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53-754: Early Settlement History Maugerville was the first English settlement established on the Saint John River subsequent to the British taking control of the area from the French, following the fall of Quebec in 1759. The story of its establishment demonstrates how colonial officials in Halifax, Nova Scotia, clandestinely dispossessed the Wəlastəkwiyik (Maliseet) indigenous peoples from their territorial lands without their knowledge, in violation of earlier Indian-British Treaties and

106-688: A component of approximately 8000 pre-Loyalist New Englanders, who came to the province of Nova Scotia between 1759 and 1768, which at the time included present day New Brunswick. These New Englanders were descendants of the original Puritans from the midlands and south of England. Due to the ever-expanding population in New England, land suitable for farming was becoming scarce. Consequently, the Planters looked to colonial frontiers, such as Nova Scotia, for settlement opportunities. In their quest to find productive farmland Peabody and his fellow settlers were attracted to

159-485: A government census revealed there were 261 people in the Maugerville community who were keen to fulfill the obligations of their grants as they possessed 78 oxen and bulls, 145 cows, 156 young cattle and 10 horses. Total crop production for the year, measured in bushels, amounted to wheat 599, rye 1866, beans 145, oats 57, peas 91 and barley 38. A gristmill and a sawmill had been built and the settlers owned two sloops. Due to

212-469: A lack of adequate streams on Maugerville’s alluvial flat, it is conjectured that windmills located at "Windmill Point," situated opposite Middle Island, powered these first mills. Given the success of the settlement, new settlers from New England continued to arrive. Charles Morris revisited the settlement in 1767, commenting that in spite of never ploughing the land, they were able to grow 20 bushels of corn and wheat per acre simply by harrowing their fields. By

265-460: A military organization. With the gradual cessation of hostilities in the first quarter of the 18th century, and with the beaver supply severely diminished, fur trading declined. There was little possibility for the Wolastoqiyik to return to their traditional ways of life. Their style of seasonal, shifting agriculture on the river was curtailed by the encroachment of European settlers. All the while,

318-533: A needle to an anchor. The unofficial settlement of the Township of Maugerville in 1762 not only marked the first English community on the Saint John River but also the initiation of a settler-driven theft of Indian territories by the government of Nova Scotia. As per the terms of the Royal Proclamations of 1761 and 1763, British colonial governors were not authorized to grant lots to settlers on lands not ceded to

371-424: A new market and demand for Wolastoqey baskets and containers. Other Wolastoqiyik worked in pulp mills, construction, nursing, teaching and business. With evidence that many Wolastoqiyik suffered widespread hunger and were wandering, government officials established the first Indian reserves at The Brothers, Oromocto, Fredericton, Kingsclear, Woodstock, Tobique, Madawaska (pre-1800s), and Cacouna. Silas Tertius Rand

424-511: Is now Maugerville. Sometime later in 1763 one hundred people, the core of which were disbanded officers and soldiers, accompanied Captain Peabody to the new settlement, named Peabody in his honour. In spite of the 1761 Royal Proclamation prohibiting English settlement on indigenous lands and unbeknownst to the local Wəlastəkwiyik, the English settlement of Peabody had been created. Peabody’s settlers were

477-534: The 2018 Polaris Music Prize . The Wolastoqiyik use the balsam fir tree ( Abies balsamea ) in many ways. Its juice is a laxative, its pitch is medical, and an infusion of its bark, sometimes mixed spruce and tamarack bark, can treat gonorrhea . They have used the fir's needles and branches as pillows and bedding, the roots as thread, and its pitch to waterproof seams in canoes. Today, in New Brunswick, there are approximately 7,700 Wolastoqiyik with status in

530-485: The Canadian Museum of History . Many of these songs were lost to the community, as the pressures to assimilate into mainstream Canadian culture led the Wolastoqiyik to stop passing their songs on to youth; in the 2010s, however, Wolastoqew musician Jeremy Dutcher undertook a project of listening to the wax cylinder recordings and reviving the songs. His album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa was released in 2018, and won

