HISTORY OF THE SAQMAWAQ OF KTAQMKUK
(CHIEFS OF NEWFOUNDLAND)
The history of our people in Ktaqmkuk/Newfoundland is still very much in dispute. We believe we have always been here. Our detractors say we arrived around the early 1600s.
Because of lack of knowledge of relevant records that may yet come to light, it is very difficult to write a true history of the Saqamaq of Ktaqmkuk. Coupled with this is the fact that many of us trace our ancestry back through both L’nu and Innu tribal lines.
Some of the following we do know and some is conjecture based on available knowledge. The reader must also understand that ancient names have been interchanged often, with surname becoming first name and vice versa. Not to mention the many different ways the many different writers heard and recorded the names.
In Atlantic Kanata the Seven
Districts of Mi’kma’ki were UNAMA'KIK (Cape Breton and Newfoundland),
ESKI'KEWAQ, SIPEKNE'KATIK'IK and KESPUKWITK (collectively most of Nova Scotia);
SIKNIKTEWAQ (New Brunswick); EPEKWITK AND PIKTUKEWAQ (Prince Edward Island and
part of Mainland Nova Scotia) and KESPE'KEWAQ (Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec).
Most Mi’kmaq believe Kji
Saqamaw Maupeltuk, born about 1510, was leader of all Mi’kma’ki. Kji Saqamaw
Maupeltuk was baptized in 1610, becoming the first Indigenous North American to
be baptized, and given the name Henri Membertou. He died in 1611.
Each district of Mi’kma’ki
had a leader and (obviously) each nomadic group had their leader as well. The
dynamics of leadership and its evolution as nomadic groups came together into
villages will not be discussed here.
Ktaqmkuk originally was a part of the UNAMA’KIK District. Unama’kik is the Isle Royale/Cape Breton of modern history. The Saqamaw of Unama’kik was also the Saqamaw of Ktaqmkuk, St. Pierre and Miquelon.
We traditionally selected
our Saqamaw in a most unique way. We had only male Saqamaw and we selected him
by looking at his character.
The prime character trait of
a prospective Saqamaw was, “He is more Mi’kmaq”. This meant that he spoke the
language well, “acted” like a Mi’kmaw and practiced and defended our culture. A
man did not have to “run” to be Saqamaw. People, “Just knew” who the Saqamaw
was.
When selected our Saqamaw
served us for life. Succession was hereditary through the male line but not
necessarily so. Sometimes the “voice of the people” determined who our Saqamaw
would be.
“Previous to Thoma the II's
death, he left the charge of his people to his own son-in-law, Francis
Gregoire, in whose care he deposited the Ensigns of Royalty, charging him to
act as their supreme until the choice is made and a Chief legally chosen to
whom he shall deliver all the Royal property- it is said by some that a wish
was expressed by the late chief to have his brother Christmas Thoma chosen as
his successor, but it appears the family of the Googoes will lay claim to the
throne they once held Dominion prior to Thoma the I, but for some reasons were
supplanted by the Thoma family who owe their rise the voice of the tribe.”
(Newspaper, Cape Bretonian, Sydney, January 23, 1834.)
“This
Government is hereditary; it is not, however, the son of the reigning Chief who
succeeds his father, but the son of his sister, or the first Princess of the
blood. This policy is founded on the knowledge they have of the licentiousness
of their women. They are not sure, they say, that the children of the chief’s
wife may be of the blood Royal, whereas the son of the sister of the great
Chief must be, at least on the side of the mother”. (Letter
from Father le Petit, Missionary, to Father d’ Avaugour,
Procurator of the Missions in North America. At New Orleans the 12th of July 1730. Jesuit
Relations Vol. LXVII.)
Pere
Lejeune . . .says that, [the Montagnais] like the Hurons…preferred the son of a
sister to succeed the Chief rather than his own child. So well were they aware
of the immorality of their wives”. (Explorations in the interior of the
Labrador Peninsula: the country of the Montagnais and Nasquapee Indians; Hind, Henry
Youle, 1823-1908. 335 pages. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts &
Green, 1863.)
