The Union of Nova Scotia Indians is a tribal organization which has been in existence in Nova Scotia for 30 years. It held its first meeting  July 12, 1969 and ratifed its constitution on Sept. 13, 1969 during its first annual general assembly. It was formally incorporated under the Nova Scotia's Societies' Act on July 3, 1970.

The organization came into existence to provide a unified political voice for the Mi'kmaq people of the province in the face of a proposed federal government policy to assimilate Canada's First Nations people into mainstream society. The 1969 White Paper was widely viewed by the First Nations' leadership as the government's deliberate attempt to introduce a policy of cultural and political genocide.

Faced with the prospect of extinction, a group of Mi'kmaq leaders formed the Union of Nova Scotia Indians to provide political leadership for the Mi'kmaq Nation. The Union of Nova Scotia Indians operates under its original terms of the Memorandum of Association that was registered in 1970 and its present By-Law which was adopted in July 1992 and amended during its 28th annual assembly held in Waycobah in July 1997.

The objectives of the Union of Nova Scotia Indians are as follows:

• To promote the welfare and well-being of the Indians of Nova Scotia
• To improve the economic and social conditions of the Indians of Nova Scotia
• To promote the rights of Indian people, to inform Indians of their rights and to assist Indians of Nova Scotia in their enforcement of their rights
• To promote discussion of Indian problems
• To seek to promote a better understanding between Indians and other people
• To initiate and carry out programs for the advancement of Indian people
• To cooperate with governmental and private agencies for the promoting of the interests of Indian people
• To do all such things as are incidental or conductive to the attainment of the above objectives