Former LG Reads Rothesay’s First Land Acknowledgment

Rothesay will now begin all of its council meetings with the reading of an Indigenous land acknowledgment.

Former lieutenant-governor Graydon Nicholas was asked to create a land acknowledgment for the town.

Nicholas was on hand at last night’s monthly council meeting to read it for the first time.

“It’s a pleasure for me to have been asked to do this and to read out the initial one,” Nicholas, a member of the Tobique First Nation, told council.

The land acknowledgment recognizes that Rothesay exists on the traditional lands of the Wolastoqiyik / Wəlastəkewiyik / Maliseet and Mi’kmaq / Mi’kmaw whose ancestors along with the Passamaquoddy / Peskotomuhkati Tribes / Nations signed Peach and Friendship Treaties with the British Crown in the 1700s.

The town also acknowledges the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and endorses the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Mayor Nancy Grant thanked Nicholas for taking the time to speak with the town and to prepare the land acknowledgment.

“Your presence has made this very meaningful for us,” said Grant.

Deputy Mayor Matt Alexander put forward a motion in July to have staff work with local Indigenous groups and elders to “research, develop, and prepare an appropriate land acknowledgment statement.”

The motion came as hundreds of unmarked graves were discovered at several former residential schools across the country.

A number of other communities have also worked with Indigenous leaders to develop land acknowledgments, including Saint John, Quispamsis, and Grand Bay-Westfield.

You can read Rothesay’s full land acknowledgment below:

We would like to respectfully acknowledge that our Town of Rothesay exists on the traditional lands of the Wolastoqiyik / Wəlastəkewiyik / Maliseet and Mi’kmaq / Mi’kmaw whose ancestors along with the Passamaquoddy / Peskotomuhkati Tribes / Nations signed Peace and Friendship Treaties with the British Crown in the 1700s.

We respectfully acknowledge that the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the United Nations on September 13th, 2007, and enshrined in law in Canada by Parliament on June 21st, 2021, as Bill C-15.

We respectfully endorse the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of 2015 and as it applies to our municipal government of the Town of Rothesay.