“They have thus developed
into a custom the recital of their
genealogies, both in the speeches they make at marriages, and also at funerals
This is in order to keep alive the memory, and to preserve by tradition from
father to son, the history of their ancestors,
and the example of [380] their fine actions and of their greatest qualities, some- thing which
would otherwise be lost to them, and would deprive them of a knowledge of
their relationships, which they preserve by this means; and it serves to transmit their
[family] alliances to posterity. On these matters they are very inquisitive,
especially those descended from the ancient chiefs; this they sometimes claim
for more than twenty generations, something, which makes them more honoured by
all the others.” (The description and natural history of the coasts of North America
(Acadia) Denys, Nicolas, 1598-1688.; Ganong, William F. (William Francis),
1864-1941. 657 pages. Toronto: Champlain Society, 1908.)
The traditional succession
of the Mi’kmaw Saqamaq in Ktaqmkuk came from the following families:
Michau/Michel/Mitchell), Pequidalouet/Bernard, We’jitu/Isidore/Jeddore, and in
recent history Joe and Lewis. There is also a connection to the Denny/Thomma
chieftainship of Unama’kik. Some of these family members were in Ktaqmkuk in
1793[1].
Based on ancestry research
the following are the Saqamaq who ruled over Mi’kama’kik and Ktaqmkuk. Included
are some of their known and percieved relationships.
SAQAMAW WE’JITU. Last year (1638) a Canadian Savage, the son
of one Iwanchou,
(We’jitu), a Savage Captain
well known to the French, went to France and was very well received by his
Majesty, at whose feet he laid his Crown of Porcelain beads as a sign that he
recognized that great Prince, in the name of all these nations as their true
and lawful Monarch. The King and Queen full of ardor for the salvation of these
needy peoples showed him their Dauphin; and after many tokens of their kindness
they made him a present of six suits of clothing truly royal. They were entirely
of cloth of gold, velvet, satin, silk plush, scarlet, and everything else in
keeping. (Jesuit Relations)
SAQAMAW DENIS. (Circa 1671)
There is a reference that “The Chief of Richibouctou, named Denis is a
conceited and vicious Indian. All the others of the Great Bay fear him[2].
Saqamaw Denis (Denny/Dennis) conceiveably is a relation/ancestor of the Denny
and Thomma Saqamaq.
SAQAMAW ISIDORUS. (Circa
1716) In a references to a Saqamaw of Unama’kik, Saqamaw Isidorus in 1716[3],
he is described as “ very simply
dressed, has the impudence to assert that he and the King of France are
comrades and he suffers the presence of the French on the island only because
of the annual gifts he receives”. “He speaks French and is a most wily man”.
Isidorus, Isadore, Jeddore are the various European spellings of We’jitu.
We'jitu Isidore was a great
Indian who died, it is said, at the age of 113 years. In his young days he saw
a vision, and afterwards became the most powerful person in the tribe [a Kinap,
with great physical strength]. Made the men of his tribe great in athletic
sports, so that they won from men of other tribes, in competitions. His camping
ground was on the east side of First Dartmouth Lake, about half way or so up
the lake. [The] name We'jitu apparently related to Isidore, and the Indians
Jeddore were descendents of his. Noel Jeddore of Halifax [?] was his grandson.
Joe Cope's father, Peter Cope [born about 1816, died in 1913, aged 97 years]
had seen We'jitu. (From Joseph C. Cope to Harry Piers, 14 January 1914. Nova
Scotia Museum Printed File.) If Noel Jeddore was his grandson, his son must
have been Ned Jeddore, also Ned Isidore. The Mi'kmaw word We'jitu means,
"I found it," which may relate to his vision.[4].
Around this period a
relationship to all the present Saqamaq of Unama’kik and Ktaqmkuk reveals
itself. That is to say, to the Googo, Denny, Jeddore and Mitchell Saqamaq and
their descendents, the Joe, Marshall and other modern day Saqamaq. We know that
relationships paid an immense part in who became early day Saqamaw.
