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Heritage management among Wabanaki Communities
The Wabanaki consists of the Wolastukiyik, Mi’kmaq, Peskotomuhkatiyik, Abenaki and Penobscot. They have lived in the territory, which became New Brunswick for thousands of years.
Wabanaki ancestors were drawn to this region by the rich territorial resources. The traditional government was the Wabanaki confederacy, political alliance that represented a sacred bond of the Algonquian kinship. After European contact, a colonial regime became dominant Wabanaki were eventually centralized on reserve lands, which are defined in the Indian Act, as “a tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in her Majesty, which has been set apart by her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band.”
Reserve lands are different from other land in that:
- Legal title to reserve land is held by the Crown rather than by individuals and organizations;
- First Nations have a recognized interest in reserve land that includes the right to exclusive use and occupation, inalienability and communal nature of interest;
- The land cannot be seized by legal process or be mortgaged or pledged to non-members of a First Nation;
- The Minister must approve or grant most land transactions under the Indian Act
- Today there are 16 Wabanaki reserve lands in the province of New Brunswick
