Wolastoqiyik
The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, based on the Meduxnekeag River in the Maine portion of their historical homeland, are—since 19 July 1776—the first foreign treaty allies with the United States of America.
Their lands and resources are bounded on the east by the Miꞌkmaq people, on the west by the Penobscot, and on the south by the Passamaquoddy, who also still speak related Algonquian languages.
Written accounts in the early 17th century, such as those of Samuel de Champlain and Marc LesCarbot, refer to a large Wolastoqey village at the mouth of the Saint John River.
Local histories depict many encounters with the Iroquois, five powerful nations based south and east of the Great Lakes, and the Innu located to the north.
Despite devastating population losses to European infectious diseases, to which they had no immunity, these Atlantic First Nations held on to their traditional coastal or river locations for hunting, fishing and gathering.
As both the French and English increased the number of their settlers in North America, their competition grew for control of the fur trade and physical territory.
The lucrative eastern fur trade faltered with the general unrest, as French and English hostilities concentrated in the region between Québec and Port-Royal.
For a short period during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Wolastoqey warriors were engaged frequently in armed conflict, becoming virtually a military organization.
[11] They took all the farmland along the Saint John River, which was previously occupied by the Wolastoqiyik, displacing many Aboriginal people from more than a million and a half acres of prime land.
In making wood, bark or basketry items, or in guiding, trapping and hunting, the Wolastoqiyik identified as engaging in "Indian work".
With evidence that many Wolastoqiyik suffered widespread hunger and were wandering, government officials established the first Indian reserves at The Brothers, Oromocto, Fredericton, Kingsclear, Woodstock, Tobique, Madawaska (pre-1800s), and Cacouna.
The Wolastoqiyik of New Brunswick struggled with problems of unemployment and poverty common to Indigenous people elsewhere in Canada, but they have evolved a sophisticated system of decision making and resource allocation[citation needed].
Some are successful in middle and higher education and have important trade and professional standings; individuals and families are prominent in Indigenous and women's rights; and others serve in provincial and federal native organizations, in government and in community development.
[17] Today, in New Brunswick, there are approximately 7,700 Wolastoqiyik with status in the Madawaska, Tobique, Woodstock, Kingsclear, Saint Mary's and Oromocto First Nations.
An active program of scholarship on the Wolastoqey-Passamaquoddy language takes place at the Mi'kmaq - Maliseet Institute at the University of New Brunswick, in collaboration with the native speakers.
Surnames associated with Wolastoqey ancestry include: Denis, Sabattis, Gabriel, Saulis, Atwin, Launière, Athanase, Nicholas, Brière, Bear, Ginnish, Jenniss, Solis, Vaillancourt, Wallace, Paul, Polchies, Tomah, Sappier, Perley, Aubin, Francis, Sacobie, Nash, Meuse[citation needed].
[citation needed] Maps showing the approximate locations of areas occupied by members of the Wabanaki Confederacy (from north to south):
