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Who Am I
I am born from the bloodline of The Wolastoqiyik, or Maliseet. We are an Algonquian-speaking Native American/First Nations/ Aboriginal people of the Wabanaki Confederacy. We are the Indigenous people of the Saint John River Valley and its tributaries, between New Brunswick, Quebec, and Maine. In the early days the community spanned both banks of the St. John River, known to the original population of the valley as Wulustuk. We called ourselves Wolastoqiyik after the Wolastoq River at the heart of our territory. (It is now commonly known as the St. John River.) Wolastoq means "Beautiful River." Wolastoqiyik means "People of the Beautiful River," in our language. Maliseet is the name by which the Mi'kmaq people referred to my people when speaking about them to early Europeans. Maliseet was a Mi'kmaq word meaning "broken talkers" or "lazy speakers." The Wolastoqiyik and Mi'kmaq languages are closely related, but the name expressed what the Mi'kmaq perceived to be a sufficiently different dialect as to be called a "broken" version of their own language. Maliseet and the Passamaquoddy spoke the same linguistics of the Algonquin Language.
The Maliseet people were the first contact to the French Colonists who set up fur trading post along the St. John River, as early as the late 1500's. We lived and intermarried for over 150 years before the French and Indian War, which was actually the Wabanaki and the French, fighting against the English. At the end of that War the French ceded what is now the Northern part of Maine to the British. Where the Houlton Band of Maliseet are still living today, along with our sister the Passamaquoddy. Our Homeland in Canada, across the imaginary boarder, has never been ceded. When the British colonized New Brunswick, we were placed on inherited family hunting grounds, as our reserve. My family was one of the 4 founding families of our Nation and since colonization we have been named Malécites or Etchemins by the French, St. Basile reserve #10, Band of Maliseet at Madawaska. Today we are known as the Madawaska Maliseet First Nation. Today... Today, within New Brunswick, approximately 4,000 Maliseet live within the Madawaska, Tobique, Woodstock, Kingsclear, There are also 600 in the Saint Mary's and Oromacto First Nations, Houlton Band in Maine and 1,200 in the Viger First Nation in Quebec. An unknown number of 'off-reserve' Maliseet live throughout Canada and the US. We as a People were nearly eradicated with wars prior to colonization. Today our list of Status Band Members continues to grow because of the discrimination law suits brought on by Sharon McIvor. Legitimate bloodline descendants (of bill c-31) are now allowed to be added to INAC list of Indians. We are still waiting on the Government to make the change to the Indian Act nearly 2 years after Sharon won the discrimination suit. In 1985 women who married outside their race were given their rights back, along with their children. McIvor then won another round with the Indian Act and one generation of these same women's grandchildren will be added to the list. We are still awaiting change to the act to implement this process. We as a Nation have already added these children to our membership; we're not waiting for their time to be known as status band members. We are currently working on our Economic Business Complex at the mouth of TransCanada. Voted in by 78% of our status membership, TransCanada ends on our reserve on the east coast. We plan to be up and operating these businesses within the next 5 years. It is a way to sustain our people and assure the future for our children. Our Current Chief Joanna Bernard is an amazing Maliseet woman. She has been our chief for the past 8 years. She has tripled the housing built for her people and has brought us the EC plan that our Nation has voted in. She was voted in as the President of the Union of New Brunswick Indians in 2010, where she served as vice-president the previous year. Chief Bernard now oversees the well being of 15 First Nations in our providence.
I am a bloodline descendant of a rich and vibrant culture that has for the past 150 years survived the discrimination of the Indian Act, a Genocide/Ethnocide, and Native Residential Schools. Together we are the Voice of this Generation, we are the Guardians of our Children’s Future and we are still here Protecting Mother Earth. The time has come to teach the true history of this land and respect Indigenous People in their own homelands. Even in death we cannot be silenced.
Russ Letica Madawaska Maliseet First Nation
Banner Graphic: www.firstpeople.us
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