St. Mary’s Reserve chief, Candace Paul, remembers her community being poor when she was a little girl.
“It stuck out like a sore thumb, it was very visible,” she said, sitting in her office on Fredericton’s north side, pictures of family, native art, a traditional peace pipe, and chief headdress regalia hanging on the walls.
Between sips of tea, she recalled how a large green fence once bordered the Maliseet reserve. A lot of prejudice and stereotype occurred then.
“It’s funny, I have friends who are non-aboriginal that will tell me that their parents said, ‘Don’t go inside that fence,’ it scared them, so they never did.”
But St. Mary’s has come a long way in the last 30 years. It’s an economic success story among the 14 First Nation communities in New Brunswick. It’s urban location is an advantage that neighbouring rural communities like the Oromocto and Kingsclear First Nations don’t have.
But geography, without political stability, only takes a community so far.
“St. Mary’s has a lot more going on than most First Nations in New Brunswick,” said Mike Hennessey, an economic development officer for Joint Economic Development Initiative (JEDI).
JEDI is a non-profit organization that supports First Nation participation in New Brunswick’s economy. Hennessey has had the opportunity to travel and work with the 14 First Nations reserves in New Brunswick.
“Some of them are doing well, some of them are still improving,” Hennessey said. “But St. Mary’s is the standard for everybody else in the province.”
Chief Paul said one thing the community never lacked was spirit. Square dances, potlucks, suppers and annual hunts were frequent. They used to fish large stripe bass from the river, bring them home and have community feasts.
“A lot of people used to share back then,” Paul said, adding that there was no status of rich and richer, everyone was poor and struggling. “If you ate, your neighbours ate.”
All of this occurred on the old Devon Reserve, St. Mary’s southern section along the river. In the 1960s they started to move the houses up the hill to Paul Street, the only street on the reserve at the time. As the northern section grew, the southern section was vacated. In the early 70s, the last house was moved. It was owned by Matilda Sappier who left kicking and screaming.
The first businesses on the reserve were in-home stores. They sold pop, chips and ice cream. In the 1980s the first official smoke shop opened. It was situated in a trailer home in a parking lot. The St. Mary’s Convenience Store was later built next to the trailer.
In 1997, St. Mary’s opened a one-tank gas station next to the old band office. Next to the pump was a green trailer that housed one of the four employees who pumped gas. In 1999, they moved across St. Mary’s Street and opened The Convenience Store which is now The Smoke Shop. The Convenience Store sold groceries, lotto tickets and tobacco. Two years later, The St. Mary’s Super Market was built across the parking lot.
There are numerous economic challenges First Nations throughout the province face. Hennessey said none of these challenges are too big to overcome, but political fighting hinders economic development. St. Mary’s overcame this obstacle with consistent leadership and vision.
For Hennessey, the ideal framework for an economically sound First Nation consists mainly of education, politics and geography.
He said there must be a solid political vision, either passed from one leadership to the next, or maintained by the same administration. Aboriginal leaders must also have the ability to work with non-aboriginal people with expertise to oversee certain dimensions of that community. The education level must fit the scope of the economical objectives. They must hire professionals who can accommodate the aspirations of the First Nation. If not, they must train from within.
The leadership in First Nations is a hurdle for economic developers to overcome and work with. With an election only every two years, the changing of chief and council, along with their visions and policies, can stall economic progress.
St. Mary’s has been able to sustain a constant vision for years with the re-election of their leaders.
Today, the reserve owns an entertainment centre consisting of two bingo halls, a restaurant, and 75 VLT machines. Kchikhusis Commercial Centre rents office space to businesses, their biggest customer is Peace Hills Trust Bank.
St. Mary’s Security Company safeguards community businesses, working both in and outside the First Nation. Recently opened is the St. Mary’s Seafood Restaurant.
St. Mary’s also bought Panos Restaurant and the Loyal Cab building located off reserve land. They plan on tearing it down to build another commercial centre. And now they are working on a Maliseet Museum Cultural Centre.
A hotel is also on the drawing board.
Still, the unemployment rate is high compared to the rest of the city. Chief Paul blames it on the dependency of the Indian Affairs system.
If St. Mary’s band members are looking for employment, they get top priority. Second priority goes to all aboriginal people. Third priority is for anybody else seeking employment.
“You have to have leadership that has a vision, and leadership that is willing to invest into their community. You also have to walk a fine line in separating politics from your business,” Paul said.
