Wolastoq: Difference between revisions

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{{short description|River in Maine, United States and New Brunswick, Canada}}

[[Image:Wohngebiet Maliseet.png|thumb|right|300px|Wolastoqiyik Territory (labeled as Maliseet in the English translation)]]

[[Image:St_John_River_Map.png|thumb|right|300px|Course of the Wolastoq]]

[[File:Disputed Border in the East.jpg|thumb|300px|The large yellow disputed area is in the drainage of the Saint John. The international boundary established in 1842 is the dashed green line.]]

'''Wolastoq''' ([[Maliseet-Passamaquoddy language|Maliseet-Passamaquoddy]]: “The River of the Good Wave”), changed in 1604 by [[Samuel de Champlain]] to ''Fleuve Saint-Jean'' ({{lang-eng|'''Saint John River'''}}), is a river flowing within the [[Dawnland]] region for approximately {{convert|418|mi}} from headwaters in the [[Notre Dame Mountains]] near the [[Maine]]-[[Quebec]] border through [[New Brunswick]] to the northwest shore of the [[Bay of Fundy]]. The river and its tributary [[drainage basin]] formed the territorial countries of the [[Wolastoqiyik]] and [[Passamaquoddy]] First Nations (named Wolastokuk and Peskotomuhkatik, respectively) prior to European colonization, and it remains a cultural centre of the [[Wabanaki Confederacy]] to this day.

As the longest river between the [[Chesapeake Bay]] and the [[Gulf of Saint Lawrence]], the Saint John offered one of the best transportation corridors for First Nations refugees to retreat from the English colonization of North America's Atlantic coast. The Wolastoqiyik and their [[Acadia]]n allies retreated upstream after English victories in the [[French and Indian War]] to establish the [[Republic of Madawaska]] on the remote upper river. Inhabitants of the upper river rejected both [[Canada]] and [[United States]] sovereignty until the present [[Canada–United States border]] was established by the [[Webster-Ashburton Treaty]] of 1842. The lower river has been developed for agriculture and industry, while the United States portion of the river upstream of [[Madawaska, Maine|Madawaska]] flows through the sparsely populated [[North Maine Woods]]. The historic isolation of Madawaska has helped preserve the [[Acadian French]] dialect.

==First Nations==

The eastern [[Algonquin language]]s had different dialects associated with each of the major river systems of [[New England]] and [[the Maritimes]]; and there was often a linguistic bifurcation between residents of the upper river and those living along the coast and tidal estuary.<ref name=drs>{{cite book |last1=Snow |first1=Dean R. |last2=Trigger |first2=Bruce G. |title =Handbook of North American Indians |publisher =[[Smithsonian Institution]] |volume =15 |date =1978 |location =Washington DC |page =137 }}</ref> The Passamaquoddy hunted sea mammals along the northwest shore of the Bay of Fundy while speaking a mutually intelligible dialect with the Wolastoqiyik who were inland hunters along the upper Saint John River and its tributaries.<ref name=voe>{{cite book |last1=Erickson |first1=Vincent O. |last2=Trigger |first2=Bruce G. |title =Handbook of North American Indians |publisher =[[Smithsonian Institution]] |volume =15 |date =1978 |location =Washington DC |pages =123–128 }}</ref> The Wolastoqiyik identified themselves as inhabitants of the river their [[canoe]]s traveled for hunting, fishing, and trading.<ref name=drs/> Early 16th century [[North American fur trade|fur trade]] with French fishermen encouraged increased interest in the smaller tributaries and headwaters where scarcity of edible prey kept population density low.<ref name=tjb>{{cite book |last1=Brasser |first1=T.J. |last2=Trigger |first2=Bruce G. |title =Handbook of North American Indians |publisher =[[Smithsonian Institution]] |volume =15 |date =1978 |location =Washington DC |pages =78–81 }}</ref> After spending the winter hunting and trapping in the interior, the villages of Ouigoudi at the mouth of the river and Aukpaque at the head of navigation were summer gathering places accessible to European fur traders.<ref name=voe/> Fur traders brought European diseases reducing the estimated Wolastoqiyik population to less than a thousand by 1612, but the fur traders' contribution to the First Nations gene pool would provide some disease resistance. No pure blooded Wolastoqiyik or Passamquoddy survived the 20th century.<ref name=voe/>

