American Indian Culture and Research Journal

The Treaty of Utrecht (1713) has been called "la plaque tournante" (the turntable) of the French empire in North America. Until that point, France had been aggressive and expanding; afterward, she was on the defensive, determined to prevent further dismemberment of her North American empire. Nowhere was this change more evident than along the Atlantic coast, where French peninsular Acadia was transformed into English Nova Scotia, while Ile Royale (Cape Breton) and Ile St.-Jean (Prince Edward Island), as well as adjacent mainland areas, such as the Gaspé and the St. John River, remained in the hands of the French. These regions were mostly inhabited by the Micmac, an Algonkian-speaking hunting and gathering people, with their close relatives the Malecite (including the Passamaquoddy, who spoke a variety of the same language), and later some Abenaki, living along the St. John River. To the south were Abenaki. In contact with Europeans for more than two centuries, and allies of the French for half that time, these peoples were usually the ones indicated by the expression "French and Indians" of colonial war fame. The Treaty of Utrecht profoundly modified their position, particularly that of the Micmac in Nova Scotia (with whom this paper is principally concerned). As the rival colonial powers squared off against each other in preparation for what would become the final round of imperial hostilities in the Northeast, Micmac and Malecite found that their position to play off one against the other had been greatly strengthened.