We know the mother of
Saqamaw Jeannot was Therese. They were in the same small group of people
recorded in the 1708 census of Cape Breton as the Isidore family. Based on the
ages and the fact that Saqamaw Jeannot did indeed become a Saqamaw later in
life Therese was probably a daughter of the Isidore family.[5]
SAQAMAW MICHAU. Another
relation shows up in 1751. DENIS MICHAU (DENNY MITCHELL/Michael Denny?) Chief
of Isle Royale Mi'kmaq in 1750 died 1751. His grandfather [perhaps Jean Michau?
(John Mitchell?)] had rendered great service to former king, Louis xiv,
rewarded w/ letters of nobility. Denis left a widow and son who were placed in
care of new chief Jeannot. (Charles Martijn).
It is very likely that this
Michau is the ancestor of “Michel Agathe, Chief of Mi’kmaq of western Nfld.”
and the Mitchell line of the west coast of Ktaqmkuk (NUJIO’QONIK,
(“Where The Sand Blows” - St. George’s Bay area) and the Denny Kji Saqamaq of
Eskasoni, Unama’kik.
It is possible the widow of
Saqamaw Michau may have been a sister of Saqamaw Jeannot.
There is indication of a
Googo line of Saqamaq in the obituary of Thom Thoma, a chief of the Mi'kmaw
Nation printed in the Cape Bretonian newspaper in Sydney on January 23,
1834. “Previous to Thoma the II's death, he left the charge of his people
to his own son-in-law, Francis Gregoire, in whose care he deposited the Ensigns
of Royalty, charging
him to act as their supreme until the choice is made and a Chief legally
chosen to whom he shall deliver all the Royal property- it is said by some that
a wish was expressed by the late chief to have his brother Christmas Thoma
chosen as his successor, but it appears the family of the Googoes will lay
claim to the throne they once held Dominion prior to Thoma the I, but for some
reasons were supplanted by the Thoma family who owe their rise to the voice of
the tribe”.
The wife of Saqamaw
Jeannot’s son Bernard was Mary Ann Googo. So this would give some credence to
the Googo line having some connections to Chieftainship.
Between the reign of Saqamaw
Michau and Saqamaw Jeannot, events that lead to Ktaqmkuk becoming a separate
district unfolded. From 1744 to 1761 the English had groups of soldiers or Rangers out
roaming the countryside just to search for and kill our people. On October 2,
1749, Governor Edward Cornwallis issued a proclamation to destroy our people.
He offered 10 guineas for every Mi’kmaw man, woman and child killed and later
raised this to 50 pounds.
In 1755, the English began
expelling our Acadian friends and allies. Earlier when it was not cool to be a
Mi’kmaq our François friends sheltered us and now when it began to be uncool to
be a Françoise, we returned the favor. Approximately one-third of the Françoise
population moved to New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and other French or
Mi’kmaq territory such as Ktaqmkuk.
In 1756 Governor Lawrence of
NS proclaimed a bounty for the scalps of our people again: 30 pounds for males
over 16 years, 25 pounds for a scalp of males over 16 and 25 pounds for every
woman and child brought in alive. As a result, up to 1780 many of our Saqamaq
simply “disappeared”. Saqamaw Jeannot survived by fleeing to the far reaches of
our Mi’kmaw domain - Ktaqmkuk.
SAQAMAW JEANNOT
PEQUIDALOUET. Saqamaw Jeannot was born around 1705, probably in Unama’kik. He
was our Saqamaw over Unama’kik and Ktaqmkuk from 1750 to 1778. He had trapping
areas in Ktaqmkuk. The French governor of Cape Breton appointed him First
Captain of the Mi’kmaw contingent at Louisbourg on November 8, 1750. He became Saqamaw
of the former Mirliquêche Band which soon moved to Chapel Island. In 1758 he
was wounded at he siege of Louisbourg. On July 1, 1761, he was one of the
Saqamaq who signed the Treaty of Halifax, reaffirming the earlier 1725 Treaty.
