Tobique First Nation

Last updated

Tobique First Nation
Wolastoqiyik Neqotkuk
Canada New Brunswick location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Coordinates: 46°48′N67°36′W / 46.8°N 67.6°W / 46.8; -67.6
CountryCanada
Province New Brunswick
County Victoria County
Established1801
Government
  ChiefRoss Perley [1]
  CouncilShane Perley-Dutcher
Edwin Bernard
Aaron Nicholas
Julian Moulton
Tim Nicholas-McDougall
Tina Martin
Adam Saulis
Richard Moulton
Brad Sappier
Kim Perley
Jasmine Pirie
Donald Hafke
  MPTJ Harvey (Lib)
  Provincial RepresentativesHon. Margaret Johnson (PC)
Area
  Land27.24 km2 (10.52 sq mi)
Population
 (December 31, 2008)
  Total1,948
  [2]
Time zone UTC-4 (Atlantic (AST))
  Summer (DST) UTC-3 (ADT)
Postal code span:

Tobique First Nation (Malecite-Passamaquoddy : Wolastoqiyik Neqotkuk) is one of six Wolastoqiyik or Maliseet Nation reserves in New Brunswick, Canada.

Contents

The Tobique Reserve is located on the north side of the Tobique River. The reserve comprises two lots (The Brother's # 18, 4 ha; Tobique # 20, 2724 ha). The Tobique Reserve, established in 1801 with nearly 20,000 acres, was granted after a petition to the government by band members. [3] Over the years, the reserve was reduced by surrenders to squatters and a major surrender in 1892. Roughly two-thirds of members of the Tobique First Nation reside on the reserve lands. [2]

In 2009 the government accepted the Tobique Specific Land Claim related to 10,533 acres which they claimed to have lost in the invalid surrender of 1892. The federal government and First Nation, in collaboration with the provincial government, will be negotiating a settlement compensation package. No existing landowners will be disturbed.

History

Photograph of a Maliseet camp in Tobique in 1865 (by George Taylor). Tobique 1865.jpg
Photograph of a Maliseet camp in Tobique in 1865 (by George Taylor).

An 1854 survey established that the original Tobique reserve had an area of 18,394 acres. [4] The Tobique lost 2,539 acres in the town of Perth due to squatters pre- and post-confederation. In addition, they argue under the Tobique Specific Land Claim (see sections below) that they lost 10,433 acres in the alleged 1892 Surrender. [4]

1892 Surrender Claim

In 1890 the government of New Brunswick attempted to open a large portion of the Tobique Reserve for settlement by non-Aboriginal peoples. In order to move towards this goal, the government of New Brunswick conducted a land surrender in 1892. But, the surrender was conducted without the consent of the Order in Council, a necessary step in the surrender process. The surrender concerned land "south of the Tobique river saving and excepting a tract of two hundred acres on the south-side designated as Indian Meadows." The government sold most of the land to individuals, except for 169 acres (68 ha), which was returned to the Tobique band in 1965. [4]

The Tobique First Nation has been working on the issues of land claims. It has filed two specific claims suits: one for the 2,539 acres lost in the town of Perth; and one for more than 10,000 acres lost in the 1892 surrender, which amounted to nearly two-thirds of its land. [4] [5]

On May 23, 2008 Canada accepted only the second as the Tobique Specific Land Claim for negotiation on the basis of its lawful obligation due to an invalid surrender. [3] Under the terms of negotiation, the government and First Nation have three years to reach agreement on a compensation package for the claim. Existing property owners will not be affected, as settlement does not include expropriation. [5] Under the Specific Claim Policy, the First Nation is entitled to be compensated for the Current Unimproved Market Value of the Claim Lands and Compensation for Loss of Use, the reasonable and probable Loss of Use that occurred because of the breach, from July 1, 1867 to 2009. [4]

Confrontation with New Brunswick Power Corporation

The Tobique First Nation and the New Brunswick Power Corporation (NB Power) (a Crown corporation) have had a long history of confrontation over uses of the land and waters. The First Nation rejected the company's bid to construct a hydro-electric dam on the Tobique River in 1844, and in 1895. By 1945 the provincial and federal governments had started development of a dam on the Tobique River, the Tobique Narrows Dam. [6]

In 1950 the Premier of New Brunswick approved the construction of the Mactaquac Dam in south-central New Brunswick without the consent of the Tobique First Nation, the legal landowners. It was put into service in 1953. [7] Despite a longstanding (1945) offer from Tobique to settle all disputes in exchange for unlimited use of the dam's power within Tobique for all domestic uses [and] business on the reservation. According to many reports, "this was never honoured. As soon as the community had power lines, they received power bills. The Band Council paid these bills for Elders and community members on social assistance." [8] In 2008 the Tobique began to refuse to pay for the electricity generated by the plant on their land. They have said the damming of the river has created environmental problems. [6]

