The poet and the politician: Sisters at heart of Indigenous life on P.E.I.

They both agree that Darlene Bernard, the older of the two, has always been the more outspoken one. 

Whether it's upholding treaty rights with the government of the day or challenging leaders within her own Mi'kmaw community, if it needs to be said, she won't hesitate to say it.

So it's no wonder Darlene, sitting alone in the car with young Julie at a gas station while the adult with them went inside to pay, was the one to come clean: She wasn't really Julie's aunt.

"She casually looked over and she said, 'You know I'm your sister, right?'" Julie Pellissier-Lush recalled in a recent interview. "I said, 'No, you're not.' And she went, 'Yeah, I am.'"

Julie's dad had some explaining to do when he returned to the car. It was true, he said when confronted by the two strong-willed girls. They and their brother Philip have the same mother. She died of cancer when Julie was four.

"I spent the whole way home reevaluating it all and going, 'Well, I have a sister. You know, this is amazing,'" Julie said.

"But at the same time, I didn't know exactly what it meant."

Eventually, she would know. While their childhoods would end up going in vastly different directions from that time on, their bond and shared values have helped shape them into two of the most powerful Mi'kmaw leaders on P.E.I.

Darlene Bernard is the chief of Lennox Island First Nation. Julie Pellissier-Lush is P.E.I.'s poet laureate.

"We're the poet and the politician," Bernard says proudly.

Their resemblance is obvious, and people sometimes mistake one for the other. Islanders don't have to look far to see images of them.

Pellissier-Lush's smiling face is on a sign welcoming people to P.E.I. National Park. If there is a significant community event on P.E.I., she will likely be there. She even sang a Mi'kmaw song during an invitation-only ceremony in Charlottetown marking the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

Bernard often appears in the news, offering insight and opinions on events such as Pope Francis's apology to residential school survivors, the Mi'kmaw lobster fishery and the ongoing development of Lennox Island.

Both are involved with Truth and Reconciliation Day on P.E.I.