Most of the members reside on the federal native reserve that was set aside by the legislature of Lower Canada in 1853, for the exclusive use of the majority of Mi'kmaq in this region.

The remaining Mi'kmaq live off-reserve in the eastern United States and across Canada, but stay connected to the community through modern communications and travel.

Together, their elected chiefs advance ancestral claims to self-government and to the traditional territory called Gespe'gewa'gi ('Kespékewáki), the last land.

Gespe'gewa'gi is the Mi'kmaq Nation District that extends from the Miramichi River to the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, a land area that straddles the modern day Quebec–New Brunswick border.

Political representatives of the Mi'kmaq of Gesgapegiag and the greater district of Gespe'gewa'gi continue talks with the Government of Quebec over access to traditional lands.