Qalipu First Nation

The Mi'kmaq people historically occupied territory including modern Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. This area had been occupied by earlier successive cultures of indigenous peoples for 10,000 years.

By the 17th century, the Mi'kmaq would often visit the island they called Taqamkuk (present-day Newfoundland) by crossing the Cabot Strait by boat, shallops that they adopted from European traders.[9] They visited the island and hunted along the south coast as far east as Placentia Bay before returning to Unamaki. They gradually made Taqamkuk among their "domain of islands".[9] Some Mi'kmaq have argued that in addition, a group of Mi'kmaq lived on the island for hundreds of years.

During the colonial period, when the French and British competed for claims to land in North America, the Mi'kmaq became allied with France with whom they traded. Together they raided settlements of the English in New England and in the Maritime provinces of the future Canada. In 1763, after France was defeated by Britain in the Seven Years' War, it ceded all its land east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain, including the Mi'kmaq's traditional land. After this, numerous British colonists entered that territory and tried to settle.

Newfoundland, however, was still sparsely populated, and most Europeans lived on the eastern portion of the island and only in small isolated coastal settlements. The Mi'kmaq living on the island were essentially able to continue their traditional way of life on the island's west coast and in the interior. After the Beothuk people declined in the 1800s, the Mi'kmaq no longer shared Newfoundland's interior with anyone. In 1857, a colonial census of Newfoundland recorded Mi'kmaq settlements at St. George's Bay, Codroy Valley, Bay d'Espoir, and the Bay of Exploits.[9]

The English and other Europeans had little knowledge of the interior and relied on the Mi'kmaq as guides. In 1822, explorer William Cormack traversed Newfoundland's interior from Trinity Bay to St. George's Bay. He was guided by a Mi'kmaw man named Sylvester Joe. In the 1860s, the British hired some Mi'kmaq men to deliver the mail overland through a network of trails reaching the northern communities.

In 1898, a railway was constructed across the island, giving Europeans greater access to Newfoundland's interior. Numerous Europeans came to hunt the caribou herds, causing a sharp decline in the species population. The caribou had served as one of the main sources of food for the Mi'kmaq and their decline adversely affected the survival of the Mi'kmaq. Starting in the 1920s, global fur prices began to decline as well, and some Mi'kmaq left trapping to work for Europeans as loggers.

When the Dominion of Newfoundland became a province of Canada in 1949, the Indian Act of 1876 was not applied there. When elected, Premier Joey Smallwood told the federal government that no Mi'kmaq lived in the province.[10] The unrecognized Mi'kmaq in the province were able to vote, unlike other Indigenous people in the rest of the Canada.

But the Mi'kmaq in Newfoundland had to confront discrimination in other ways that were similar to those facing aboriginals in other parts of Canada. Many Mi'kmaq lived alongside European-Canadian settlers on the island's west coast, where they encountered racism. To hide their identities, many anglicized their names (ex. the French name "Aucoin", acquired in days of the French alliance and intermarriages, was often changed to "O'Quinn") and denied their Mi'kmaq heritage. Mi'kmaq children were often not told about their heritage. As had long been the case, starting with traders who married Mi'kmaq women, there was continuing intermarriage with Europeans. In 2013 Angela Robinson, a Memorial University anthropologist, said that because of this history, the majority of Newfoundlanders living west of the Avalon Peninsula and St. John's likely have some Mi'kmaq ancestry.[10] But most of such persons who have some native ancestry have not been raised in Mi'kmaq culture, and people working on issues of First Nations identity do not think they should qualify as members of the band unless they have a real connection to the culture.

The Government of Canada had expected band membership to be similar to the membership of the Federation of Newfoundland Indians, around 5,000 people. Instead, around 100,000 people, or the equivalent of one-fifth of the population of Newfoundland, applied to become band members. After the first round of enrollment, 23,000 of 30,000 applicants were accepted. Although not yet functional, the band became the second largest by membership in Canada.[13]

In response, parliament passed Bill C-25, authorizing it to review all applications and retroactively reject some, based on criteria similar to those used in the R v Powley case that defined rights for the Métis people.[14] The government had already excluded certain Mi'kmaq bands, including the Bartletts Harbour Indian Band[15] and the Kitpu Indian Band from applying for membership in the Qalipu.[16]

The rest of the outstanding applications were put in indefinite storage. In 2013 applicants organized a new group, the Mi’kmaq First Nations Assembly of Newfoundland to lobby to continue the enrollment process. They began to prepare for a legal action regarding the enrollment process should lobbying fail.[17]

