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{{Short description|Indigenous people of Canada and the USA}}
{{about|the ethnic group|the Wolastoqey language|Maliseet-Passamaquoddy language}}
{{Use Canadian English|date = March 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date = March 2019}}
{{Indigenous peoples of Canada}}
{{Update|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox ethnonym|person= Wəlastəkwew |people= [[Wolastoqiyik|Wəlastəkwewiyik]] |language=[[Maliseet-Passamaquoddy language|Wəlastəkwey]] |country= [[Dawnland|Wəlastəkok]]{{indent|5}}[[Dawnland|Wabanaki]]}}
The '''Wolastoqiyik'''<ref name="can_enc">{{cite web |title=Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/maliseet |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=5 October 2023}}</ref> ({{IPAc|pqm|wəlastəkʷijik}}), also known as the '''Maliseet''' or '''Malecite''' ({{IPAc-en|lang|pron|ˈ|m|æ|l|ə|s|iː|t}}),<ref>Erickson, Vincent O. (1978). "Maliseet-Passamaquoddy." In ''Northeast'', ed. Bruce G. Trigger. Vol. 15 of ''Handbook of North American Indians'', ed. William C. Sturtevant. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution, pg. 123.</ref> are an [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian]]-speaking [[First Nations in Canada|First Nation]] of the [[Wabanaki Confederacy]]. They are the [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Indigenous people]] of the [[Wolastoq]] ([[Saint John River (Bay of Fundy)|Saint John River]]) valley and its tributaries. Their territory extends across the current borders of [[New Brunswick]] and [[Quebec]] in Canada, and parts of [[Maine]] in the United States.

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. They are a [[federally recognized tribe]] of Wolastoqey people. Today Wolastoqey people have also migrated to other parts of the world. The Wolastoqiyik have occupied areas of forest, river and coastal areas within their 20,000,000-acre, 200-mile-wide, and 600-mile-long homeland in the Saint John River watershed.

==Name==
The people call themselves ''Wəlastəkwewiyik'' and ''Wolastoqiyik'''.<ref name="can_enc"/> ''Wəlastəkw'' means "bright river" or "shining river" ("wəl-" = good, "-as-" shining, "-təkw" = river; "-iyik" = people of). Wəlastəkwiyik therefore simply means "People of the Bright River" in their native language.<ref>''Tales from Maliseet Country: The Maliseet Texts of Karl V. Teeter,'' Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, p. 17, fnote 4</ref> The Wolastoqiyik have long been associated with the Saint John River, from which they draw their name. Their territory still extends as far as the [[Saint Lawrence River]]. Their lands and resources are bounded on the east by the [[Miꞌkmaq|Miꞌkmaq people]], on the west by the [[Penobscot]], and on the south by the [[Passamaquoddy]], who also still speak related [[Algonquian languages]].

''Malesse'jik'' was a [[Miꞌkmaq language|Miꞌkmaq]] word believed to mean "He speaks slowly," or differently, and was a term that Miꞌkmaq people used to describe people from other nations. The meaning of the word today is unknown but it is commonly mistranslated to "he speaks badly, lazy, or broken".<ref>Erickson 1978, pg. 135</ref> This term is the [[exonym]] by which the Miꞌkmaq people referred to this group when speaking to early Europeans. The French met the Miꞌkmaq people before the Wəlastəkwewiyik, and transliterated ''Malesse'jik'' to ''Malécite'', not understanding that it was not their name. The later English colonists anglicized this term as Maliseet.

Beginning in 1758, the terms "Marichites" in French and in English "Maricheets" increased in use.

