Gabriel Acquin ( 1811 – 2 October 1901) was known by a variety of names; Sachem Gabe and Noel Gabriel being the most verifiable. He was a Wolastoqew hunter, guide, interpreter and showman who was the founder of the St. Mary's First Nation reserve in Canada.

Biography

Gabriel Acquin was born 1811 near

Kingsclear, New Brunswick Kingsclear is an unincorporated rural area 20 km west of Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. The area includes forests, Saint John River shoreline, agricultural land, small businesses, rural residences, and the Mactaquac Dam. Access is vi ...

. Acquin's family is believed to be one of many Aboriginal families to have been displaced by the movement of defeated

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

after the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. In 1839, Acquin married Marie Marthe in

Fredericton Fredericton (; ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. The city is situated in the west-central portion of the province along the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy), Saint John River, ...

, and together the couple produced a son, Stephen, in 1845. (Gabe Acquin son was Noel and daughter Katherine Acquin (Paul) Records show that Acquin may have used names such as Noel Gabriel and Newell Gov'-leet prior to the birth of his son, including when attending a

Wabanaki Confederacy The Wabanaki Confederacy (''Wabenaki, Wobanaki'', translated to "People of the Dawn" or "Easterner"; also: Wabanakia, "Dawnland") is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of five principal Eastern Algonquian nations ...

meeting in

Old Town, Maine Old Town is a city in Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The population was 7,431 at the 2020 census. The city's developed area is chiefly located on the relatively large Marsh Island, but its boundaries extend beyond it. The island is su ...

in 1838. In 1847, the

executor An executor is someone who is responsible for executing, or following through on, an assigned task or duty. The feminine form, executrix, is sometimes used. Executor of will An executor is a legal term referring to a person named by the maker o ...

s of a Loyalist estate invited Acquin to settle on land at what was to become the St. Mary's Indian Reserve, in

York County, New Brunswick York County (2021 population 105,261) is located in west-central New Brunswick, Canada. The county contains the provincial capital, Fredericton. Outside the city, farming and forestry are two major industries in the county, which is bisected by ...

. Although Acquin's family had previously been

nomadic Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

in nature, Acquin established 14 acres of planted potatoes on his land, and built first a

wigwam A wigwam, wikiup, wetu (Wampanoag), or wiigiwaam (Ojibwe, in syllabics: ) is a semi-permanent domed dwelling formerly used by certain Native American tribes and First Nations people and still used for ceremonial events. The term ''wikiup'' ...

and then a frame-house there. However, despite the invitation extended to Acquin to live on the land, it had actually been sold several times to different owners, and by 1867 only a two-and-a-half acre patch of land on the riverfront of the Saint John River was in the possession of the

Crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...

and hence available for use by Acquin's

Wolastoqiyik The Wolastoqiyik, (, also known as the Maliseet or Malecite () are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq ( Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their terri ...

. When Acquin requested possession of the land he and his people had been living on from the federal government in 1883, he did not receive a reply. Acquin is best known for his hunting, guiding and interpreting. Acquin accompanied British military officers on trips to hunt with them, and his skills in this area became legendary in the

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

area. Acquin reportedly killed five

moose The moose (: 'moose'; used in North America) or elk (: 'elk' or 'elks'; used in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is the world's tallest, largest and heaviest extant species of deer and the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is also the tal ...

and 25

caribou The reindeer or caribou (''Rangifer tarandus'') is a species of deer with circumpolar distribution, native to Arctic, subarctic, tundra, boreal, and mountainous regions of Northern Europe, Siberia, and North America. It is the only represe ...

in a single year, and Acquin himself claimed to have killed 60 red

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

in just two weeks' time. Acquin became popular among

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland, then further south at Roanoke and Jamestown, ...

government officers, and befriended two

Lieutenant Governors A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

. When Prince Albert Edward (later King

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until Death and state funeral of Edward VII, his death in 1910. The second child ...

) visited

in 1860 and spotted Acquin canoeing past

Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and British Overseas Territories. The name is also used in some other countries. Government Houses in th ...

, he asked him for a ride. Acquin obliged, taking the Prince on a brief trip to the

Nashwaak River The Nashwaak River, located in west-central New Brunswick, Canada, is a tributary of the Saint John River. It is 113 kilometres long, draining an area of roughly . The river drains south from Nashwaak Lake (southeast of the village of Juniper) ...

's mouth. Apparently, as a result of that encounter, Acquin later received an invitation to the United Kingdom to be one of Canada's entries in the International Fisheries Exhibition, held in London in 1883. He made the journey, taking with him a canoe and beaded clothing, and set up a wigwam near ponds at

South Kensington South Kensington is a district at the West End of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with the advent of the ra ...

. In London, he interacted socially with Prince Albert Edward, other members of the royal family, and officers with whom he became acquainted back at home. One Canadian historian has said that Acquin was received in London as "the greatest social lion of the day." Acquin made at least one additional visit to London in 1893, when, at age 82, he was part of the World's Water Show. Acquin died in Fredericton on October 2, 1901. He was survived by his wife, four sons and three daughters.

Legacy

Acquin was seen by many as a symbol of both

romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

as it related to the native population of Canada and the assimilation of Aboriginal Canadians into European culture. In 1999, Acquin was named a

Person of National Historic Significance Persons of National Historic Significance (National Historic People) () are people designated by the Canadian government as being nationally significant in the history of the country. Designations are made by the Minister of the Environment on the ...

by the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

Biography

Legacy

References

Further reading