Gabriel Acquin ( 1811 – 2 October 1901) was known by a variety of names; Sachem Gabe and Noel Gabriel being the most verifiable. He was a

Maliseet The Wəlastəkwewiyik, or Maliseet (, also spelled Malecite), are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territory ...

hunter, guide, interpreter and showman who was the founder of the

St. Mary's First Nation St. Mary's Band or St. Mary's First Nations in Canada, First Nation ( pqm, Sitansisk Wolastoqiyik) is one of six Wolastoqiyik or Maliseet Nations on the Saint John River (New Brunswick), Saint John River in Canada. The St. Mary's Band lands comp ...

reserve in Canada.

Biography

Gabriel Acquin was born 1811 near

Kingsclear, New Brunswick Kingsclear is an unincorporated rural area 20 km west of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. The area includes forests, Saint John River shoreline, agricultural land, small businesses, rural residences, and the Mactaquac Dam. Access is via the ...

. Acquin's family is believed to be one of many Aboriginal families to have been displaced by the movement of defeated

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

after the

American Revolution The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...

. In 1839, Acquin married Marie Marthe in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River, which flows west to east as it bisects the city. The river is the do ...

, and together the couple produced a son, Stephen, in 1845. (Gabe Acquin son was Noel and daughter Katherine Acquin (Paul) Records show that Acquin may have used names such as Noel Gabriel and Newell Gov'-leet prior to the birth of his son, including when attending a

Wabanaki Confederacy The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of four principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet ( ...

meeting in

Old Town, Maine Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on the relatively large Marsh Island, though its boundaries extend beyond that. The island i ...

in 1838. In 1847, the

executor An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, may sometimes be used. Overview An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker of a ...

s of a Loyalist estate invited Acquin to settle on land at what was to become the St. Mary's Indian Reserve, in

York County, New Brunswick York County (2016 population 99,411) is located in west-central New Brunswick, Canada. The county contains the provincial capital, Fredericton. Outside the city, farming and forestry are two major industries in the county, which is bisected by ...

. Although Acquin's family had previously been

nomadic A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

in nature, Acquin established 14 acres of planted potatoes on his land, and built first a

wigwam A wigwam, wickiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam (Ojibwe, in syllabics: ) is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term ''wickiup'' ...

and then a frame-house there. However, despite the invitation extended to Acquin to live on the land, it had actually been sold several times to different owners, and by 1867 only a two-and-a-half acre patch of land on the riverfront of the Saint John River was in the possession of the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...

and hence available for use by Acquin's

s. When Acquin requested possession of the land he and his people had been living on from the federal government in 1883, he did not receive a reply. Acquin is best known for his hunting, guiding and interpreting. Acquin accompanied British military officers on trips to hunt with them, and his skills in this area became legendary in the

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 ...

area. Acquin reportedly killed five

moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult mal ...

and 25

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

in a single year, and Acquin himself claimed to have killed 60 red

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

in just two weeks' time. Acquin became popular among

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...

government officers, and befriended two Lieutenant-Governors. When then-

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

and future

King of the United Kingdom The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional form of government by which a hereditary sovereign reigns as the head of state of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies (the Bailiwi ...

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

visited

in 1860 and spotted Acquin canoeing past

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...

, he asked him for a ride. Acquin obliged, taking the prince on a brief trip to the

Nashwaak River The Nashwaak River, located in west-central New Brunswick, Canada, is a tributary of the Saint John River. It is 113 kilometres long. The river rises from Nashwaak Lake (southeast of the village of Juniper) and flows south and east through uni ...

's mouth. Apparently as a result of that encounter, Acquin later received an invitation to England to be one of Canada's entries in the International Fisheries Exhibition held in London in 1883. He made the journey, taking with him a canoe and beaded clothing, and set up a wigwam near ponds at

South Kensington South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...

. In London, he interacted socially with royalty and officers with whom he became acquainted back at home. One Canadian historian has said that Acquin was received in London as "the greatest social lion of the day." Acquin made at least one additional visit to London in 1893, when at age 82, he was part of the World’s Water Show. Acquin died in Fredericton on October 2, 1901. He was survived by his wife, four sons and three daughters.

Legacy

Acquin was seen by many as a symbol of both

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

as it related to the native population of Canada and the assimilation of Aboriginal Canadians into European culture. In 1999, Acquin was named a

Person of National Historic Significance Persons of National Historic Significance (National Historic People) are people designated by the Canadian government as being nationally significant in the history of the country. Designations are made by the Minister of the Environment on the re ...

by the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

Biography

Legacy

References

Further reading