== Wolastoqey nations ==
* [[Maine]], United States
** [[Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians]] (Metaksonekiyak Wolastoqewiyik)<ref>[https://pmportal.org/dictionary/metaksonekiyak Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Language Portal] - "Metaksonekiyak: ''on or along Meduxnekeag River (Maine and New Brunswick); in the territory of the Houlton Band of Maliseets''</ref>
* [[New Brunswick]], Canada
** [[Kingsclear, New Brunswick|Kingsclear First Nation]] (Bilijk Wəlastəkwewiyik)<ref name="Malécite Du Saint-Laurent">Girard, Camil, and Carl Brisson. Essay. In Alliances Et traités Avec Les Peuples Autochtones Du Québec: L'histoire De La Première Nation Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk: La Nation Malécite Du Saint-Laurent, 148. Québec: Presses de l'Université Laval, 2021.</ref>
** [[Madawaska Maliseet First Nation]] (Matowesekok Wəlastəkwewiyik)<ref name="Malécite Du Saint-Laurent"/>
** [[Oromocto|Oromocto First Nation]] (Welamoktuk)<ref>Betts, Sarah. “Oromocto's All-Weekend Powwow Builds on Last Year's Success | CBC News.” CBC news. CBC/Radio Canada, July 21, 2017. [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/oromocto-pow-wow-full-weekend-1.4216564 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/oromocto-pow-wow-full-weekend-1.4216564].</ref>
** [[St. Mary's First Nation]] (Sitansisk Wolastoqiyik)<ref>[https://stmarysfirstnation.com/ St. Mary’s Wolastoqiyik]</ref>
** [[Tobique First Nation]] (Wolastoqiyik Neqotkuk)<ref>[https://tobiquefirstnation.ca/ Tobique First Nation Website]</ref>
** [[Woodstock First Nation]] (Wetstak)<ref name="Malécite Du Saint-Laurent"/>
* [[Quebec]], Canada
** [[Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk (Viger) First Nation]] (Wahsipekuk)<ref>[https://wolastoqiyikwahsipekuk.ca/ Première Nation Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk]</ref>

==History==
{{Expand section|date=June 2008}}
[[Image:Wohngebiet Maliseet.png|thumb|right|300px| Wolastoqey territory]]

===17th century===
At the time of European encounter, the Wəlastəkwewiyik were living in walled villages and practicing horticulture (corn, beans, squash and tobacco). In addition to cultivating and growing crops, the women gathered and processed fruits, berries, nuts and natural produce. The men contributed by fishing and hunting, and the women cooked these finds. Written accounts in the early 17th century, such as those of [[Samuel de Champlain]] and [[Marc Lescarbot|Marc LesCarbot]], refer to a large Wolastoqey village at the mouth of the Saint John River. Later in the century, sources indicate their headquarters had shifted upriver to [[Meductic Indian Village / Fort Meductic|''Meductic'']], on the middle reaches of the Saint John River.

The French explorers were the first to establish a [[fur trade]] with the Wəlastəkwewiyik, which became important in their territory.  Some European goods were desired because they were useful to Wəlastəkwewiyik subsistence and culture.  The French Jesuits also established missions, where some Wəlastəkwewiyik [[religious conversion|convert]]ed to [[Catholicism]]. After years of colonialism, many learned the [[French language]]. The French called them ''Malécite'', a transliteration of the Mi'kmaq name for the people.

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. Contact with European fisher-traders in the early 17th century and with specialized fur traders developed into a stable relationship which lasted for nearly 100 years. Despite [[Native American disease and epidemics|devastating population losses to European infectious diseases]], to which they had no [[immunity (medical)|immunity]], these Atlantic First Nations held on to their traditional coastal or river locations for hunting, fishing and gathering. They lived along river valleys for trapping.

==== Colonial wars ====
{{main|Military history of the Maliseet}}
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. In addition, wars were carried out that reflected war in Europe. The lucrative eastern fur trade faltered with the general unrest, as French and English hostilities concentrated in the region between Québec and [[Port-Royal (Acadia)|Port-Royal]]. Increasing sporadic fighting and raiding also took place on the lower Saint John River.

In this period, Wolastoqey women took over a larger share of the economic burden and began to farm, raising crops which previously had been grown only south of Wolastoqey territory. Men continued to hunt, though with limited success. They became useful allies to the French as support against the English. 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.

