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Concept
Maliseet
Summary
The Wəlastəkwewiyik, or Maliseet (pronˈmæləˌsiːt, also spelled Malecite), are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the indigenous people of the Wolastoq (Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territory extends across the current borders of New Brunswick and Quebec in Canada, and parts of Maine in the United States.
The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, based on the Meduxnekeag River in the Maine portion of their traditional homeland, are since 19 July 1776, the first foreign treaty allies with the United States of America. They are a federally recognized tribe of Maliseet people. Today Maliseet people have also migrated to other parts of the world. The Maliseet have occupied areas of forest, river and coastal areas within their 20,000,000-acre, 200-mile wide, and 600-mile long homeland in the Saint John river watershed.
The people call themselves Wəlastəkwewiyik Wəlastəkw means "bright river" or "shining river" ("wəl-" = good, "-as-" shining, "-təkw" = river; "-iyik" = people of). Wəlastəkwiyik therefore simply means "People of the Bright River" in their native language. The Maliseet (Malecite) have long been associated with the Saint John River. Their territory still extends as far as the Saint Lawrence River. Their lands and resources are bounded on the east by the Miꞌkmaq people, on the west by the Penobscot, and on the south by the Passamaquoddy, who also still speak related Algonquian languages.
Malesse'jik was a Miꞌkmaq word believed to mean "He speaks slowly," or differently, by which the Miꞌkmaq people contrasted the other tribe's language to their own. The meaning of the word today is unknown but it is commonly mistranslated to "he speaks badly, lazy, or broken". This term is the exonym by which the Miꞌkmaq people referred to this group when speaking to early Europeans. The Europeans met the Miꞌkmaq people before the Wəlastəkwewiyik, and transliterated Malesse'jik to Malécite in French for this people, not understanding that it was not their true name.
Official source
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