Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation
| Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation | |
|---|---|
 Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation
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| Coordinates: 46°56′00″N 65°49′00″W / 46.93333°N 65.81667°WCoordinates: 46°56′00″N 65°49′00″W / 46.93333°N 65.81667°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | New Brunswick |
| County | Northumberland County |
| Established | 1783 |
| Government | |
| • Chief | Bill Ward |
| • Council | Laurie Watson Alan Blowers Lawrence Ward Kevin Levi Jimmy Peter-Paul |
| • MLAs |
Jake Stewart (PC) Robert Trevors (PC) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 39.07 km2 (15.09 sq mi) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Total | 551 |
| Time zone | Atlantic (AST) (UTC-4) |
| • Summer (DST) | ADT (UTC-3) |
| NTS Map | 021I13 |
| Website | http://www.metepenagiag.ca/ |
| Postal code span: | |
Metepenagiag (pronounced MET-EHH-PE-NAH-GHEE-AH) also known as Red Bank is a Mi'kmaq First Nation band government in New Brunswick, Canada on the other side of the Miramichi river from Sunny Corner.
Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation are located at the head of tide of the Miramichi River. For thousands of years Mi’kmaq communities along New Brunswick’s northeastern shore lived near tidal estuaries where tidal saltwater flows inland and creates an ecosystem for "anadromous fish species such as salmon, sturgeon, gaspereau or alewife, striped bass, and eel, that seasonally move up the estuaries in large numbers." Some of these species spawned above the ‘head of tide’ and up the freshwater streams.
Although officially recognised in 1783, Metepenagiag has been home to a Mi'kmaq community for over 3000 years, making it the oldest continuously settled community in New Brunswick.
Evidence for the age of the community was revealed in 1972 by Joseph Mike Augustine. After reading a 1972 National Geographic article about an ancient burial mound in Arizona, Augustine recalled the mound where his father had taken him near his home. The mound was on the caribou hunting trail that he and his father used regularly and they stopped to rest there.
"They'd make a fire and have some tea or a bit of something to eat, and Augustine's father would tell him of the history of this place. In times past, his father would say, Indians would celebrate here, building a fire in the centre of the mound and dancing around it. It was those Indians, his father said, who built the mound.
The artifacts found at the site (the Augustine Mound), and a second nearby site (the Oxbow site) demonstrated that Metepenagiag had been continuously inhabited for over 3000 years, and that the community enjoyed trading relationships with other First Nations communities, stretching as far west as the Ohio River Valley. There has been some disagreement among residents concerning naming this important cultural and spiritual site, The Augustine Mound. While it was Joe Mike Augustine who first brought attention to the ancient burial site, most residents were aware of its existence. The name also falsely suggest that it is the resting place of members of the Augustine family, and while this is likely the case, the mound was likely a community burial site, meaning that many of the oldest families of Metepenagiag have ancestors interred therein. Some feel the much more inclusive "Metepenagiag Mound" would better describe and honor those whose remains lie beneath the mound. ref name="Allen1994Metepenagiag"/>
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