He was in Ktaqmkuk much of the time between 1763 and 1778. [Jeannot Pekitaulit
{Peguidalouet) and Bernard, Chiefs of Mi’kmaq of Cape Breton, on board Lark,
off Codroy, September, renew Treaty of Peace with his majesty [a copy whereof I
have already sent you]; Captain Samuel Thompson to Philip Stevens, Secretary to
the Lords of the Admiralty, April 16, 1764. Admiralty Records, London,
1/2590. Saqamaw Jeannot’s date and
place of death is not known at this time, but he is believed to have lived to
be 102 and may well have died in Ktaqmkuk.
Ktaqmkuk probably became a
separate district from Unama’kik with the appearance of Saqamaw Michel. We
recognize the following Lnu’k as being the Saqamaw of all of Ktaqmkuk. This is
different from the newer position of “Administrative Saqamaw” which has been
thrust upon us by the “Politics” of 1986/87.
SAQAMAW MICHEL. There is a
reference to Saqamaw Michel/Mitchell in the St. Pierre Baptism records. [July
4, 1848. Burial of Pierre Agathe, 13, son of Michel Agathe, Chief of Mi’kmaq of
western Nfld. and of Louise]. Matthew Mitchell a descendent of the “old
Chieftain Line” had a trapping line that included King George IV Lake and
“elsewhere at will”.[6] Although
dates vary, Saqamaw Michel may have died December 12, 1842. The commander
[Alphonse-Joseph Desrousseaux, chef de la colonie] advised the
Department that the Chief of a band from the west of Newfoundland known as King
Michel Agathe” who came to Saint-Pierre with more than one hundred people of
his tribe, at the beginning of this month, to make their annual devotions, was
lost with all his people and goods, in a squall, while returning home.[7]
SAQAMAW
MULISE (Maurice Louis). Saqamaw Maurice “was born in the year 1802 at Piona
in Unama’kik. He first came to Ktaqmkuk in 1815 A.D. He married a “Newfoundland
woman” Sarah Bernard, in 1839. His Lordship Bishop (?) appointed him Chief in
power in the year 1860 A.D. He “received his leadership from Second Grand Chief
at Sidney, NS, on July 21, 1860”.
Saqamaw Maurice was given a gold medal as a sign of his
position. On the medal is the inscription, “Presented to the Chief of the
Micmac Indians of Newfoundland”. He died in 1880. “Of this said Maurice Louis one
daughter still living at Conne (1936). Before his time there were two families
living at Conne (namely Jeddore)”. He was married to Sarah Bernard. His parents
were John Lewis and Nancy Basque. In one historical account he is referred to
as Louis Morris.
It was while Saqamaw Mulise was
in office that in 1870 when there was now a steady stream of immigrating
nation’s peoples onto our coastal territory that our reserve was surveyed by
Howley and established.
There is no account at
present why Maurice Lewis was selected Saqamaw. He may have been an only son.
Gisborno stated that two daughters of John Lewis went with Rev Bishop Dr.
Mullock to St. John's to train as teachers. Unfortunately the city diet took
its toll and they both died there.
The only indication as shown
above is that he was appointed to the position by the Bishop of the day. His
wife, Sarah Bernard, may have been descendent from the Peguidalouet line with a
probable reversal of the Bernard Peguidalouet surname. Another possibility was
that he was a descendant of the Innu line of Morris that married into the
Lewis/Louis line or a descendent of the Meuse Chieftain line of PEI. The fact
that there were two lines of the interchangeable Lewis/Louis surname adds some
confusion to the investigation.
According to Howley, Saqamaw
Mulise’s father was “one of the party of Micmacs who accompanied Cormack”. Of
John Lewis, Gisborno said, he has the “Finest home in Conne”.
