Mi'kmaw district The
Mi'kmaq are the Indigenous inhabitants of what is now Prince Edward Island, calling their country
Mi'kma'ki. The island's land base formed one part of the district
Epekwitk aq Piktuk (also spelled
Epegwitg aq Pigtug). Named "Epekwitk" (and rendered as "Abegweit" in English)—meaning "cradled on the waves"—the island was governed by
Saqamaq, or community chiefs, a women's council (''Saqama'sgw
), and wampum keepers (Putu's
), eventually falling under the jurisdiction of the Sante' (or Mi'kmawey) Mawio'mi
and the Grand Chief, or Kji Sagamaw''. Today, Epekwitk (aq Piktuk), along with the other seven districts of Mi'kma'ki, are protected by the
Peace and Friendship Treaties that the Mi'kmaq have with
the Crown; however, rather than district-level governance, administration is currently overseen by
band governments. On Epekwitk, the two
communities are the
Abegweit and
Lennox Island First Nations. Stretching back into deep history, the earliest stories of the Mi'kmaq go back to the time of
Glooscap, a cultural hero and first human in
Wabanaki mythology. Big in size and power, Mi'kmaw legend says that when Glooscap finished painting the splendour of the world, he dipped his brush into a blend of all the colours and created Epekwitk—his favourite island. When Glooscap slept, ''Enmigtaqamu'g
(or mainland Nova Scotia) was his bed and Epekwitk his pillow. Another legend tells us that Minegoo''—another name for the island, meaning, simply, "island" in
Mi'kmawi'simk—was formed by the Great Spirit placing on the Blue Waters some dark red crescent-shaped clay. Mi'kmaw oral history recalls a time when the world was
covered in water. It was then that the being Sebanees, arriving in
kjiktu’lnu ("our great boat"), landed on the shores of Epekwitk. The boat, made of ice, carried all the animals and fish his family would need for survival, and it is said that Epekwitk's unique land formation was a result of the melting of the ice boat. Archaeological evidence, such as
shell middens and campsite remains, corroborate Mi'kmaw stories which indicate an ancient presence in Epekwitk. Prior to
European colonization of the Americas, Mi'kmaq engaged in varied relations with neighbouring nations, such as the
Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet),
Passamaquoddy, and
Abenaki, with whom they formed the
Wabanaki Confederacy in Dawnland.
French colony In 1534,
Jacques Cartier was the first European to see the island. The troops fled the settlement, and the New Englanders burned the settlement to the ground. Duvivier and the twenty men retreated up the Northeast River (Hillsborough River), pursued by the New Englanders until the French troops were reinforced with the arrival of the Acadian militia and the Mi'kmaq. The French troops and their allies were able to drive the New Englanders to their boats. Nine New Englanders were killed, wounded or made prisoner. The New Englanders took six Acadian
hostages, who would be executed if the Acadians or Mi'kmaq rebelled against New England control. New Englanders had a force of 200 soldiers stationed at
Port-La-Joye, as well as two warships boarding supplies for its journey of Louisbourg. To regain Acadia, Ramezay was sent from Quebec to the region to join forces with the
Duc d'Anville expedition. Upon arriving at Chignecto, he sent Boishebert to Île Saint-Jean to ascertain the size of the New England force. After Boishebert returned, Ramezay sent Joseph-Michel Legardeur de Croisille et de Montesson along with over 500 men, 200 of whom were Mi'kmaq, to Port-La-Joye. In July 1746, the battle happened near York River. Montesson and his troops killed forty New Englanders and captured the rest. Montesson was commended for having distinguished himself in his first independent command. Hostilities between the British and French were ended in 1748 with the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. in Prince Edward Island. A large number of Acadians were forcibly removed from the island in the mid 18th century. Roughly one thousand
Acadians lived on the island prior to the
Acadian Exodus from Nova Scotia. The population grew to nearly 5,000 the late 1740s and early 1750s, as Acadians from Nova Scotia fled to the island during the
Acadian Exodus, and the subsequent
British-ordered expulsions beginning in 1755. Hostilities between British and French colonial forces resumed in 1754, although formal declarations of war were not issued until 1756. After French forces were defeated at the
siege of Louisbourg, the British performed a
military campaign on Ile Saint-Jean (now Prince Edward Island) to secure the island. The campaign was led by Colonel
Andrew Rollo under orders from General
Jeffery Amherst. The following campaigns saw the
deportation of most Acadians from the island. Many Acadians died in the expulsion en route to France; on December 13, 1758, the transport ship
Duke William sank and 364 died. A day earlier the
Violet sank and 280 died; several days later sank with 213 on board. The French formally ceded the island, and most of
New France to the British in the
Treaty of Paris of 1763.
