Empire, the Maritime Colonies, and the Supplanting of Mi’kma’ki/Wulstukwik, 1780-1820

Abstract

While accepting that the supplanting of Mi’kma’ki and Wulstukwik by the Maritime colonies entered a crucial phase during the waning years of the “long” 18th century, this article argues that the process was characterized by a complex and distinctive pattern. That dispossession was widespread is beyond doubt, even though the evidence also suggests significant spatial variations in the scale and implications of environmental change. Yet a continuing Native ability to represent complaints and demands based on longstanding treaty obligations, and to extract conciliatory responses from reluctant imperial officials, also persisted during this period.