"Quest for Qonasqamkuk"
This map shows the Traditional Ancestral Homeland Territory
of the Passamaquoddy Tribe. The Passamaquoddy have lived in harmony with
the mother earth and have occupied this watershed region for at least the
past 600+ generations (12,000+ years). In contrast, the European newcomer
governments (USA and Canada) have only been in this region for a mere 20
generations. This new USA-Canada boundary line was imposed on the Passamaquoddy by the
newcomer governments. Notice how the boundary line cuts right through the
heart of
our Ancestral Homeland. This new boundary was created less than 200 years ago and
has created serious problems for the Passamaquoddy people. The newcomers
violate treaties with Passamaquoddy, they take our land, pollute the waters,
deplete our food source, and make laws (in violation of treaties) that restrict our hunting,
fishing, travel and trade within our homeland. Our way of life is
endangered.
"The Protection and sanctity of our land is
closely linked to the Preservation of our Aboriginal Existence" Vera J.
Francis
When Great Britain and the United States established a
boundary between Maine and New Brunswick in 1842, the Passamaquoddy People
were not consulted. The result, the separation of Passamaquoddy families and
the seizure of traditional Passamaquoddy territory.
Our people more than a century later still carry on the
fight for our ancestral Passamaquoddy homelands.
In order to restore and retain a physical & spiritual
connection to our buried ancestors and sacred land, the commercial
profiteering, the blatant degradation, and the exploitation of sacred land
must cease. In recognizing that a spiritual equilibrium can only be attained
with the help of others, the Passamaquoddy people earnestly request support.
We stress that to do anything less perpetuates genocide.
We seek the immediate return of our land at Qonasqamkuk
and the acknowledgment that our aboriginal right to this land has never been
relinquished by treaty, lost by war, or sold in any transaction.
|
