It delineates seven independent Mi'kmaq Districts, which cover all of the Canadian Provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, north of the Saint John River, Quebec, the Gaspe region, and the Northern part of the State of Maine, USA.
It argues that pre-contact Mi'kmaq people enjoyed what was probably the highest standard of living in the world, without poverty or hunger, and with a social environment that valued community well-being.
One reviewer has described the book as "a Canadian version of Dee Brown's best seller Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee", a seminal work published in 1971.
[1] January 31, 2023 Review by Professor Geoffrey Plank, January 31, 2023 School of History University of East Anglia Norwich, England NR4 7TJ We Were Not the Savages is something rare and wonderful, a comprehensive history of an indigenous American people, written by a member of the nation, covering in detail the times before European colonisation, the brutal period of conquest, and the struggle for justice that continues to the present day.
Every story within it is either carefully documented with citations to archival material or scholarly sources, or else deeply informed by Paul’s personal experience and what he has learned from his neighbours.