British colony Initially named St. John's Island by the British, the island was administered as part of the colony of Nova Scotia, until it was split into a separate colony in 1769. In the mid-1760s, a survey team led by
Samuel Holland divided the Island into 67 lots. On July 1, 1767, these properties were allocated to supporters of
King George III by means of a lottery. Ownership of the land remained in the hands of landlords in England, angering Island settlers who were unable to gain title to land on which they worked and lived. Significant rent charges (to absentee landlords) created further anger. The land had been given to the absentee landlords with a number of conditions attached regarding upkeep and settlement terms, many of which were not satisfied. Islanders spent decades trying to convince the Crown to confiscate the lots; however, the descendants of the original owners were generally well connected to the British government and refused to give up the land. After the island was detached from Nova Scotia to become a separate colony,
Walter Patterson was appointed the first British governor of St. John's Island in 1769. Assuming the office in 1770, he had a controversial career during which land title disputes and factional conflict slowed the initial attempts to populate and develop the island under a
feudal system. In an attempt to attract settlers from Ireland, in one of his first acts (1770) Patterson led the island's colonial assembly to rename the island "New Ireland", but the British Government promptly vetoed this as it exceeded the authority vested in the colonial government; only the Privy Council in London could change the name of a colony. During the
American Revolutionary War Charlottetown was raided in 1775 by a pair of American-employed privateers. Two armed schooners,
Franklin and
Hancock, from
Beverly, Massachusetts, made prisoner of the attorney-general at Charlottetown, on advice given them by some Pictou residents after they had taken eight fishing vessels in the
Gut of Canso. During and after the American Revolutionary War, from 1776 to 1783, the colony's efforts to attract exiled
Loyalist refugees from the rebellious North American colonies met with some success. Walter Patterson's brother, John Patterson, one of the original grantees of land on the island, was a temporarily exiled Loyalist and led efforts to persuade others to come. Governor Patterson's dismissal in 1787, and his recall to London in 1789, dampened his brother's efforts, leading John to focus on his interests in the United States.
Edmund Fanning, also a Loyalist exiled by the Revolution, took over as the second governor, serving until 1804. His tenure was more successful than Patterson's. A large influx of Scottish Highlanders in the late 1700s also resulted in St. John's Island having the highest proportion of Scottish immigrants in Canada. This led to a higher proportion of Scottish Gaelic speakers and thriving culture surviving on the island than in Scotland itself, as the settlers could more easily avoid English influence overseas. On November 29, 1798, during Fanning's administration, the British government granted approval to change the colony's name from St. John's Island to Prince Edward Island to distinguish it from areas with similar names in what is now
Atlantic Canada, such as the cities of
Saint John in New Brunswick and
St. John's in Newfoundland. The colony's new name honoured the fourth son of
King George III,
Prince Edward Augustus, the Duke of Kent (1767–1820), who subsequently led the British military forces on the continent as
Commander-in-Chief, North America (1799–1800), with his headquarters in
Halifax. In 1853, the Island government passed the Land Purchase Act which empowered them to purchase lands from those owners who were willing to sell, and then resell the land to settlers for low prices. This scheme collapsed when the Island ran short of money to continue with the purchases. Many of these lands also were fertile, and were some of the key factors to sustaining Prince Edward Island's economy.
Confederation in 1864. Although PEI hosted a conference, it did not join the
Confederation until 1873. From September 1 to 7, 1864, Prince Edward Island hosted the
Charlottetown Conference, which was the first meeting in the process leading to the
Quebec Resolutions and the creation of Canada in 1867. Prince Edward Island found the terms of union unfavourable and balked at joining in 1867, choosing to remain a colony of the United Kingdom. In the late 1860s, the colony examined various options, including the possibility of becoming a discrete dominion unto itself, as well as entertaining delegations from the United States, who were interested in Prince Edward Island joining the United States. In 1871, the colony began construction of the
Prince Edward Island Railway (PEIR) and, frustrated by Great Britain's Colonial Office, began negotiations with the United States. In 1873, Canadian Prime Minister
John A. Macdonald, anxious to thwart American expansionism and facing the distraction of the
Pacific Scandal, negotiated for Prince Edward Island to join Canada. The Dominion Government of Canada assumed the colony's extensive railway debts and agreed to finance a buy-out of the last of the colony's absentee landlords to free the island of leasehold tenure and from any new immigrants entering the island (accomplished through the passage of the
Land Purchase Act, 1875). Prince Edward Island entered Confederation on July 1, 1873. was completed in 1964, and commemorates the centenary of Confederation. As a result of having hosted the inaugural meeting of Confederation, the Charlottetown Conference, Prince Edward Island presents itself as the "Birthplace of Confederation" and this is commemorated through several buildings, a
ferry vessel, and the
Confederation Bridge (constructed 1993 to 1997). The most prominent building in the province honouring this event is the
Confederation Centre of the Arts, presented as a gift to Prince Edward Islanders by the 10 provincial governments and the Federal Government upon the centenary of the Charlottetown Conference, where it stands in Charlottetown as a national monument to the "
Fathers of Confederation". The centre is one of the 22
National Historic Sites of Canada located in Prince Edward Island. == Demographics ==