Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation

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Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation
Canada New Brunswick location map 2.svg
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Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation
Location of Metepenagiag in New Brunswick
Coordinates: 46°56′00″N65°49′00″W / 46.93333°N 65.81667°W / 46.93333; -65.81667 Coordinates: 46°56′00″N65°49′00″W / 46.93333°N 65.81667°W / 46.93333; -65.81667
Country Canada
Province New Brunswick
County Northumberland County
Established 1783
Government
 • Chief Bill Ward
 • Council Laurie Watson
Alan Blowers
Lawrence Ward
Kevin Levi
Jimmy Peter-Paul
 • MLAs Jake Stewart (PC)
Robert Trevors (PC)
Area
 • Total 39.07 km2 (15.09 sq mi)
Lowest elevation 0 m (0 ft)
Population (2006) [1] [2]
 • Total 551
Time zone Atlantic (AST) (UTC-4)
 • Summer (DST) ADT (UTC-3)
NTS Map 021I13
Website http://www.metepenagiag.ca/
Postal code span:

Metepenagiag (pronounced MET-EHH-PE-NAH-GHEE-AH) also known as Red Bank is a Mi'kmaq First Nation band government in New Brunswick, Canada on the other side of the Miramichi river from Sunny Corner.

In Canada, the First Nations are the predominant indigenous peoples in Canada south of the Arctic Circle. Those in the Arctic area are distinct and known as Inuit. The Métis, another distinct ethnicity, developed after European contact and relations primarily between First Nations people and Europeans. There are 634 recognized First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.

In Canada, an Indian band or band, sometimes referred to as a First Nation band or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subject to the Indian Act. Bands are typically small groups of people: the largest in the country, the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation had 22,294 members in September 2005, and many have a membership below 100 people. Each First Nation is typically represented by a band council chaired by an elected chief, and sometimes also a hereditary chief. As of 2013, there were 614 bands in Canada. Membership in a band is controlled in one of two ways: for most bands, membership is obtained by becoming listed on the Indian Register maintained by the government. As of 2013, there were 253 First Nations which had their own membership criteria, so that not all Status Indians are members of a band.

Contents

Pre-history

Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation are located at the head of tide of the Miramichi River. For thousands of years Mi’kmaq communities along New Brunswick’s northeastern shore lived near tidal estuaries where tidal saltwater flows inland and creates an ecosystem for "anadromous fish species such as salmon, sturgeon, gaspereau or alewife, striped bass, and eel, that seasonally move up the estuaries in large numbers." Some of these species spawned above the ‘head of tide’ and up the freshwater streams. [3] [4]

Although officially recognised in 1783, Metepenagiag has been home to a Mi'kmaq community for over 3000 years, [5] making it the oldest continuously settled community in New Brunswick.

Augustine Mound

Evidence for the age of the community was revealed in 1972 by Joseph Mike Augustine. After reading a 1972 National Geographic article about an ancient burial mound in Arizona, Augustine recalled the mound where his father had taken him near his home. [6] The mound was on the caribou hunting trail that he and his father used regularly and they stopped to rest there.

Joseph Michael Augustine was a native leader and historian of the Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation. He discovered the Augustine Mound, which bears his name.

"They'd make a fire and have some tea or a bit of something to eat, and Augustine's father would tell him of the history of this place. In times past, his father would say, Indians would celebrate here, building a fire in the centre of the mound and dancing around it. It was those Indians, his father said, who built the mound."
— Petten, 1995

The artifacts found at the site (the Augustine Mound), and a second nearby site (the Oxbow site) demonstrated that Metepenagiag had been continuously inhabited for over 3000 years, [5] and that the community enjoyed trading relationships with other First Nations communities, stretching as far west as the Ohio River Valley.

