When L’Arche was beginning in rural Cape Breton in the early 1980s, founders Tom and Anne Gunn were urged by their neighbours on the Waycobah First Nation to welcome Eddie, a young Mi’kmaq man living in an institution. 

Ed Johnson L'Arche Cape Breton

Ed’s eventual arrival to the fledgling L’Arche community was a homecoming for him. Despite having to leave his home ten years earlier,

Ed had never lost his Mi’kmaq language or connection to his culture, but now, living next to the First Nation, he could again attend his own church on the reserve, participate in the annual Pow Wow, and run into his friends and relatives at the local gas station.

Ed remains, 25 years later, an important member of both communities— L’Arche Cape Breton and the Waycobah First Nation. He works at Mawi Ta’Mk, a pioneering program for people with disabilities run on the reserve.

He continues to speak his Mi’kmaq language and participate in First Nations rituals and ceremonies. And he nourishes the links between his L’Arche and the Mi’kmaq communities, kindling a desire in young people arriving at L’Arche from around the world to learn about this vibrant First Nations community.