Saqamaw Mulise appears to
have had seven daughters and one son, Lupe’n (Reuben). When the time came for
passing on of the mantle of Saqamaw there was no doubt as to who would succeed
him.
Saqamaw-to-be Lupe’n had a
drinking problem however and although he was twenty-eight years of age at the
time and plenty of life experiences to assume leadership, our people refused
him until he mended his ways. We selected Joe Bernard as caretaker Saqamaw in
the meantime.
SAQAMAW
Joe Bernard. Saqamaw Joe was born in 1812 and died in 1900. He “ruled as Chief from
Maurice’s death (1880) until Reuben took office (1900 A.D.)”. Kji Saqamaw John
Denys (Denny) swore in Saqamaw Joe Bernard in 1880. According to the Holy Cross
Annual, 2nd edition, he “…was a mountaineer Indian from Labrador. He
wore a full flowing beard, which the Micmacs did not do”. He married a (Innu?)
woman, (Hannah Ann John?). Bernard’s Brook is named after him. His sister Sarah
was married to Maurice Lewis and this may have qualified him to act as qualify
as Saqamaw, officially or otherwise, or he may have been related to the Lewis
family /Louis family and the
Morris line both, who appears to have been from Labrador.
SAQAMAW
LUPE’N.
(Reuben lewis; Millias spelt
it as “Olibia”). Saqamaw Lupe’n
was born in 1852. On the death of Saqamaw Joe, the “…nephew of Maurice Louis (Lewis),
was made Chief at Sidney, NS by Grand Chief John Denny in the year 1900.
Because of his drinking habit, Saqamaw Lupe’n was not invested as Saqamaw until
1907. Saqamaw Lupe’n died on December 1, 1918.
The selection of a Saqamaw to replace Saqamaw Lupe’n
was not without some turmoil. There is some indication Saqamaw Lupe’n may have
had an association with a non-native woman and had a son. This son could not
become Saqamaw, as there were others who were “more Mi’kmaq”. Most of his
sisters either had no children that we know of or had married men with
non-native ancestry on one side of their family. Nancy Ann had married George
Benoit (Of mixed ancestry). Catherine married a Matthews. (If she had any
children, they would have been of “Royal Blood” and supposedly in line for the
Saqamaw position. Christine had married a Nortcott but was having an
association with Edward Poulette so the purity/certainty of her children’s
blood was in doubt. Louise had married Peter Stride (Of mixed ancestry).
Madeline was crippled and never married. Julia had married John Benoit (Of
mixed ancestry). Saqamaw Lu’pen’s sister Harriett had married Steve Joe.
Although Steve’s mother was also a Benoit, Harriet’s
child Antle was the “more Mi’kmaq” and so next in line to be our Saqamaw. It
was not an unknown occurrence for the son of a Saqamaw’s sister to become
Saqamaw. In ancient times a Saqamaw often preferred that the son of a sister
would succeed him rather than his own child because there could never be any
doubt of the bloodline of his sister, whereas as a result of the times the
bloodline of his wife’s child may or may not be in doubt.
At this time our people had been pushed off most our
coastal land in and around Baie d’ Espoir and into a single settlement,
Miawpukek; and the office of Saqamaw, according to John N. Jeddore, was all but
ignored except by traditionalists like the Jeddore’s and Joe’s and some elder
settlers. The position of Saqamaw was not all that appealing and Antle was also
too young to assume leadership. We selected Saqamaw Newell (Noel Jeddore) as
another caretaker Saqamaw.
SAQAMAW
Newell.
(Newell Jeddore spelt his
surname as Gietol; Millias spelt
it as “Geodol”.- Both spellings
are a corruption of the original We’jitu).
Saqamaw Newell was born on December 18, 1865 and died on May 14, 1944. A direct
descendent of Saqamaw We’jitu, he “was made Chief at Conne River, by Rev. P.F. Adams and Rev. S. St.