=== 18th century ===
With the gradual cessation of hostilities in the first quarter of the 18th century, and with the beaver supply severely diminished, fur trading declined. There was little possibility for the Wolastoqiyik to return to their traditional ways of life. Their style of seasonal, shifting agriculture on the river was curtailed by the encroachment of European settlers. All the while, the land was becoming well known to wealthy elites, who took advantage of the quality hunting and sport-fishing spots scattered throughout the province.<ref name="Fernwood">{{cite book|editor-last1=Reid|editor-first1=John G.|editor-last2=Savoie|editor-first2=Donald J.|author1=Andrea Bear Nicholas|chapter=Settler Imperialism and the Dispossession of the Maliseet, 1758-1765|title=Shaping an Agenda for Atlantic Canada|date=2011|publisher=Fernwood|location=Winnipeg|page=24}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Fernwood"/>

===19th century===
The Wolastoqiyik practised some traditional crafts as late as the 19th century, especially building [[wigwam]]s and birchbark [[canoe]]s. They had made changes during the previous two centuries while acquiring European metal cutting tools and containers, muskets and alcohol, foods and clothing. In making wood, bark or basketry items, or in guiding, trapping and hunting, the Wolastoqiyik identified as engaging in "Indian work".

The Europeans developed [[potato]] farming in Maine and New Brunswick, which created a new market and demand for Wolastoqey baskets and containers. Other Wolastoqiyik worked in pulp mills, construction, nursing, teaching and business. With evidence that many Wolastoqiyik suffered widespread hunger and were wandering, government officials established the first [[Indian reserve]]s at The Brothers, Oromocto, Fredericton, Kingsclear, Woodstock, Tobique, Madawaska (pre-1800s), and Cacouna.

[[Silas Tertius Rand]] was a linguist missionary who translated some Bible Selections into Wolastoqey which were published in 1863 and then the Gospel of John in 1870.

===20th century===
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|date=October 2018}} They support community enterprises in economic development, scouting and sports. 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. There were 4,659 registered Wolastoqiyik in 1996.

==Culture==
The customs and [[Malecite-Passamaquoddy language|language]] of the Wolastoqiyik are very similar to those of the neighbouring [[Passamaquoddy]] (''Peskotomuhkati''). They are also close to those of the Algonquian-speaking Miꞌkmaq and Penobscot peoples.

The Wəlastəkwewiyik differed from the Miꞌkmaq by pursuing a partial [[Agriculture|agrarian]] economy. They also overlapped territory with neighbouring peoples. The Wəlastəkwewiyik and Passamaquoddy languages are similar enough that linguists consider them slightly different dialects of the same language. Typically they are not differentiated for study.

In 1907, [[Natalie Curtis]] collected and published two traditional Wolastoqey songs: a dance song and a love song.<ref name="Curtis1907">
{{cite book
 | author1 = Natalie Curtis
 | title = The Indians' Book: an offering by the American Indians of Indian lore, musical and narrative, to form a record of the songs and legends of their race
 | publisher = Harper and Brothers Publishers
 | place = New York and London
 | year = 1907
}}</ref>
As transcribed by Curtis, the love song demonstrates a meter cycle of seven bars and switches between major and minor tonality.<ref name="FP">
{{cite web
 |url=http://Flutopedia.com/song_MaliseetLoveSong.htm
 |title=Maliseet Love Song
 |author=Clint Goss
 |year=2013
 |work=Flutopedia
 |accessdate=2013-11-22
}}</ref>

Many other songs were recorded by anthropologist William H. Mechling, whose wax cylinder recordings of Wolastoqey songs are held by the [[Canadian Museum of History]].<ref name=future>[http://exclaim.ca/music/article/jeremy_dutchers_innovative_wolastoqiyik_lintuwakonawa_is_really_about_the_future "Jeremy Dutcher's Innovative 'Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa' Is Really About the Future"]. ''[[Exclaim!]]'', April 16, 2018.</ref> Many of these songs were lost to the community, as the pressures to assimilate into mainstream Canadian culture led the Wolastoqiyik to stop passing their songs on to youth; in the 2010s, however, Wolastoqew musician [[Jeremy Dutcher]] undertook a project of listening to the wax cylinder recordings and reviving the songs.<ref name=future/> His album ''[[Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa]]'' was released in 2018, and won the [[2018 Polaris Music Prize]].<ref>[https://exclaim.ca/music/article/jeremy_dutcher-2018_polaris_music_prize_winner "Jeremy Dutcher Wins 2018 Polaris Music Prize"]. ''[[Exclaim!]]'', September 17, 2018.</ref>