583-966: The French language . The French called them Malécite , a transliteration of the Mi'kmaq name for the people. Local histories depict many encounters with the Iroquois , five powerful nations based south and east of the Great Lakes, and the Innu located to the north. Contact with European fisher-traders in the early 17th century and with specialized fur traders developed into a stable relationship which lasted for nearly 100 years. Despite devastating population losses to European infectious diseases , to which they had no immunity , these Atlantic First Nations held on to their traditional coastal or river locations for hunting, fishing and gathering. They lived along river valleys for trapping. As both

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636-767: The Madawaska , Tobique , Woodstock , Kingsclear , Saint Mary's and Oromocto First Nations . There are also 1700 in the Houlton Band in Maine, and 1200 in the Viger First Nation in Quebec. The Brothers is a reserve made up of two islands in the Kennebecasis River; they are uninhabited but available for hunting and fishing. About 650 native speakers of Wolastoqey remain, and about 500 of Passamaquoddy, living on both sides of

689-778: The Wabanaki Confederacy . They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River ) valley and its tributaries. Their territory extends across the current borders of New Brunswick and Quebec in Canada, and parts of Maine in the United States. The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians , based on the Meduxnekeag River in the Maine portion of their historical homeland, are—since 19 July 1776—the first foreign treaty allies with

742-449: The 19th century, especially building wigwams and birchbark canoes . They had made changes during the previous two centuries while acquiring European metal cutting tools and containers, muskets and alcohol, foods and clothing. In making wood, bark or basketry items, or in guiding, trapping and hunting, the Wolastoqiyik identified as engaging in "Indian work". The Europeans developed potato farming in Maine and New Brunswick, which created

795-703: The Bright River" in their native language. The Wolastoqiyik have long been associated with the Saint John River, from which they draw their name. Their territory still extends as far as the Saint Lawrence River . Their lands and resources are bounded on the east by the Miꞌkmaq people , on the west by the Penobscot , and on the south by the Passamaquoddy , who also still speak related Algonquian languages . Malesse'jik

848-508: The British by formal treaty with resident Aboriginal peoples. The problem for Nova Scotia colonial officials was that Indians in Nova Scotia had never ceded any lands to the French prior to their defeat or directly to the British. In 1761, Lieutenant-Governor Jonathan Belcher openly admitted he violated the spirit of the 1761 Proclamation by keeping the provisions of the Proclamation secret from

901-545: The French and English increased the number of their settlers in North America, their competition grew for control of the fur trade and physical territory. In addition, wars were carried out that reflected war in Europe. The lucrative eastern fur trade faltered with the general unrest, as French and English hostilities concentrated in the region between Québec and Port-Royal . Increasing sporadic fighting and raiding also took place on

954-505: The Indians so as not to awaken "extravagant and unwarrantable demands." Similarly, in contravention of the provisions of the 1763 Proclamation, newly appointed Lieutenant-Governor Montagu Wilmot, in 1764-1765, continued land grants to British settlers without either informing Crown officials in England or Aboriginal peoples in Nova Scotia. By October 1765, colonial settler imperialism had orchestrated

1007-693: The Massachusetts regiment from Essex County to take advantage of the Governor’s offer and settle on the St John River. The group commissioned Israel Perley, a young surveyor, along with twelve other men to travel to the Saint John River to explore settlement opportunities. The exploring party travelled to Machias by water and then overland to the headwaters of the Oromocto River. Using the Oromocto they descended to

1060-729: The Maugerville Planters were displaced farther upriver to Carleton County by newly arrived United Empire Loyalists . During the American Revolution , in 1776, George Washington sent a letter to the Maliseet of the Saint John River asking for their support in their contest with Britain . Led by Chief Ambroise Saint Aubin , the Maliseets immediately began to plunder the British in the community, burning some of their homes and taking others prisoner back to New England. (Shortly after,

1113-629: The Peabody Planters petitioned English government officials in London for an official grant of the land. Their petition emphasized their previous service to the King as American militia in the French and Indian War, the fact they had sold their farms in New England and at their own expense relocated families and livestock to the Saint John River settlement. Joshua Mauger, Nova Scotia’s provincial agent in London, lobbied on their behalf. In December 1763 their petition

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1166-586: The Planter occupation of Peabody Township was under threat. In July 1763, Charles Morris, surveyor-general of Nova Scotia and Henry Newton, both members of the Nova Scotia Executive Council, travelled to the Saint John River and advised the Planter residents, at Peabody, their lands had been reserved for disbanded soldiers from the British Army. In December 1763, with the threat of losing their farmlands,