Ohio River river in the midwestern United States

The Ohio River is a 981-mile (1,579 km) long river in the midwestern United States that flows southwesterly from western Pennsylvania south of Lake Erie to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illinois. It is the second largest river by discharge volume in the United States and the largest tributary by volume of the north-south flowing Mississippi River that divides the eastern from western United States. The river flows through or along the border of six states, and its drainage basin includes parts of 15 states. Through its largest tributary, the Tennessee River, the basin includes several states of the southeastern U.S. It is the source of drinking water for three million people.

There has been some disagreement among residents concerning naming this important cultural and spiritual site, The Augustine Mound. While it was Joe Mike Augustine who first brought attention to the ancient burial site, most residents were aware of its existence. The name also falsely suggests that it is only the resting place of members of the Augustine family. While this is likely true, the mound was likely a community burial site, meaning that many of the oldest families of Metepenagiag have ancestors interred therein. Some feel the much more inclusive "Metepenagiag Mound" would better describe and honor those whose remains lie beneath the mound. [5] [7]

In 1975 the Augustine Mound was designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. The Augustine Mound has similarities to the elaborate burial rites of the Adena culture of the Ohio Valley and contained materials that were not local including copper from Lake Superior area. Turnbull argues that the Red Bank people were part of a broad Northeastern pre-contact trade network. He also suggested that some Maritime people adopted aspects of the Adena culture and religion. [4] [7] Keenlyside claims that Adena culture peoples moved to Atlantic Canada. [4] Ceramic fragments also found at Red Bank are illustrative of the ceramic technology in use by Maritime First Nations 2,500 to 3,000 years ago.

Oxbow

In 1982, the nearby Oxbow archaeological site, located within the reserve land of the Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation on an oxbow bend of the Southwest Miramichi River, [8] was also designated a National Historic Site of Canada for its role as "witness and record of 3000 years of continuous Mi’kmaq use of the site".

The Oxbow "contains evidence of 3,000 years of Mi’kmaq history (from 1,000 BC to the present) on the north bank of the Little Southwest Miramichi River at the head of tide. Annual flooding of the river bank has created a well-stratified site in which the cultural development through time is preserved in multiple layers of sediment. This deep stratigraphic development is virtually unique in Maritime Canada.
— Parks Canada

Over 100 additional archaeological sites have been discovered in the area since 1975. Metepenagiaq First Nations now has their Metepenagiag Heritage Park. [5] [9] [10]

History

Although the Red Bank Band lands established by the New Brunswick Order-in-Council in 1808 comprised 10,000 acres, settlers and squatters occupied almost all of allocated land by the late 1830s. Only the village at Red Bank and the back wood lots were left for the Band. Under the Specific Claims Policy (2005), it was found that the 1895 alleged surrender of land was invalid and the Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation negotiated for more land. [1]

Notable people

See also

Further reading

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. 1 2 AANDC (15 September 2010). "Backgrounder - Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation". Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  2. ↑ "2006 Aboriginal Population Profile: Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation". Indian and Northern Affairs. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  3. ↑ Leavitt, R. M. (1995). Maliseet & Micmac: First Nations of the Maritimes. Sackville, New Brunswick: Tribune Printing.
  4. 1 2 3 David Keenlyside (1999). "Burial Mounds and Trade Networks". Glimpses of Atlantic Canada’s Past. Gatineau, Quebec: Canadian Museum of Civilization. Retrieved 30 August 2013.originally published in Revista de Arqueología Americana, no. 16, 1999.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Allen, Patricia Marlene (1994). "Metepenagiag: New Brunswick's Oldest Village". Fredericton and Red Bank: Goose Lane Editions and Red Bank First Nation.
  6. ↑ Cheryl Petten (1995). "Joe Augustine - Footprints". AMMSA. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  7. 1 2 Turnbull, C. J. (1976). "The Augustine Site: a Mound from the Maritimes". Archaeology of Eastern North America. 4: 50–62.
  8. ↑ PC. "Oxbow National Historic Site of Canada, Red Bank Indian Reserve". Parks Canada. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
  9. ↑ "Metepenagiag Heritage Park". Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
  10. ↑ "Metepenagiag Website". Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation. Retrieved August 8, 2008.
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