==European colonization==

Rivalry between English and French fur traders pre-dated colonization of North America.<ref name=tjb/> Ouigoudi was defensively fortified as Fort La Tour and Aukpaque became known as Sainte-Anne des Pays-Bas when Acadian colonists settled the lower river valley. The First Nations regarded the fur traders more favorably than later settlers who started taking their land and preventing its historic use for subsistence. Colonization pressure was less severe along the Saint John River where the cold water eddy of the [[Gulf of Maine]] kept the growing season shorter than [[Massachusetts]] and the [[Nova Scotia peninsula]] nearer the warm [[Gulf Stream]].<ref name=bgt>{{cite book |last=Trigger |first=Bruce G. |title =Handbook of North American Indians |publisher =[[Smithsonian Institution]] |volume =15 |date =1978 |location =Washington DC |page =2 }}</ref> The earliest [[Acadia]]ns were descendants of the French sailors and shipwrights whose focus on fishing, trading, and boat repair rather than agriculture minimized land use conflicts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://npshistory.com/publications/acadian-culture-in-maine.pdf |title=Acadian Culture in Maine |last=Brassieur |first=C. Ray |website=[[National Park Service]] |publisher=[[United States Department of the Interior]] |access-date=3 January 2019 }}</ref> These Acadians maintained favorable relationships with the First Nations while [[King Philip's War]] encouraged the Wolastoqiyik to join the [[Wabanaki Confederacy]] in military action against New England. The Wolastoqiyik became steadfast allies of the Acadians through the subsequent [[French and Indian Wars]]; and their Saint John River valley became the last holdout of Acadian refusal to declare allegiance to the British monarchy.<ref name=hma>{{cite web |url=http://scott_michaud.tripod.com/Madawaska-history.html |title=History of the Madawaska Acadians |last=Michaud |first=Scott |website=The Michaud Barn |access-date=1 January 2019 }}</ref> About a thousand Wolastoqiyik<ref>{{cite book|last=Patterson |first=Stephen E. |title =The Atlantic Region to Confederation: A History |publisher =University of Toronto Press |date =1994 |location =Toronto |page =126 |isbn =978-1-4875-1676-5}}</ref> sheltered a hundred Acadian families retreating up the Saint John to avoid the [[Acadian Expulsion]] as the [[St. John River Campaign]] killed livestock and burned Acadian settlements as far upstream as Sainte-Anne des Pays-Bas.<ref>{{cite book |last=Grenier |first=John |title =The Far Reaches of Empire: War in Nova Scotia, 1710-1760 |publisher =University of Oklahoma Press |date =2008 |location =Norman, Oklahoma |pages =199–200 |isbn = 0806138769}}</ref>

==International boundary dispute==

Many [[United Empire Loyalist|Loyalist]] refugees from the [[American Revolutionary War]] resettled in [[Saint John, New Brunswick|Saint John]] at the mouth of the river and in Sainte-Anne des Pays-Bas which was renamed [[Fredericton]].<ref name=hma/> The [[St. Croix River (Maine–New Brunswick)|Saint Croix River]] formed the Atlantic coastal boundary at the close of the war keeping the Saint John River in Canada while the [[Penobscot River]] was allocated to Massachusetts. The [[Treaty of Paris (1783)]] defined the eastern boundary of Massachusetts as a line drawn due north from the source of St. Croix River to the drainage divide of the Saint Lawrence River.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.acadian-home.org/acadians-madawaska.html |title=The Acadians in the Madawaska Region |last=Bottomly |first=Ron |website=Acadian-Home.org |publisher=Lucie LeBlanc Consentino |access-date=1 January 2019 }}</ref> Persistent hostilities with the Wolastoqiyik had prevented the English treaty signatories from mapping the river headwaters. Aside from ambiguity as to which tributary might be considered the source of the Saint Croix River, the Saint John River does not flow directly south as might have been assumed from knowledge of the better mapped [[Hudson River|Hudson]] and [[Connecticut River]]s. Of greater concern to Canada, however, was discovery of how close the drainage divide was to the south bank of the Saint Lawrence, leaving Canada with a narrow band of unfavorable terrain for construction of a road to connect Atlantic Canada to Quebec through the winter months when ice closed the Saint Lawrence. Canada chose to interpret the treaty's intention as keeping the entire Saint John drainage basin under Canadian control. Surviving Acadian and Wolastoqiyik refugees continued to resist British rule while moving upriver to the [[Acadian Landing Site]] west of the Saint Croix treaty boundary where they were joined by other Acadian refugees who had fled to Quebec.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.acadian.org/mad-sett.html |title=First Madawaska Acadian Settlement |last=Violette |first=L.A. |website=Madawaska Acadian Settlement |publisher=Acadian.org |access-date=1 January 2019 }}</ref>