1219-434: The Planters renamed the township Maugerville. Each Planter grantee was formally granted 500 acres of land, forty rods wide and extending one mile back from the Saint John River conditional on them settling on their granted lands with adequate livestock and materials by November 1767. If these conditions were not met the grantees would forfeit their lands. The Planter settlement on the St John River flourished. By December 1766,

1272-546: The Royal Proclamations of 1761 and 1763. In pre-contact northeastern North America the Wəlastəkwiyik indigenous peoples, as their name implies, were the people of the Wəlastəkw (Saint John River) from its mouth to its sources. The area now occupied by the current community of Maugerville was originally a hunting territory of the Wəlastəkwiyik, with the closest native settlement being at Sitansisk just above present day Fredericton,

1325-472: The Saint John River. Biding the warning of the Wəlastəkwiyik, the survey party moved downriver to the east bank of the river opposite present day Oromocto Island. There, unbeknownst to the Wəlastəkwiyik, they surveyed a township of 100,000 acres that extended downriver for twelve miles along the east side of the Saint John River. The surveyed area was approximately seventy miles from the River’s mouth centered on what

1378-511: The Saint John River. They found this portion of the Saint John River territory to be a broad flat plain, quite favorable for settlement with no obstacles other than the Indians in the area. They returned to Boston with an optimistic recommendation for settlement. Given the favorable report and in spite of the Royal protection of Wəlastəkwiyik territory, in 1761 Captain Francis Peabody petitioned and

1431-582: The United States of America. They are a federally recognized tribe of Wolastoqey people. Today Wolastoqey people have also migrated to other parts of the world. The Wolastoqiyik have occupied areas of forest, river and coastal areas within their 20,000,000-acre, 200-mile-wide, and 600-mile-long homeland in the Saint John River watershed. The people call themselves Wəlastəkwewiyik and Wolastoqiyik' . Wəlastəkw means "bright river" or "shining river" ("wəl-" = good, "-as-" shining, "-təkw" = river; "-iyik" = people of). Wəlastəkwiyik therefore simply means "People of

1484-580: The Wolastoqiyik are very similar to those of the neighbouring Passamaquoddy ( Peskotomuhkati ). They are also close to those of the Algonquian-speaking Miꞌkmaq and Penobscot peoples. The Wəlastəkwewiyik differed from the Miꞌkmaq by pursuing a partial agrarian economy. They also overlapped territory with neighbouring peoples. The Wəlastəkwewiyik and Passamaquoddy languages are similar enough that linguists consider them slightly different dialects of

1537-531: The Wəlastəkwewiyik, and transliterated Malesse'jik to Malécite , not understanding that it was not their name. The later English colonists anglicized this term as Maliseet. Beginning in 1758, the terms "Marichites" in French and in English "Maricheets" increased in use. At the time of European encounter, the Wəlastəkwewiyik were living in walled villages and practicing horticulture (corn, beans, squash and tobacco). In addition to cultivating and growing crops,

1590-457: The Wəlastəkwiyik had agreed that they would "respect English settlements lawfully to be made." However, the Treaties contained no provision to cede Indian territory to the British. The ownership of Wəlastəkwiyik lands was further protected under the terms of the Royal Proclamations of 1761 and 1763, issued by King George III. These Proclamations specifically forbade provincial administrators, including

1643-660: The border between New Brunswick and Maine . Most are older, although some young people have begun studying and preserving the language. An active program of scholarship on the Wolastoqey-Passamaquoddy language takes place at the Mi'kmaq - Maliseet Institute at the University of New Brunswick , in collaboration with the native speakers. David Francis Sr., a Passamaquoddy elder living in Sipayik , Maine, has been an important resource for

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1696-507: The countryside copious numbers of furbearing animals and wildlife for pelts and skins. Lumbering supplied white and red oak staves for both the lime burning business in Saint John and the rum and molasses trade in the West Indies. In the late 1770s and early 1780s the Maugerville settlers produced wooden structural components, including white ash oar rafters, for the British navy. The products of

