Is the Crown at War with Us?

Is the Crown at war with us? is a powerful and painstakingly researched look at the conflict over fishing rights between the Mi’gmaq people of Esgenoopetitj (Burnt Church), New Brunswick and their non-Native neighbours. The Mi’gmaq had been fishing the waters of Miramichi Bay since time immemorial, and their right to do so had been upheld in a landmark 1999 Supreme Court decision. But when the people of Esgenoopetitj tried to exercise their long-standing treaty rights, they found themselves under attack by non-Native commercial fishermen, and harassed by officials from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Is the Crown at war with us? offers a persuasive defence of the Mi’gmaq position and a gripping portrait of a community under siege.