Teaching Everyone to Care for Our Territory

Keki’namuanen Msit Wen Wlo’tmnen Nmaqami’kminu was named by Mi’gmaq Elders who, like their Ancestors, come from the land. The name means, “teaching everyone to care for our territory.” Since time immemorial the Mi’gmaq of New Brunswick have honored Mother Earth. Archeological evidence from the Augustine Mound and Oxbow Site at Metepenagiag First Nation for example, proves over 3000 years of continuous occupation. By the mid-1700’s the Covenant Chain of the Peace and Friendship Treaties were signed by the Wabanaki Confederacy, followed by the Royal Proclamation in 1763. The proclamation forbade the Crown from granting, settling, or purchasing unceded lands. The territorial application of the proclamation is still held by the Supreme Court of Canada today and the treaties were reaffirmed by Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution in 1982. The Mi’gmaq of New Brunswick never ceded title or control of lands and waters, yet the original reserve lands set aside for First Nations in New Brunswick were only one percent of their original territory. As an Indigenous Land Trust, Keki’namuanen Msit Wen Wlo’tmnen Nmaqami’kminu is bringing territorial land back to its rightful caretakers so it can be nurtured in the way the Ancestors did for the benefit of all New Brunswickers.