Croix, P.P. on July 26, 1919” and according to an affidavit signed by (Joe
Jeddore?), he recognized that his office would last until Saqamaw-in-waiting
Antle was old enough[8] to assume
leadership. He was married to Dinah Morris. His parents were Nicholas Jeddore
and Ann Benoit.
Our people looked to Newell as Saqamaw and treated him
as such. How Saqamaw Newell became an exiled leader is much better known than
how/why he was selected to lead.
Saqamaw Newell had “Royal Blood”, being a direct
descendent of the famous Mi’kmaw Saqamaw We’jitu. Although his bloodline was
not pure Mi’kmaw, his lifestyle and leadership abilities made him “more
Mi’kmaq” and thus well qualified to assume leadership. He was half-brother to
Saqamaw Antle’s father Stephen. He was also Saqamaw Lupe’ns’ hunting buddy and
at one time had saved him from a mauling by a wounded bear.
The fact that his leadership qualities made him “more
Mi’kmaw” was proven quite quickly in his leadership. Around this time the
position of Saqamaw had become pretty well entrenched to be that of a prayer
leader instead of as a political position or dispute settler. Just five years
into his leadership, circumstances came to such a head, that events would
unfurl that would rock our Nation’s leadership to it’s very core.
His Grandson John Nick Jeddore best recounts this
story:
The priest (Rev. Stanlius St. Croix) could only
visit Conne irregularly and people didn't know when he would get here. As
always prayer leaders in the village led prayers devotedly every time they were
needed. Mi'kmaq prayed daily and Sunday especially.
Usually after prayers people
went about their business, which often times took them away from the village.
Now and again after prayers were said and people had gone about their business,
Fr. St. Croix would show up.
Apparently Father St. Croix
got upset about people holding prayer service. He said that every time he came
to Conne to have mass, people wouldn’t show up. The reason they wouldn’t go to
mass was because they “Already had
prayers”. So he told the people not to have any more prayers in the church.
When Saqamaw Noel Jeddore
and some Mi’kmaq were discussing this, Noel said something like, “ If you stop
the people from saying their prayers, they will get worse and worse, they will
become more and more sinful each day and do bad things. They could even commit
very serious sins like murder.”
{ } heard this and told Father St. Croix about it. Like any
time a story gets told, sometimes the real meaning gets mixed up [as it gets
passed from mouth to mouth]. {
} is supposed to have said something like, “Noel is down to Conne saying
all kinds of things. He is even talking about people murdering people.”
However Father St. Croix
interpreted { }’s story, he
apparently thought that since this was all about his orders that the people
stop having prayers in church, then Noel could only have been talking about
murdering him.
Father St. Croix was
obviously thinking about this situation a lot. Later on {
} was up to St. Alban’s and Father St. Croix told him to tell Peter,
Noel’s son, to come up because he wanted to see him.
As the story goes, { } then came back to Conne and
starting at Burnt Woods he went into all the households and told the people
there as well as everyone that he met “That you got to go to St. Alban’s. Father
St. Croix wants to see you!”
Like all good and religious
people, when your priest asks you to come see him you do so. So they all began
walking up to St. Alban’s across the ice. Apparently Father St. Croix saw all
these people coming across the ice up to St. Alban’s. He obviously thought the
earlier story was correct, because here were coming all the Mi’kmaw, and they
must be coming to kill him. He immediately sent out Phil Willcott and some
other men, to make peace and probably slow down the people, while he telegraphed
the Police.
Phil Willcott and them went
out and met the people. When the people heard that Father St. Croix only wanted
to see Peter, they all turned back.
Peter went to see Father St.
Croix. Peter must have been able to explain to Father St. Croix what his father
said. But Father St. Croix said to peter, “It’s too late now. I already
summoned the police. You got to force your father to leave Conne because the
police are coming to get him.”
In them days, if you
summoned the police, they didn’t come right away. Depending on the time of the
year, it could take them a few months to get there.
Peter came home and told all
this to his father. Noel did not want to go. It wasn’t really a problem if he
did go. His daughter Agnes and his son Victor were already up there. He himself
like many of the people of that time was going back and forth to Nova Scotia
all the time. Noel Louis used to go up there every summer.
