Mi’kmaq and Bay of Fundy

The Mi’kmaq of Bear River and surrounding areas shared a unique and vital relationship with the Bay of Fundy, as it provided our people with much of what was necessary to sustain them in their daily lives.

The Bay of Fundy, including the Annapolis Basin and St. Mary’s Bay, teamed with a wide array of fish and sea mammals for harvest. Our people fished for herring, cod, sea trout, and caught lobsters, while seals were hunted off Digby Neck. We also dug for clams and other shellfish in Fundy’s mudflats.

The Bay of Fundy also served as a highway system for our people, who were known to make trips across the Bay in sea-going birchbark canoes, and travel to parts of New Brunswick and Quebec. Its strategic location along the Bay of Fundy, also made the Bear River area a central gathering place for the meetings of the Chiefs from the seven districts.

The Mi'kmaq have been caretakers of this land for thousands of years; however, during the last two centuries, our right to fish in the Bay of Fundy (Kespuwick) has been challenged. In 1999 the Supreme Court of Canada upheld Mi'kmaq rights to commercially fish, based on the Treaties of 1760 and 1761. However, in the face of growing globalization and the monopolization of the natural resources in Nova Scotia, our efforts to sustain ourselves through the fishery remain under challenge.

In response, the Bear River First Nation has worked, and continues to work closely, with a few other First Nation and Non-First Nation organizations, towards a community-based management approach to the fishery, that hopefully will be of benefit to all fishers, and to the marine environment. It is hoped that through communication, education, and cooperation on all sides, we can find a peaceful balance that will sustain the fishery for our children in the years to come.

Photo Credits
Top: Learning Resources and Technology / Nova Scotia Department of Education
Bottom: Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage