To hold it in my hand

Abstract

The Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation (formerly known as Red Bank) is located at the junction of the Little Southwest Miramichi and the Northwest Miramichi Rivers in northeastern New Brunswick, Canada. This chapter provides a brief summary of the projects and relationships that have developed between two New Brunswick archaeologists, Christopher Turnbull and Patricia Allen, and the Metepenagiag community. Metepenagiag perspectives are given by Madeline Augustine and Pam Ward, individuals who have been inspired by their heritage to play significant roles in the overall development of their community. This chapter provides four separate perspectives on the joint endeavors and partnerships between the Mi'kmaq and archaeologists. A mutual story begins in 1972 when the late Joseph Michael Augustine, then a Councilor and former Chief of Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq First Nation, decided it was time to explore a childhood memory. Mr. Augustine's discovery and reporting of a 2,500-year-old burial mound, sacred to the Mi'kmaq, halted a menacing gravel mining operation, and introduced his community to archaeology. While the mound was being explored (19751977) Mr. Augustine found the Oxbow, a deeply stratified archaeological site. Oxbow excavations (19781984) revealed the site was an intensively and continuously occupied 3,000-year-old fishing village. Working together for the past 30 years, the community and the two archaeologists have grown and changed, each being as influenced by one as the other. Archaeological surveys located over 60 additional pre-contact Metepenagiag sites. Other field projects were initiated. Site reports, academic publications, films, public literature, exhibits, and other community-based heritage projects have been accomplished. Both the Augustine Mound and the Oxbow site have been declared National Historic Sites for Canada. The community is currently developing a major cultural tourism attraction-Metepenagiag Heritage Park-to preserve and present Metepenagiag's outstanding cultural history. It started with one man. Joseph Michael Augustine was born in Big Cove, New Brunswick in 1911. When he was a small boy his family moved to Red Bank, now Metepenagiag. Growing up in Metepanagiag, Joe spoke the Mi'kmaq language and learned many things about his heritage from his father John. As a teenager, Joe worked on log drives on the Restigouche River. A bit later he married Mary Metallic from the Mi'kmaq community at Listuguj. Joe brought his bride back to Metepenagiag to live and raise their family. Over the years Joe provided for Mary and their eight children by hunting, fishing, trapping, gardening, and guiding on the Miramichi River. He was a master basket maker and sold many kinds of ash baskets to supplement the family income. Joseph Michael "Joe-Mike" Augustine was a community leader. He was Chief of the Metepenagiag Nation for two terms, 19521954 and 19561958, and Councilor from 1960 to 1964 and again from 1966 to 1972. In 1987, he received a Certificate of Excellence from the Hudson's Bay Company. That year Joe was judged to have harvested and prepared the highest quality beaver pelts of any trapper in Canada. In 1988, Joseph Michael Augustine was awarded New Brunswick's Minister's Award for Heritage in recognition of his discovery of the Augustine Mound and the Oxbow National Historic Sites (Figure 10.1). In his hospital room just hours before his passing in 1995, Joseph viewed exerts from the documentary movie Metepenagiag: Village of Thirty Centuries (1996). He was moved by the Metepenagiag scenery and by the story, a story dedicated to his lifetime commitment to his community, his culture, and his heritage.