word Mi’kmaq, which refers to the effort required to paddle on Lake Kejimkujik, which forms the center of the park. Glacier Park is located about 100 miles (160 km) southwest of Halifax, southwest of Nova Scotia.
The National Park and National Historic Site are considered a rare refuge for ancient forests and serve as the core of Canada’s second largest biosphere reserve.