After the state of Maine obtained independence from Massachusetts in 1820, Maine lumbermen encouraged these refugees to form the independent Republic of Madawaska,<ref>{{cite journal|title=John Baker and the Republic of Madawaska| work= The Dalhousie Review|date=1972|first=Roger|last=Paradis|volume=52|issue=1|pages=78–95|url=https://dalspace.library.dal.ca/bitstream/handle/10222/62767/dalrev_vol52_iss1_pp78_95.pdf? |access-date=28 December 2018}}</ref> and began diverting the Saint John headwaters into the Penobscot River so [[log driving]] could float timber harvested in the upper Saint John watershed to [[Bangor, Maine|Bangor]] sawmills.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maine.gov/dacf/parks/discover_history_explore_nature/history/allagash/telos_dam_and_cut.shtml |title=Telos Dam and Cut (Canal) |website=Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands |publisher=State of Maine |access-date=28 December 2018 }}</ref> These provocations encouraged clarification of the disputed boundary by the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842 which allocated the north bank of the Saint John west of the Saint Croix to Canada in exchange for some territory further west.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/webster-ashburton-treaty |title=Webster-Ashburton Treaty |last=Ridler |first=Jason |website=The Canadian Encyclopedia |access-date=27 December 2018 }}</ref>

==Contemporary era==

{{Main|Saint John River (Bay of Fundy)}}

Today's [[Trans-Canada Highway]] follows the route of the proposed English road along the north bank of the river through the disputed portion of the drainage. Most of the Saint John drainage on the disputed south bank became [[Aroostook County, Maine]], where the town of [[Madawaska, Maine|Madawaska]] still shares the Acadian French dialect with [[Edmundston]] across the river.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://france-amerique.com/en/la-resistance-des-dialectes-francais-aux-etats-unis/ |title=French Dialects Fight for Survival in the United States |last=Filliez |first=Xavier |publisher=France-Amérique |access-date=28 December 2018 }}</ref> The [[Allagash River]] and [[Baker Branch Saint John River|Baker Branch of the Saint John River]] upstream of Madawaska flow through the sparsely populated North Maine Woods. These [[black spruce]] forests were a primary source of [[pulpwood]] for Maine [[paper mill]]s through the 20th century. Distance from Maine cities encouraged landowners to employ Quebec [[lumberjack]]s. [[Édouard Lacroix]] developed innovative transportation methods for the river headwaters<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cbhf.ca/edouard-lacroix |title=Edouard Lacroix |website=The Canadian Business Hall of Fame |publisher=JA Canada |access-date=31 December 2018 }}</ref> including a road from [[Lac-Frontière, Quebec]] to build the isolated [[Eagle Lake and West Branch Railroad]] in 1927 and the Nine Mile Bridge over the river in 1931.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mainerec.com/sjr4.asp |title=Nine-Mile |website=The Maine Way |access-date=2 January 2019 }}</ref>

Increasing recreational use of the upper river encouraged designation of the [[Allagash Wilderness Waterway]] and recognition that the river supports plant communities seldom seen elsewhere. Spring snowmelt causes scouring ice jams along the upper river leaving bedrock covered by thin, patchy acidic soil supporting one of the highest concentrations of rare plants in Maine including [[Clinton's bulrush]], [[Carex siccata|Dry Land Sedge]], [[Mistassini primrose]], [[Nantucket shadbush]], [[Castilleja septentrionalis|Northern Painted Cup]], and [[Swamp Birch]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.maine.gov/dacf/mnap/focusarea/stjohn_burntlandbrook_focus_area.pdf |title=St. John River - Burntland Brook to Nine Mile Bridge |website=Focus Areas of Statewide Ecological Significance |publisher=State of Maine |access-date=2 January 2019 }}</ref>

==Sources==

{{reflist}}

{{Rivers of Maine}}

{{Rivers of New Brunswick}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Saint John River (Bay of Fundy)| ]]

[[Category:Rivers of Maine]]

[[Category:Rivers of New Brunswick]]

[[Category:International rivers of North America]]

[[Category:Canada–United States border]]

[[Category:Borders of Maine]]

[[Category:North Maine Woods]]

[[Category:Northern Forest Canoe Trail]]