In 2013, Chiefs Terrance Paul and Gerard Julian, co-chairs of the Assembly of Nova Scotia Chiefs, sent a joint letter to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada. They presented their concerns regarding the legitimacy of the Qalipu band, and asked for further clarification and explanation by the federal government. They disputed the authority of the federal government to determine who qualifies as Mi’kmaq. They said that, while the government of Canada may have jurisdiction over who is an Indian, they do not have the constitutional right to determine who is a Mi’kmaw.[18]

Later in 2013, the Mi’kmaq Grand Council, the traditional government of the Mi'kmaq people, issued a statement to the United Nations denouncing the Qalipu band as illegitimate. The letter stated, "These new Qalipu members we simply do not know and do not recognize as Mi’kmaq."[19]

The Mi'kmaq Rights Initiative assert that the Qalipu were created as an entity by the federal government, and they do not consider them as part of the broader Mi'kmaq nation.[20]

Opponents to the Qalipu believe that some applicants falsified documents or exaggerated claims of Indigenous ancestry in order to gain Indian Status and what are now perceived as its associated benefits. They argue that there were never that many people maintaining Mi'kmaq culture among the population of Newfoundland, and that being Mi'kmaq was more than a list of ancestors.[21]

The Friends of Qalipu Advocacy Association is currently taking Qalipu First Nation (and its precursor) to court over the enrolment process.[22]

Members of the Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation elect a Chief (currently Brendan Mitchell), 2 Vice Chiefs, and councillors representing a total of 9 wards.[24]

Shown below are the electoral districts and the results from the 2015 election.[25]

Benoits Cove Elmastukwek (Mi'kmaq)[26]	Corner Brook	Exploits Sple'tk (Mi'kmaq)[26]
Deer Lake (Qalipue'katik)[26] Humber Arm South Lark Harbour Sop's Arm York Harbour Councillor: Bernard White Election: Bernard White (264) Kevin Barnes (224) Blain Ford (63)	Corner Brook Cox's Cove George's Lake (Ketuastukwek) Gillams Hughes Brook Irishtown-Summerside Massey Drive McIvers Meadows Mount Moriah Pasadena Pinchgut Lake Spruce Brook Steady Brook Councillor: Brian Dicks Election: Brian Dicks (1,273) Gregory White (470)	Badger Bishop's Falls (Kjipa'tiilia'sewey Qapskuk) Botwood Buchans Buchans Junction Grand Falls-Windsor (Qapskuk) Leading Tickles Millertown Norris Arm (Kepapskek) Northern Arm Peterview Point Leamington St. Alban's (Sipko'p) Councillor: Andrew Barker Election: Andrew Barker (acclaimed)
Flat Bay	Gander Bay	Glenwood
Burgeo (Najioqonuk) Flat Bay St. Fintan's St. Teresa Councillor: Ivan White Sr. Election: Ivan Joseph White Sr. (Acclaimed)	Clarke's Head Gander Bay South Rodgers Cove Victoria Cove Wing's Point (Etli-unaqatejita'jik) Councillor: Calvin Francis Election: Calvin Francis (acclaimed)	Appleton Birchy Bay Brown's Arm Campbellton Comfort Cove Gander (Akilasiye'wa'kik) Glenwood Lewisporte Swift Current Councillor: Francis Skeard Election: Francis Skeard (113) Constance Stanford (59)
Port au Port Kitpu (Mi'kmaq)	Stephenville	St. George's Nujio'qon (Mi'kmaq)[26]
Abraham's Cove Black Duck Brook Boswarlos Campbells Creek Cape St. George De Grau Fox Island River-Point au Mal Kippens Lourdes Ship Cove-Lower Cove-Jerry's Nose Mainland Marches Point Piccadilly Port au Port East Port au Port West-Aguathuna-Felix Cove Red Brook Sheaves Cove Three Rock Cove West Bay Councillor: Jasen Benwah Election: Jasen Benwah (acclaimed)	Black Duck Siding Gallants Stephenville Stephenville Crossing Councillor: Gerard Alexander Election: Gerard Alexander (208) Stefan Young (186) Gerald Joe White (180) Don Cormier (101) Kenneth Bennett (85)	Barachois Brook (Kutapsku'j) Mattis Point St. George's (Nujio'qon) Councillor: Ivan J White Jr Election: Ivan J White Jr (251) Kenneth Lee (134)