1749-601: The governor of Nova Scotia, from granting Indigenous lands to British settlers without due process, a procedure that involved the explicit permission of both Indigenous peoples and the British Crown. The vision behind the Proclamations was concern by the British Crown that "settlers could not be trusted to treat Indigenous peoples justly." Prior to these Proclamations, with the expulsion of the Acadians in 1755 from Nova Scotia and

1802-447: The grants to be made in proportion to their ability and the number of persons in their families, but not to exceed 1,000 acres to one person. That a competent quantity of land be allotted for the maintenance of a minister and school-master and also one town lot to each of them in perpetuity." This Royal confirmation marked the creation of the first Crown-approved English settlement on the Saint John River. In respect for Mauger’s assistance

1855-406: The immense alluvial plain on the east side of the Saint John River. The flat at one time had been a component of a lake thirty-five miles in diameter of which nearby Grand Lake was the only vestigial remnant. The rich alluvial soils, free of stones, were exceedingly fertile and composed of fine silt laid down over thousands of years by the annual silt-bearing Saint John River freshet. Within the year

1908-415: The land was becoming well known to wealthy elites, who took advantage of the quality hunting and sport-fishing spots scattered throughout the province. They took all the farmland along the Saint John River, which was previously occupied by the Wolastoqiyik, displacing many Aboriginal people from more than a million and a half acres of prime land. The Wolastoqiyik practised some traditional crafts as late as

1961-454: The local Maugerville economy were bartered for goods supplied by the trading company set up in Saint John, at Portland Point, in the spring of 1764 by James Simonds and James White and others. These merchants carried on business with Newburyport and Boston with boats running between the three ports. During the spring and fall Company sloops went up and down the Saint John River providing Maugerville residents with goods that included everything from

2014-483: The lower Saint John River. In this period, Wolastoqey women took over a larger share of the economic burden and began to farm, raising crops which previously had been grown only south of Wolastoqey territory. Men continued to hunt, though with limited success. They became useful allies to the French as support against the English. For a short period during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Wolastoqey warriors were engaged frequently in armed conflict, becoming virtually

2067-419: The mid 1770s, 80 families were living in Maugerville. Location on the Saint John River afforded the early settlers in Maugerville access to trade goods from New England. The economy of early Maugerville was centered on agriculture, lumbering, fishing and the fur trade. Settlers were able to produce quantities of agricultural produce beyond the needs of their community. The River contained an abundance of fish and

2120-425: The middle reaches of the Saint John River. The French explorers were the first to establish a fur trade with the Wəlastəkwewiyik, which became important in their territory. Some European goods were desired because they were useful to Wəlastəkwewiyik subsistence and culture. The French Jesuits also established missions, where some Wəlastəkwewiyik converted to Catholicism . After years of colonialism, many learned

2173-467: The pre-1759 site of the French settlement of St. Anne’s. However, early British maps of the area failed to illustrate the presence of the Wəlastəkwiyik settlements on the River, including the settlement at Sitansisk and their down-river hunting territories. In a series of Peace and Friendship Treaties between representatives of the Wəlastəkwiyik and British colonial officials in Nova Scotia, between 1725 and 1760,

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2226-469: The program. The Institute has the goal of helping Native American students master their native languages. The linguist Philip LeSourd has done extensive research on the language . The Houlton Band of Maliseet was invited to take a nonvoting seat in the Maine Legislature , starting with the 126th Legislature in 2013. Henry John Bear , a treaty rights educator, tribal lawyer, fisherman and forester,

2279-798: The rebellion continued at the nearby Battle of Fort Cumberland .) In 1779, Maugerville was raided again by Maliseets working with John Allan in Machias, Maine . A vessel was captured and two or three residents' homes were plundered. In response, a blockhouse was built at the mouth of Oromocto River named Fort Hughes (named after the Lt. Governor of NS Sir Richard Hughes ). 45°52′14″N 66°26′48″W  /  45.87055556°N 66.44666667°W  / 45.87055556; -66.44666667 Maliseet The Wolastoqiyik , also Wəlastəkwewiyik , Malecite or Maliseet ( English: / ˈ m æ l ə s iː t / ) are an Algonquian -speaking First Nation of