In 2008 the Tobique began a protest, refusing to pay the "bills" from NB Power. In addition, they demanded that the company remove from the reserve construction debris, including barrels filled with toxic pesticides and herbicides, and PCBs, that dated to the dam's construction. When the company threatened to cut off power to the reserve, a number of residents set up a blockade at the dam, requiring NB Power trucks to register with the Nation before entry. In 2009 tensions escalated when an NB Power truck did not stop at a road block. Members of the Nation seized the NB Power truck. [7]

On June 30, 2009, the provincial Minister of Aboriginal Affairs committed to funding the clean-up of toxic and other wastes dumped at and around the dam, as well as restoration of eroded riverbanks, further damages noted by the Tobique. The effects of the dams on the St. John's River have been to drastically reduce the Atlantic Salmon run, cutting into the ability of the Tobique to feed themselves and adversely affecting the local economy. [6]

As the blockade entered its third month in the summer of 2009, Ottawa’s Department of Justice accepted the Tobique First Nation’s specific land claim for negotiation. It is likely to be one of the largest in Atlantic Canada. The Tobique wanted to negotiate some sharing of benefits from the dam, with some portion of electricity available at least to reserve residents but preferably also for resale. [6] [9]

An offer by New Brunswick Power to resolve the dispute by offering up to 5 megawatts of power from the dam, which produces approximately 20 megawatts, is under consideration. However, with modern run of the river hydroelectric technology, the power potential of the river is very much greater, in hundreds of megawatts.

Notable people

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodstock, New Brunswick</span> Town on the Saint John River, western New Brunswick, Canada

Woodstock is a town in Carleton County, New Brunswick, Canada on the Saint John River, 103 km upriver from Fredericton at the mouth of the Meduxnekeag River. It is near the Canada–United States border and Houlton, Maine and the intersection of Interstate 95 and the Trans-Canada Highway making it a transportation hub. It is also a service centre for the potato industry and for more than 26,000 people in the nearby communities of Hartland, Florenceville-Bristol, Centreville, Bath and Lakeland Ridges for shopping, employment and entertainment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perth-Andover</span> Place in New Brunswick, Canada

Perth-Andover is a former village in Victoria County, New Brunswick, Canada. It held village status prior to 2023. It is now part of the village of Southern Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint John River (Bay of Fundy)</span> River defining parts of the border of Maine and New Brunswick

The Saint John River is a 673-kilometre-long (418 mi) river flowing within the Dawnland region from headwaters in the Notre Dame Mountains near the Maine-Quebec border through western New Brunswick to the northwest shore of the Bay of Fundy. Eastern Canada's longest river, its drainage basin is one of the largest on the east coast at about 55,000 square kilometres (21,000 sq mi). This “River of the Good Wave” and its tributary drainage basin formed the territorial countries of the Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy First Nations prior to European colonization, and it remains a cultural centre of the Wabanaki Confederacy to this day.

The Wolastoqiyik, also Wəlastəkwewiyik, Malecite or Maliseet are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mactaquac Dam</span> Dam in York County, New Brunswick

The Mactaquac Dam is an embankment dam used to generate hydroelectricity in Mactaquac, New Brunswick. It dams the waters of the Saint John River and is operated by NB Power with a capacity to generate 670 megawatts of electricity from 6 turbines; this represents 20 percent of New Brunswick's power demand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NB Power</span> Electric utility company

New Brunswick Electric Power Corporation, operating as NB Power, is the primary electric utility in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. NB Power is a vertically-integrated Crown corporation by the government of New Brunswick and is responsible for the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. NB Power serves all the residential and industrial power consumers in New Brunswick, with the exception of those in Saint John, Edmundston and Perth-Andover who are served by Saint John Energy, Energy Edmundston, and the Perth-Andover Electric Light Commission, respectively.

Mary Sandra Lovelace Nicholas is a former Canadian senator representing New Brunswick. Sitting with the Progressive Senate Group, she was the first Indigenous woman appointed to the Senate. As an activist on behalf of First Nations women and children, she received international recognition in 1979 for bringing her case to the United Nations Human Rights Committee. In 1985 she succeeded in having Parliament revoke a discriminatory section of the Indian Act, which had caused women marrying non-Aboriginals to lose status and also deprived their children of status but did not treat men the same who married non-Aboriginal women.

The Tobique River is a river in northwestern New Brunswick, Canada. The river rises from Nictau Lake in Mount Carleton Provincial Park and flows for 148 kilometres to its confluence with the Saint John River near Perth-Andover.

The Tobique Narrows Dam is a hydroelectric dam built on the Tobique River in the Canadian province of New Brunswick and operated by NB Power corporation. Its powerhouse has a capacity of 20 megawatts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenney Dam</span> Dam in British Columbia, Canada

The Kenney Dam is a rock-fill embankment dam on the Nechako River in northwestern British Columbia, built in the early 1950s. The impoundment of water behind the dam forms the Nechako Reservoir, which is also commonly known as the Ootsa Lake Reservoir. The dam was constructed to power an aluminum smelter in Kitimat, British Columbia by Alcan, although in the late 1980s the company increased their economic activity by selling excess electricity across North America. The development of the dam caused various environmental problems along with the displacement of the Cheslatta T'En First Nation, whose traditional land was flooded.

