''Eskɨnuopitijk'' or ''Esgenoôpetitj'' ( Burnt Church Band or Burnt Church First Nation ) is a

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...

First Nation Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

band government In Canada, an Indian band or band (french: bande indienne, link=no), sometimes referred to as a First Nation band (french: bande de la Première Nation, link=no) or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subjec ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, Canada, centred south of the community of Lagacéville (approximately 4.5 km) and southwest of the village of

Neguac Neguac is a Canadian village in Northumberland County, New Brunswick. Geography Situated on the north shore of Miramichi Bay at the southern end of the Acadian Peninsula, the village is located 44 kilometres northeast of Miramichi. Approxima ...

(approximately 7 km) on

Miramichi Bay Miramichi Bay is an estuary located on the west coast of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in New Brunswick, at the mouth of the Miramichi River. Miramichi Bay is separated into the "inner bay" and the "outer bay", with the division being a line of uni ...

. It covers two

Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve (french: réserve indienne) is specified by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." Ind ...

s in Northumberland County ( Esgenoôpetitj 14, previously Burnt Church 14, and Tabusintac 9) and two reserves in Gloucester County ( Pokemouche 13) ( Pabineau). The population was 1,715 as of

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

. The

call Burnt Church ''Esgenoôpetitj'', which means "a lookout".

History

The lands at Burnt Church have long been occupied by

First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...

peoples, long before European colonizers first plundered the Atlantic Coast of Canada. As

William Francis Ganong William Francis Ganong, M.A., Ph.D., LL.D., F.R.S.C., (19 February 1864 - 7 September 1941) was a Canadian biologist botanist, historian and cartographer. His botany career was spent mainly as a professor at Smith College in Northampton, Mass ...

notes, ''"a map by Sieur I'Hermitte, ... shows there was a village here in 1727."''The History of Neguac and Burnt Church
, retrieved August 30, 2008 Ganong also comments on the origin of the name, noting that in 1758, during the Gulf of St. Lawrence Campaign (1758), British General

James Wolfe James Wolfe (2 January 1727 – 13 September 1759) was a British Army officer known for his training reforms and, as a Major-general (United Kingdom), major general, remembered chiefly for his victory in 1759 over the Kingdom of France, French ...

directed Colonel James Murray to destroy the French settlements at Miramichi. Thus, Murray destroyed an

Acadian The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

community which had been established at Burnt Church, including burning the first stone church built in New Brunswick (hence the name). (The British also deported the Acadians across the river at

Bay du Vin, New Brunswick Bay du Vin is a small but picturesque unincorporated community located on the south shore of Miramichi Bay, 24 km east of the former town of Chatham (now a part of Miramichi), New Brunswick, Canada. It is suggested that its name comes fro ...

Burnt Church was a favourite resort of the

and was, therefore, included in one of the very earliest Indian reserves set aside by New Brunswick. The reserve was officially established March 5, 1805, with . At the time of Ganong's writing it was "still a favorite Micmac settlement, and much the largest in all New Brunswick". A View of Miramichi, 1760, oil painting by Francis Swaine after a view by Captain Hervey Smyth

A View of Miramichi, 1760, oil painting by Francis Swaine after a view by Captain Hervey Smyth

Following the

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War (1756–1763) was a global conflict that involved most of the European Great Powers, and was fought primarily in Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Other concurrent conflicts include the French and Indian War (1754� ...

, several Acadian families returned to lands adjoining the reserve. They were followed by a wave of new Scottish settlers. Thus, the Burnt Church name is now used in reference to both the local First Nation, and to the adjoining non-native community. In recent years, Burnt Church First Nation members have fought strenuously for their traditional

lobster Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...

fishing rights, culminating in the

Burnt Church Crisis The Burnt Church Crisis was a conflict in Canada between the Mi'kmaq people of the Burnt Church First Nations ( Esgenoôpetitj) and non-Aboriginal fisheries in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia between 1999 and 2002. Supreme Court ruling As Indigenous ...

with the provincial and federal governments as well as local non-native fishermen.The Marshall Decision and the Maritime Canadian Fishery
, retrieved August 30, 2008

Notable people

References

{{First Nations in New Brunswick Communities in Northumberland County, New Brunswick Mi'kmaq governments Mi'kmaq in Canada

History

Notable people

See also

References