Former lieutenant-governor Graydon Nicholas reads the first land acknowledgment at Quispamsis town council on July 20, 2021. (Image: YouTube video capture)
Quispamsis will now begin all of its council meetings with the reading of an Indigenous land acknowledgment.
Former lieutenant-governor Graydon Nicholas was on hand Tuesday night to read the acknowledgment for the first time.
Nicholas who served as the province’s first Indigenous lieutenant-governor, worked with town staff to finalize the wording of the acknowledgment.
According to the land acknowledgment, Quispamsis exists on the traditional territory of the Wolastoqiyik / Wəlastəkewiyik / Maliseet and Mi’kmaq / Mi’kmaw.
“The first inhabitants of the area now known as Quispamsis were members of the Wolastoqiyik, Wəlastəkewiyik / Maliseet Tribe called in French as the Etchemin,” it said.
Quispamsis was derived from the Wolastoqiyik / Wəlastəkewiyik / Maliseet Tribe word ‘Quispem Sis,’ meaning ‘little lake’ in reference to today’s Ritchie Lake.
The Kennebecasis River, which borders the town, also derived its name from the Mi’kmaq word “Kenepekachichk,” meaning “little long bay place.”
Coun. Mike Biggar brought forward the motion for a land acknowledgment during the new council’s first meeting in June.
“There is a lot of effort being made in municipalities across the country to apply special attention to the unceded territories of First Nations peoples on which we live, work and play,” Biggar told council members.
“As a member of the arts community, it’s virtually standard protocol at festivals and theatre shows and so on that a land acknowledgment is offered on behalf of the venue owner or festival organizer or what have you.”
Quispamsis has become at least the second community in Greater Saint John to read a land acknowledgment at the start of council meetings.
Saint John’s newest council opened its first meeting in June with a smudging ceremony and a land acknowledgment.
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