Eel Ground Band or Eel Ground First Nation is a Mi'kmaq First Nation band government of 977 people located on the Miramichi River in northern New Brunswick, Canada. The community comprises three reserves (Eel Ground #2, Big Hole Tract #8 (south half), and Renous #12).[2]
Eel Ground Band | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
  Eel Ground Band Location of Eel Ground in New Brunswick | |
| Coordinates: 46°58′9.2″N 65°37′38.2″W / 46.969222°N 65.627278°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | New Brunswick |
| County | Northumberland County |
| Established | 1783 |
| Government | |
| • Chief | George Harold Ginnish |
| • Council | Merrill Martin Mike Simon Wallace Francis Alisha Sweezey Tyler Patles Willie Sark Kyle Francis Cody Narvey Brian Simon Kelvin Simonson |
| • MP | Pat Finnigan (L) |
| • Provincial Representatives | Rick Brewer (L) John W. Foran (L) |
| Area | |
• Total | 28.23 km2 (10.90 sq mi) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Population (2012)[1] | |
• Total | 977 |
| Time zone | UTC-4 (Atlantic (AST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-3 (ADT) |
| Area code | 506 / 428 |
| NTS Map | 021I13 |
| Website | http://www.eelgroundfirstnation.com/ |
| Postal code span: | |
History
editEel Ground principally occupies lands adjoining the City of Miramichi, New Brunswick, and members of the two communities have no doubt interacted from the time of earliest European settlement. About 1648, Nicolas Denys, Sieur de Fronsac, established a fort and trading post nearby, "on the North side of the Miramichi, at the forks of the river". His son, Richard Denys, was placed in charge of the fort and trading post. In 1688 Richard describes the establishment as including about a dozen French and more than 500 Indians.[3][4][5][6]
The band was officially recognised by the British in 1783, soon after the French defeat in the Seven Years' War.[1]
No doubt the First Nation population had long preceded Denys' "establishment", and present-day inhabitants of Eel Ground would largely be descended from Richard Denys' immediate neighbours. For the Mi'kmaq, the nearby junction of the Northwest and Main Southwest branches of the Miramichi River had long served as a natural meeting point.
Notable people
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See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b [1], Indian and Northern Affairs, retrieved August 30, 2012.
- ^ http://eelgroundschool.ca/leaders/ourcomm.html Archived September 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine Eel Ground First Nation
- ^ English, E.J. (2002) Nelson and its Neighbours: 300 years on the Miramichi, 2nd Ed., Earl J. English, Miramichi
- ^ Davidson, W.H. (1947) An account of the life of William Davidson, otherwise John Godsman, of Banffshire and Aberdeenshire in Scotland and Miramichi in British North America. Publ. New Brunswick Museum, Historical Studies No. 6.
- ^ Davidson, W.H. (1966) William Davidson 1740–1790. North Shore Leader, Newcastle
- ^ Beaubear's Island National Historic Site "id73". Archived from the original on October 13, 2008.