Nigadoo is an unincorporated community in
Gloucester County,
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. It held village status prior to 2023. Nigadoo is located at the mouth of the
Nigadoo River on
Nepisiguit Bay
Nepisiguit Bay (from the Mi’kmaq word , which means "rough water") is located in northern New Brunswick, Canada on the southern part of the Chaleur Bay (French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or rela ...
, 15 km northwest of
Bathurst and adjacent to
Beresford.
In the
Mi'gmaq language "nigadoo" or "Mimoogwodoo" roughly translates as "place to hide".
History
The Name Nigadoo, comes from the old Mi’gmaq word “Mimoogwodoo” meaning “the hiding place”. Long before
Samuel de Champlain,
John Cabot or
Nicolas Denys
Nicolas Denys (1598? – 1688) was a French-born merchant, governor, author, and settler in New France. He founded settlements at St. Pierre (now St. Peter's, Nova Scotia), Ste. Anne (Englishtown, Nova Scotia) and Nepisiquit (Bathurst, New Br ...
charted the
Chaleur Region it was inhabited by the Mi’gmaq People.
The legend on how Nigadoo got its name goes back to those times before European settlers came. Historically, is known that the Mi’gmaq people and the Iroquois (Mohawk) people were sometimes at war with each other, as their territories bordered each other around the area now known as
Edmundston
Edmundston is a city in Madawaska County, New Brunswick, Canada.
On 1 January 2023, Edmundston will expanded, annexing the village of Rivière-Verte and parts of the local service districts of the parish of Saint-Jacques and the parish of Sai ...
.
It was during one of these wars or conflicts that it was said that a hundred Iroquois canoes were seen coming over the cape, what is known as Gespe'g
"Gespe’g" meaning "end of the world", or "where the world ends".
The Mohawk were on a mission to invade the Mi’gmaq people along the
Bay of Chaleur
frame, Satellite image of Chaleur Bay (NASA). Chaleur Bay is the large bay in the centre of the image; the Gaspé Peninsula is to the north and the Gulf of St. Lawrence is seen to the east.">Gulf_of_St._Lawrence.html" ;"title="Gaspé Peninsula ...
which was actually called (Mowebâktabāāk) meaning "The Biggest Bay". Little did the Mohawk know, that there were Mi’gmaq scouts and runners who saw the fleet of canoes coming.
The Mi’gmaq in the Gespe’g sent runners or messengers ahead of the fleet to warn each village that the Mohawk warriors were coming. By the time the message was relayed all the way to
Nepisiguit, “Oinpegitjoig ” the Mi’gmaq warriors had enough time to gather an offensive and they chose the mouth of the Nigadoo river to hide their canoes to ambush the Mohawk.
The mouth of the Nigadoo River was a strategic location due to the way the River is hidden from the Bay, as it flows around a sand bar that can still be seen to this day.
As the Mohawk fleet of canoes made their way down along the coast, they were surprised and ambushed by the Mi’gmaq warriors who defeated the invaders. It was after the success of this battle that the Mi’gmaq forever called this place "Mimoogwodoo"”.
Over time, as
French Acadian settlers came to this place, they asked their friends and neighbors the Mi’gmaq people what this meant. It is speculated that the French settlers could not properly pronounce Mimoogwodoo (mim-moo-gwah-doo) and over time it came to be known as Nigadoo.
On 1 January 2023, Nigadoo amalgamated with
Beresford,
Petit-Rocher
Petit-Rocher is a formerly incorporated Canadian village in Gloucester County, New Brunswick. Sitting on both Chaleur Bay and Nepisiguit Bay 20 km northwest of Bathurst, Petit-Rocher's residents are 89% Francophone.
On 1 January 2023, Pe ...
,
Pointe-Verte, and all or part of ten
local service districts to form the new town of
Belle-Baie
Belle-Baie is a town in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. It was formed through the 2023 New Brunswick local governance reforms.
History
Belle-Baie was incorporated on January 1, 2023 via the amalgamation of the former town of Beresf ...
.
The community's name remains in official use.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by
Statistics Canada, Nigadoo had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
[
]
Language
Notable people
See also
* List of communities in New Brunswick
References
{{coord, 47, 44, 17, N, 65, 42, 40, W, region:CA-NB_type:city, name=Nigadoo, New Brunswick, display=title
Communities in Gloucester County, New Brunswick
Populated coastal places in Canada
Former villages in New Brunswick