2332-447: The same language. Typically they are not differentiated for study. In 1907, Natalie Curtis collected and published two traditional Wolastoqey songs: a dance song and a love song. As transcribed by Curtis, the love song demonstrates a meter cycle of seven bars and switches between major and minor tonality. Many other songs were recorded by anthropologist William H. Mechling, whose wax cylinder recordings of Wolastoqey songs are held by

2385-456: The subsequent fall of Louisburg in 1758, Nova Scotia Governor Lawrence, advertised in the Boston Gazette of October 1758, for settlers to people and cultivate the land vacated by the Acadians and any other parts of "this valuable province." Shortly after Lawrence’s invitation, Colonel Alexander McNutt, deputy for Thomas Hancock, Lawrence’s Boston agent, encouraged a group of retired officers of

2438-432: The theft of three million acres of Indigenous territory from Native peoples in Nova Scotia, half of that being stolen from the Wəlastəkwiyik along the Saint John River, including the township of Maugerville. All that would be reserved for the Wəlastəkwiyik was a "paltry 704 acres, 700 on the island and mainland at Ekwpakhak plus 4 acres at Sitansisk for a church," just above present day Fredericton. A generation later many of

2491-430: The women gathered and processed fruits, berries, nuts and natural produce. The men contributed by fishing and hunting, and the women cooked these finds. Written accounts in the early 17th century, such as those of Samuel de Champlain and Marc LesCarbot , refer to a large Wolastoqey village at the mouth of the Saint John River. Later in the century, sources indicate their headquarters had shifted upriver to Meductic , on

2544-416: Was a Miꞌkmaq word believed to mean "He speaks slowly," or differently, and was term that Miꞌkmaq people used to describe people from other nations. The meaning of the word today is unknown but it is commonly mistranslated to "he speaks badly, lazy, or broken". This term is the exonym by which the Miꞌkmaq people referred to this group when speaking to early Europeans. The French met the Miꞌkmaq people before

2597-922: Was a linguist missionary who translated some Bible Selections into Wolastoqey which were published in 1863 and then the Gospel of John in 1870. The Wolastoqiyik of New Brunswick struggled with problems of unemployment and poverty common to Indigenous people elsewhere in Canada, but they have evolved a sophisticated system of decision making and resource allocation . They support community enterprises in economic development, scouting and sports. Some are successful in middle and higher education and have important trade and professional standings; individuals and families are prominent in Indigenous and women's rights; and others serve in provincial and federal native organizations, in government and in community development. There were 4,659 registered Wolastoqiyik in 1996. The customs and language of

2650-503: Was elected by his people to this seat. There have been centuries of intermarriage between the Wolastoqiyik and European colonists and settlers. Surnames associated with Wolastoqey ancestry include: Denis, Sabattis, Gabriel, Saulis, Atwin, Launière, Athanase, Nicholas, Brière, Bear, Ginnish, Jenniss, Solis, Vaillancourt, Wallace, Paul, Polchies, Tomah, Sappier, Perley, Aubin, Francis, Sacobie, Nash, Meuse . Also included are DeVoe, DesVaux, DeVou, DeVost, DeVot, DeVeau . The Wolastoqiyik own

2703-525: Was granted authority by the Government of Nova Scotia to survey a twelve-square mile township on the Saint John River, "wherever it might be found fit for improvement." On May 19, 1762, Captain Francis Peabody, Jacob Barker and Israel Perley arrived at the present day city of Saint John and after deeming a number of properties near the harbor unfit for settlement, travelled ninety miles up the River to St Anne’s point. They commenced to survey their township, which

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2756-399: Was granted with King George III confirming: "The Governor of Nova Scotia is ordered to cause the land upon which they are settled to be laid out in a Township consisting of 100,000 acres, 12 miles square, one side to front on the river. Also to reserve a site for a town with a sufficient number of lots, with reservations for a church, town-house, public quays and wharves and other public uses;

2809-428: Was to extend twelve miles below that point. However, Wəlastəkwiyik from a Native village just above St Anne’s, with the help of an interpreter, advised the survey party that "they were trespassers on their rights; that the country belonged to them and unless they retired immediately they would compel them to do so." The survey party replied that they had received authority to survey and settle any land they should choose on

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