For whatever reason, Noel
finally decided to leave. So the following summer, in 1945 he left Conne
forever and went to live in Exile in Eskasoni, Nova Scotia.
Saqamaw Newell was our last “official” Saqamaw of
Ktaqmkuk for the longest time. When he left Ktaqmkuk and went to Escasonick
(Eskasoni) “quite a few Mi’kmaq left with him”. He put the “Chief’s Medal” on
the statue of St. Ann in our church. Oral history says that on his putting the
medal on the statue, his words were: “I might be leaving, but the (Chief’s)
medal stays”. Ironically, future traditional Saqamaw William Joe was born just
a few months before Saqamaw Newell went into exile.
The position of Saqamaw was never “officially” filled
again until 1975, but for the record the “Unofficial” Saqamaq for the following
years were as follows.
SAQAMAW
ANTLE. (Andrew) Joe. (Born November 1889, died April 20, 1960). Saqamaw-to-be was never
officially appointed as Saqamaw. Oral history says that the priest who now
figured he had power and control with the leaving of Saqamaw Newell, asked
Saqamaw Andrew to accept the Chief’s medal, but Saqamaw Antle refused. According to Holy Cross Annual, 2nd
Edition, 1951: “Andrew Joe was next in line for the Chieftainship but this time
he refused the honor, so the medal was hung on the statue of St. Ann…”
Joe
Jeddore. (Born August 1883, died April 11, 1956). We looked upon Saqamaw Newell’s brother as our Saqamaw
or prayer leader after Saqamaw Newell went into exile. However, he was never
officially appointed to the position of Saqamaw either. It was Joe Jeddore that
led the prayers in his own home when there was no priest in the community. He
served our people from 1925 to 1954.
PIEL
(Peter Francis) Jeddore. (Born May 1892, died 1971). Piel, Saqamaw Newell’s
son was looked upon as Saqamaw after his Uncle’s death. Again he was never “Officially
appointed”. He served our people from 1954 until his death in 1971 making many
prominent public defenses of our rights to our land and resources. Saqamaw Piel
also served overseas with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during World War I.
Excerpts from various
interviews with Saqamaw Piel Jeddore, regarding position of Saqamaw in
Ktaqmkuk:
(MUN Folklore interview in
1969 by Professor John Hewson)
“That’s the last man wear that medal, my father. He
was the Chief. That medal now hung up…Chief. That medal with it, local Mi’kmaq…
The Chief going to put that medal on… New Year Day put that medal on. And
everybody will go for that Chief, and kiss that medal and swear that it will be
same rule. What they carrying on, next man, yes, same thing. The next twelve
month come again, put it on again. And they’ll come and swear for another
twelve month to carry on same…same rule”.
“When I could remember,
that’s, will we’ll say, man was 17, he could remember anything from that then,
since I could remember. Maurice Lewis was the Chief. And ...no longer was
Chief. When he died, Joe Bernard took the Chief. He was a Chief”.
“…So when Joe Bernard died,
Reuben Lewis took the Chief, see. He was the Chief. Some length of time, well,
a big flu came in. I was in the army then, 1917-18”.
“And Reuben Lewis died and
me father…not me father, Andrew Joe, Lewis he was. He was a Lewis too. Suppose
to take it see. He belong to the Lewis see, all the time. Now he was too young.
Now he hands it over to me father, see. He take it to be Chief. So me father
was Chief until he went Sydney see. When he left the place and went Sydney to
live”.
“And that medal been there
to St. Ann. Hang upon the child. And there it is now”.
“And Bishop asked me three
or four times, be Chief. I said No. I wouldn’t
be a Chief”.
“The first man wear that
medal, that’s Maurice Lewis. I was only seventeen. (1909). Then Joe Bernard,
Then Reuben Lewis, then my father. [?].…been up in the church since old man
went away; that’s forty years now”.