=== Ethnobotany ===
The Wolastoqiyik use the [[balsam fir]] tree (''[[Abies balsamea]]'') in many ways. Its juice is a laxative,<ref>Mechling, W.H., 1959, "The Malecite Indians With Notes on the Micmacs", ''Anthropologica'' 8, nos. 239–63, page 244</ref> its pitch is medical,<ref name=speck_dexter>Speck, Frank G. and R.W. Dexter, 1952, Utilization of Animals and Plants by the Malecite Indians of New Brunswick, Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 42, nos. 1-7, page 6.</ref> and an infusion of its bark, sometimes mixed spruce and tamarack bark, can treat [[gonorrhea]].<ref>Mechling, W.H., 1959, "The Malecite Indians With Notes on the Micmacs", ''Anthropologica'' 8, nos. 239–63, page 257.</ref> They have used the fir's needles and branches as pillows and bedding, the roots as thread, and its pitch to waterproof seams in canoes.<ref name=speck_dexter/>

==Current situation==
{{more citations needed|date=April 2015}}
Today, in New Brunswick, there are approximately 7,700 Wolastoqiyik with status in the [[Madawaska Maliseet First Nation|Madawaska]], [[Tobique First Nation|Tobique]], [[Woodstock First Nation|Woodstock]], [[Kingsclear First Nation|Kingsclear]], [[St. Mary's First Nation|Saint Mary's]] and [[Oromocto First Nation|Oromocto]] [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]].<ref>{{cite web |title=First Nations Communities |url=https://www2.gnb.ca/content/gnb/en/departments/aboriginal_affairs/fnc.html |website=New Brunswick Aboriginal Affairs |date=June 3, 2010 |accessdate=9 October 2019}}</ref> There are also 1700 in the [[Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians|Houlton Band]] in Maine, and 1200 in the {{ill|Viger First Nation|fr|Première Nation Wolastoqiyik Wahsipekuk|vertical-align=sup}} in Quebec. The Brothers is a reserve made up of two islands in the Kennebecasis River; they are uninhabited but available for hunting and fishing.

About 650 native speakers of Wolastoqey remain, and about 500 of Passamaquoddy, living on both sides of the border between New Brunswick and Maine.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}} Most are older, although some young people have begun studying and preserving the language.  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. David Francis Sr., a Passamaquoddy elder living in [[Sipayik]], Maine, has been an important resource for the program. The institute has the goal of helping Native American students master their native languages. The [[linguist]] [[Philip LeSourd]] has done extensive research on the language{{example needed|date=October 2014}}.

The Houlton Band of Maliseet was invited to take a nonvoting seat in the [[Maine Legislature]], starting with the 126th Legislature in 2013. [[Henry John Bear]], a treaty rights educator, tribal lawyer, fisherman and forester, was elected by his people to this seat.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bayly|first=Julia|title=King will caucus with Senate Democrats|url=http://bangordailynews.com/2013/01/26/politics/houlton-maliseet-first-elected-tribal-representative-to-maine-house-looking-forward-to-session/|newspaper=Bangor Daily News|date=January 26, 2012}}</ref>

There have been centuries of intermarriage between the Wolastoqiyik and European colonists and settlers. 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|date=October 2014}} Also included are DeVoe, DesVaux, DeVou, DeVost, DeVot, DeVeau.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

The Wolastoqiyik own the [[Kataskomiq]] reserve.{{citation needed|date=August 2023}}

