Pokemouche Mi'kmaq and the colonial regimes

• Main Author: Landry, Mark William
• Other Authors: Reid, John G., 1948-
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Halifax, N.S. : Saint Mary's University 2010
• Subjects: E99.M6; Mi’kmaq people > New Brunswick > Government relations; Mi’kmaq people > New Brunswick > History; New Brunswick > History; Mi’kmaq
• Online Access: http://library2.smu.ca/xmlui/handle/01/23719

iv, 132 leaves : maps 29 cm. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-128). The community of Pokemouche existed since before European contact. During the early European contact, fur traders were looking to gain as much profit as possible and made lopsided exchanges which often involved alcohol. The emphasis of the fur trade drastically changed the traditional economies of the Mi'kmaq, systematically coercing them to change from community based-lifeways to individualist economies. During the British colonial era, the Mi'kmaq were forced from their vast traditional lands into small reserves, such as Pokemouche. In 1844, New Brunswick passed an Act to dispose reserves that government officials had deemed not required for indigenous use. Pokemouche took the greatest hit, going from a vibrant traditional community to unoccupied land. Concurrently, laws helped eliminate traditional native economies, forcing the Mi'kmaq to change their means of economic survival. Some of the Pokemouche Mi'kmaq moved to neighbouring reserves while others moved into wage labour near the Pokemouche River.