Pictou Landing First Nations is a

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the nor ...

band government In Canada, an Indian band or band (french: bande indienne, link=no), sometimes referred to as a First Nation band (french: bande de la Première Nation, link=no) or simply a First Nation, is the basic unit of government for those peoples subjec ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. Their territory spans five reserves that have a combined area of . As of September 2017, the Mi'kmaq population is 485 on their own reserve, 23 on other reserves and 157 living off-reserve.

Chief and council

The elective council system was adopted at Pictou Landing in 1951. Incumbent Chief Andrea Paul was re-elected for her third term as chief in November 2015 using the

Indian Act The ''Indian Act'' (, long name ''An Act to amend and consolidate the laws respecting Indians'') is a Canadian act of Parliament that concerns registered Indians, their bands, and the system of Indian reserves. First passed in 1876 and still ...

election system. Six councillors were elected at the same time, three of them having served previously. 71 per cent of the 393 eligible voters cast ballots. Elections are held every two years.

Pictou Landing reserves

Pictou Landing First Nation has five reserves, the only populated one being Fisher's Grant 24 at the mouth of

Pictou Harbour Pictou Harbour is a natural harbour in Nova Scotia on the Northumberland Strait. Geography The distance between the town of Pictou on the north shore, and the community of Pictou Landing to the south is about . The south side of the harbour open ...

and adjacent to Boat Harbour, a former tidal lake now part of the effluent treatment system for the pulp mill at Abercrombie Point. Facilities on this reserve include the band's administrative offices, fire hall, training centre, and P–6 school. The health centre was built in 2007 and its construction was inspired by traditional techniques used in

longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...

s and birch bark canoes. The truss system was built using long, slender greenwood trees lashed together with metal strapping. The exterior is clad with large spruce shingles.

Boat Harbour

Boat Harbour is a body of water formerly used by the First Nation. In the 1960s it was taken over by the

Province of Nova Scotia A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

for use as a

settling pond A settling basin, settling pond or decant pond is an earthen or concrete structure using sedimentation to remove settleable matter and turbidity from wastewater. The basins are used to control water pollution in diverse industries such as agricul ...

for effluent from the nearby pulp mill. It quickly became polluted with heavy metals and organic chemicals and was the source of ongoing disputes between the First Nation and governments. The Boat Harbour Act 2015 set a deadline for closing the treatment facility no later than January 31, 2020, after which the site was to be cleaned up. This will involve removing an estimated 350,000 cubic metres (12 million cu ft) of contaminated material and returning the

lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into '' coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons' ...

to a tidal

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

. In a decision in the Provincial Court of Nova Scotia, Honourable Judge Del W. Atwood stated: A 2013 study found that pollution, from both Boat Harbour and the exhaust stacks at the mill, has compromised access to traditional foods such as game, fish and berries, and dissuaded residents from growing gardens. This negatively impacted

food security Food security speaks to the availability of food in a country (or geography) and the ability of individuals within that country (geography) to access, afford, and source adequate foodstuffs. According to the United Nations' Committee on World F ...

on the reserve. In December 2019 Nova Scotia Premier

Stephen McNeil Stephen McNeil (born November 10, 1964) is a Canadian politician who served as the 28th premier of Nova Scotia, from 2013 to 2021. He also represented the riding of Annapolis in the Nova Scotia House of Assembly from 2003 to 2021 and was the le ...

turned down the pulp mill's request for an extension of the deadline to cease polluting the harbor. "The company has had five years and any number of opportunities," he said. "Cleaning up Boat Harbor is all my people have ever wanted," said Pictou Landing chief Andrea Paul. "Premier Stephen McNeil kept his promise and, on behalf of my community, we are thankful."

Notable residents

Anna Mae Aquash Annie Mae Aquash (Mi'kmaq name ''Naguset Eask'') (March 27, 1945 – mid-December 1975 ) was a First Nations activist and Mi'kmaq tribal member from Nova Scotia, Canada. Aquash moved to Boston in the 1960s and joined other First Nations and In ...

, activist, spent some of her childhood here.

References

External links