The First Nations of New Brunswick, Canada number more than 16,000, mostly Miꞌkmaq and Maliseet (Wolastoqiyik). Although the Passamaquoddy maintain a land claim at Saint Andrews, New Brunswick and historically occurred in New Brunswick, they have no reserves in the province, and have no official status in Canada.

Hydro-Québec is a government-owned public utility established in 1944 by the Government of Quebec. The company is in charge of the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity across Quebec. Its head office is located in Montreal.

Graydon Nicholas is a Canadian attorney, judge, and politician who served as the appointed 30th Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick (2009-2014). He is the first Indigenous person to hold the office, the first to be appointed as a provincial court judge, and the first in Atlantic Canada to obtain a law degree.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perth Parish, New Brunswick</span> Parish in New Brunswick, Canada

Perth is a geographic parish in Victoria County, New Brunswick, Canada.

The proposed sale of NB Power was an attempted takeover of New Brunswick's Crown corporation public utility assets by Hydro-Québec, Canada's largest utility. Announced on October 29, 2009, by premiers Shawn Graham of New Brunswick and Jean Charest of Quebec, the deal ultimately collapsed in March 2010 after months of controversy.

Madawaska Maliseet First Nation or St. Basile 10 band is one of six Wolastoqiyik or Maliseet Nations on the Saint John River in Canada. The Madawaska Maliseet First Nation (MMFN) territory is in Northern New Brunswick. The MMFN reserve is located 1.6 km east of Edmundston in the north-western region of New Brunswick. The band membership has 350 people. About 114 members of the MMFN live on the St. Basile no. 10 reserve. They are part of the Saint John River Valley Tribal Council. Family names include Bernard, Cimon, Francis, and Wallace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peace and Friendship Treaties</span> Peace treaties between various bands of the Miꞌkmaq and the British in Halifax, Nova Scotia

The Peace and Friendship Treaties were a series of written documents that Britain signed bearing the Authority of Great Britain between 1725 and 1779 with various Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet), Abenaki, Penobscot, and Passamaquoddy peoples living in parts of what are now the Maritimes and Gaspé region in Canada and the northeastern United States. Primarily negotiated to reaffirm the peace after periods of war and to facilitate trade, these treaties remain in effect to this day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Dutcher</span> Canadian musician

Jeremy Dutcher is a classically-trained Canadian Indigenous tenor, composer, musicologist, performer and activist, who previously lived in Toronto, Ontario and currently lives in Montréal, Québec. He became widely known for his first album Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, which won the 2018 Polaris Music Prize and the Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year at the 2019 Juno Awards.

Indigenous specific land claims in Canada, also called specific claims, are long-standing land claims made by First Nations against the Government of Canada pertaining to Canada's legal obligations to indigenous communities.

The Brothers 18 is a Wolastoqey (Wəlastəkwey) First Nation reserve in Canada located upon a group of small islands in the mouth of the Kennebecasis River in Saint John County, New Brunswick. The reserve was first returned to the Wolastoqiyik on September 19, 1838, and it quickly became a busy settlement where Wolastoqey (Wəlastəkwey) families cleared land, cultivated crops, built homes, and accessed other resources. The reserve is presently composed of two islands and has an area of about 10 acres, however, an 1842 report from The Royal Gazette mentions there being a reserve known as the "Brothers", consisting of three islands and encompassing 15 acres in total.

References

  1. "Chief & Council". Wolastoqiyik Neqotkuk: Tobique First Nation. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Tobique Band", Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
  3. 1 2 "Backgrounder - Tobique First Nation – 1892 Surrender Claim", Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Background and History of the Claim", Tobique Land Rights: No Consent and No Surrender, Official Website, accessed 25 November 2011
  5. 1 2 "Compensation talks for Tobique First Nation to begin in October"], CBC, 17 June 2008, accessed 25 November 2011
  6. 1 2 3 4 Daniel Thau-Elaff, “Pack Up and Get Out,”, The Dominion, 29 August 2009, accessed 25 November 2011
  7. 1 2 "Tobique Protest NB Power", CBC, 30 June 2009
  8. "Why the Tobique First Nation took control of their territory's hydro dam | Mobilization for Climate Justice". www.actforclimatejustice.org. Archived from the original on 2009-09-13.
  9. "Deal ends First Nation protest over hydro dams".
  10. "Schooling In the Language - Dr. Andrea Bear Nicholas's Programme to Revitalize Maliseet", St. Thomas University, 24 october 2010
  11. 1 2 Urban Rez Productions Official Website