Crown Lands

The Wolastoqiyik have occupied the lands and waters of what is now known as New Brunswick since time immemorial. Over the past centuries, Wolastoqey lands, waters, and resources have been increasingly appropriated by third parties, exploited, contaminated, depleted, and regulated to the point where the ability to exercise Wolastoqey Aboriginal and Treaty rights is in serious jeopardy.

The Peace and Friendship treaties the Wolastoqey are signatories to did not involve the surrender of land, waters or resources. The ability of the Wolastoqey to feed families and earn a livelihood from harvesting the natural resources on Wolastoqey territory has seriously diminished, and it has become increasingly hard for the Wolastoqey to practice cultural and spiritual traditions and transmit these to the youth.

What do we do?

The Government of New Brunswick’s Department of Natural Resources and Energy Development (DNRED) oversees land transactions relating to Crown land in the province. As of 2018, DNRED sends notifications of transactions to WNNB and the Wolastoqey communities for comment on how they may infringe upon Wolastoqey Aboriginal and Treaty rights.

WNNB takes all Crown land transactions seriously, as we are asserting Aboriginal title over our traditional territory within New Brunswick and opposing the loss of Crown land. Land transactions are generally in the form of leases, licenses of occupation, Crown reserve roads, and land exchanges and disposals. WNNB provides technical advice to Wolastoqey communities on how a proposed transaction could potentially impact our rights. We assess each transaction on a case-by-case basis and examine how they impact historical, archaeological, environmental or technical concerns using studies conducted on land-use impacts as reference.

For more information, please contact Gillian Paul, Legal and Governance Advisor at gillian.paul@wolastoqey.ca.