“There was a long chain (on
the medal)... But somebody robbed the chain”.
MUN Folklore interview in
1967 by Mrs. Stoker and Allan Brake, from west coast of Nfld.]
“You have to read it for
us”; [Peter Jeddore, reading…] “July the…[reads in Mi’kmaw]…July 12, 1920…Noel
Jeddore appointed me Chief in Mi’kmaq Reserve…”
-“Now, he the one who went
over to Nova Scotia?” “Yes, he was over in Nova Scotia, that where he was Head
Man to the Chief, in Nova Scotia…he come here and he live here then until he
move over to Sydney, that’s where he die, in Sydney”.
-“Then who followed him?”
“Nobody…it was my place but I wouldn’t take it …”
The office of Saqamaw
remained vacant to 1980. In 1972 while Melvin Jeddore and Martin Jeddore were
attempting to reorganize our government silently and with the assistance of the
Union of Nova Scotia Indians, a misguided attempt was made to organize a local
government based on the municipality’s model.
In 1973 John N. Jeddore was
elected as the President of Conne River Native Council and in 1974 the Local Improvement
Council of Conne River was left by the wayside.
President John N. Jeddore.
(Born 1922 -). He served us from 1973 to 1974. Saqamaw Peter’s son, he was, in
a departure from traditional ways, “elected” our Saqamaw or President of a very
non-traditional political organization in 1973. This was a time when we once
again began to reassert our rights to our own political leadership. President
John N. was never officially appointed and resigned in 1974, because “The
structure being organized and the title of President did not fit Mi’kmaw
society”.
President Walter John,
(September 15, 1926 -), was our first Saqamaw or President of Innu decent. He
served us from 1974 to 1975. He was elected in the same non-Lnu tradition. He
resigned in 1975. He was never officially appointed.
SAQAMAW
William Joe. (Born March 8, 1925, died December 23, 1982). Saqamaw Antle’s son, he
was selected as Community Saqamaw in 1975 and re-selected in 1976. In 1978,
during his term we decided that the position of Saqamaw would once again follow
our traditional Mi’kmaw way. This meant Saqamaw Joe would be Saqamaw for life.
Kji Saqamaw Donald Marshall “Officially” appointed him Saqamaw in 1980. The
“Chief’s Medal” was once again worn by our traditional Saqamaw. He served until
his accidental death in December 1982.
SAQAMAW
Mise’l Joe. Continuing to follow tradition, with the slight departure of using
secret ballot, Saqamaw Mise’l was selected Saqamaw on January 7, 1983. He
serves as Saqamaw for all of Ktaqmkuk, and presently also serves as the elected
“Administrative Saqamaw” of MIAWPUKEK Nation, a Keptin in the Grand Council and
spiritual leader of Miawpukek Mi’kmaq traditionalists. He was “re-selected” to
the position of Community Saqamaw in 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000.
In April 1988 conflict between high-level employees
and the leadership of Miawpukek First Nation erupted and overflowed into the
community. People took sides as the community and families split into two camps
and the troubles or as some referred to it, “The Politics”, began. It wasn’t
until the selection on June 13, 1990, of Administrative Saqamaw Shayne
McDonald, Great Grandson of Saqamaw Antle and nephew of Traditional Saqamaw
William Joe that peace, to a degree returned to our Nation.
Administrative Saqamaw Shayne’s selection was followed
in June 1992, by the selection of Geraldine Kelly daughter of Saqamaw William
Joe, as Administrative Saqamaw. On June 4, 1994 Traditional Saqamaw Mise’l was
again selected to serve his people.
Supporting information to
some of the above may be found in “an old book held by Joseph Jeddore” and
mentioned in the yearly publication of St, Ignatius School, called Holy Cross
Annual, Second Edition, 1951.
Additionally some
information came from Newfoundland and It’s Untrodden Ways, by J.G. Millais,
Longmans, Green and Co,., Copyright 1907 and reprinted by Abercrombie &
Fitch Co., New York. Copyright 1967.