Wəlastəkokewiyik and Parks Canada Commemorate the National Historical Significance of the Mehtawtik Village Site

Mehtawtik (Meductic) Village National Historic Site is located near the confluence of the Eel River and Saint John River, in the unceded Wolastoqey territory of so-called New Brunswick. Mehtawtik was in on a strategic western plateau of the Saint John River, valued by the Wəlastəkokewiyik for excellent hunting, fishing, and its fertile soil. In the spring, the Wəlastəkokewiyik would regularly visit the area to plant corn, returning later in the year to harvest the crops. For families who gathered here, the harvest was an occasion for social, cultural, and spiritual activities. First designated as a national historic site in 1924 under the colonial name of Fort Meductic by 1968 the Mactaquac Hydroelectric Dam was built flooding much of the Saint John River valley placing the entire site of the Mehtawtik village underwater. Today the site remains as a place for spiritual, social and culture activities and recently was renamed by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada using the Wəlastəkwiyik spelling. Always a site of cultural, and social interaction this plaque and cairn will represent an important step to continue to reconcile the past of this site by bringing visibility to an Indigenous experience of sharing our stories in our voices in our way.

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https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/culture/clmhc-hsmbc/res/information-backgrounder/meductic