Whereas the Passamaquoddy Peoples have been occupying their territory since time immemorial (12,000 years of archeological evidence),
Whereas Qonasqamkuk (Saint Andrews, New Brunswick) is sacred and central to the traditional home of the Passamaquoddy Peoples,
Whereas the Passamaquoddy Peoples’ homeland extends from the Penobscot River drainage (Penobscot Territory) to the Saint John River drainage (Wolastoqewiyik Territory),
Whereas the Passamaquoddy Peoples enjoyed their freedom and access to all that Mother Earth provided in their traditional homeland prior to European contact,
Whereas the Passamaquoddy Peoples agreed to share their territory through the Peace and Friendship Treaties which they have honored to this day,
Whereas the Peace and Friendship Treaties stated that Passamaquoddy Peoples were to be allowed to live as they have always lived, freely and unmolested throughout their territory,
Whereas Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution recognizes and affirms Canada’s obligation to honor these treaties as a covenant between nations, thus an obligation of every Canadian Citizen,
Whereas the Government of Canada violated the Peace and Friendship Treaties when they denied Passamaquoddy Peoples their inherent rights as Indigenous Peoples through removal of recognition and displacing them from their traditional homeland,
Whereas Canada endorsed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in November 2010,
Whereas the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples confers a moral, political, and legal obligation for Canada to recognize the Passamaquoddy as Indigenous Peoples,
Whereas the actions by the Canadian Government are extinguishing Passamaquoddy Peoples from their homeland and thus constitutes a genocide as defined by International Law,
The New Brunswick Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) supports:
The recognition of the Passamaquoddy Peoples as the benefactors of the Peace and Friendship Treaties which grants them access to resources and freedom to exist in their traditional homeland.
Approved: June 17, 2012, Ellen Helmuth, Clerk, NBMM (Wording Amendments, August 2012)