==Notable Wolastoqiyik==
*[[Gabriel Acquin]] was the founder of the Reserve created in 1867, which is now part of [[St. Mary's First Nation]].
*[[Sarah Anala]], social worker, awardee of the [[Order of Canada]] and the [[Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal]]
*[[Noel Bear]], active during the "Aroostook War" of (1838–39)
*[[Noël Bernard (Malecite leader)|Noël Bernard]], Wolastoqew leader; fl. 1781–1801
*[[Jeremy Dutcher]], musician, winner of the [[2018 Polaris Music Prize]] for his album ''[[Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa]]''
*[[Shayne Michael]], poet
*[[Graydon Nicholas]] was the [[Lieutenant Governor]] of [[New Brunswick]], Canada, from 2009 to 2014. In this [[Viceroy|Viceregal]] position he acted as the Queen's representative in the province.
*[[Sandra Lovelace Nicholas]], a Wolastoqew activist, is known for challenging discriminatory provisions of the ''[[Indian Act]]'' in [[Canada]], which deprived [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|Aboriginal]] or [[Indigenous peoples|Indigenous]] women of their status when they married non-Aboriginals.  It imposed a patriarchal idea of descent and identity on peoples who traditionally had [[matrilineal]] kinship systems, whereby children belonged to the mother's people and took their social status from her family.  Nicholas was instrumental in bringing the case before the [[United Nations Human Rights Commission]] and lobbying for the 1985 legislation which reinstated some rights of First Nation women and their children in Canada via Bill C31 (1985). Retaining Aboriginal status for future generations is still an issue for the Wolastoqiyik and all Aboriginal groups. Nicholas was appointed to the [[Senate of Canada]] on September 21, 2005<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.liberal.ca/senators_e.aspx?id=15916 |title=Liberal.ca :: Senators :: Sandra Lovelace Nicholas |accessdate=2009-02-16 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090201152000/http://www.liberal.ca/senators_e.aspx?id=15916 |archivedate=2009-02-01 }}</ref>
*[[Peter Lewis Paul]] was a Wolastoqew oral historian (1902–1989) who lived on the Woodstock Reserve (N.B.) on the Saint John River. He shared information with numerous academic [[linguists]], ethnohistorians, and [[anthropologists]]. The recipient of many honours, he was awarded a Centennial Medal in 1969, received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of New Brunswick, and the [[Order of Canada]] in 1987.<ref>Karl V. Teeter, ed. 1993. "In Memoriam Peter Lewis Paul 1902-1989". Canadian Ethnology Service, ''Mercury Series Paper 126.'' Hull: Canadian Museum of Civilization</ref>
*[[David Slagger]] represented the Wolastoqey people to the [[Maine House of Representatives]]

== See also ==
*[[Algonquian peoples]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Maps==
Maps showing the approximate locations of areas occupied by members of the [[Wabanaki Confederacy]] (from north to south):
<gallery>
Image:The_Mi'kmaq.png|[[Miꞌkmaq]]
Image:Wohngebiet_Maliseet.png|Wolastoqiyik, [[Passamaquoddy]]
Image:Wohngebiet_Oestlicheabenaki.png|Eastern Abenaki ([[Penobscot]], Kennebec, [[Androscoggin (tribe)|Arosaguntacook]], Pigwacket/Pequawket)
Image:Wohngebiet_Westlicheabenaki.png|Western Abenaki (Arsigantegok, Missisquoi, Cowasuck, Sokoki, [[Pennacook]])
</gallery>

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.native-languages.org/maliseet.htm Maliseet language and culture links]
*https://www.nytimes.com/1970/10/11/archives/indians-to-open-school-in-maine-us-funds-aid-experimental-center.html.-from state schools to job corps to tribal recognition. The history of wabanaki micmac maliseet education included a discussion of wabanaki tribes and land issues . the schools lead to band recognition in Maine I.e job corps or related programs in Maine
*[http://www.unbf.ca/education/mmi/ Mi'kmaq-Maliseet Institute] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070107235705/http://www.unbf.ca/education/mmi/ |date=January 7, 2007 }}, University of New Brunswick
*[http://pmportal.org/ Passamaquoddy-Maliseet Language Portal]
*{{CathEncy|wstitle=Maliseet Indians}}

{{Aboriginal peoples in Quebec}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Wolastoqiyik| ]]
[[Category:Algonquian peoples]]
[[Category:Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands]]
[[Category:Native American history of Maine]]
[[Category:Wabanaki Confederacy]]
[[Category:Native American tribes in Maine]]
[[Category:First Nations in Atlantic Canada]]
[[Category:First Nations in Quebec]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in New Brunswick]]
[[Category:North Maine Woods]]
[[Category:Algonquian ethnonyms]]