# Gabriel Acquin

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{{more citations needed|date=June 2022}}
thumb|right|200px|Acquin {{circa}} 1866.

'''Gabriel Acquin''' ({{circa}} 1811 – 2 October 1901) was known by a variety of names; Sachem Gabe and Noel Gabriel being the most verifiable. He was a [Wolastoqew](/source/Wolastoqiyik) hunter, guide, interpreter and showman who was the founder of the [St. Mary's First Nation](/source/St._Mary's_First_Nation) reserve in Canada.

== Biography ==
Gabriel Acquin was born {{circa}} 1811 near [Kingsclear, New Brunswick](/source/Kingsclear%2C_New_Brunswick). Acquin's family is believed to be one of many [Aboriginal](/source/Aboriginal_peoples_of_Canada) families to have been displaced by the movement of defeated [Loyalists](/source/United_Empire_Loyalist) after the [American Revolution](/source/American_Revolution). In 1839, Acquin married Marie Marthe in [Fredericton](/source/Fredericton%2C_New_Brunswick), and together the couple produced a son, Stephen, in 1845. (Gabe Acquin son was Noel and daughter Katherine Acquin (Paul) Records show that Acquin may have used names such as Noel Gabriel and Newell Gov'-leet prior to the birth of his son, including when attending a [Wabanaki Confederacy](/source/Wabanaki_Confederacy) meeting in [Old Town, Maine](/source/Old_Town%2C_Maine) in 1838.<ref name=dcb>{{cite DCB |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/acquin_gabriel_13E.html |title=Acquin, Gabriel |volume=13 |first=Andrea Bear |last=Nicholas |access-date=October 30, 2010}}</ref>

In 1847, the [executor](/source/executor)s of a Loyalist estate invited Acquin to settle on land at what was to become the [St. Mary's Indian Reserve](/source/St._Mary's_First_Nation), in [York County, New Brunswick](/source/York_County%2C_New_Brunswick). Although Acquin's family had previously been [nomadic](/source/nomadic) in nature, Acquin established 14 acres of planted potatoes on his land, and built first a [wigwam](/source/wigwam) and then a frame-house there. However, despite the invitation extended to Acquin to live on the land, it had actually been sold several times to different owners, and by 1867 only a two-and-a-half acre patch of land on the riverfront of the [Saint John River](/source/Saint_John_River_(Bay_of_Fundy)) was in the possession of the [Crown](/source/Crown_land) and hence available for use by Acquin's [Wolastoqiyik](/source/Wolastoqiyik). When Acquin requested possession of the land he and his people had been living on from the federal government in 1883, he did not receive a reply.<ref name=dcb/>
thumb|left|Sportsman with Guides and caribou, New Brunswick, c. 1887<br>Left : Gabe Acquin
Acquin is best known for his hunting, guiding and interpreting. Acquin accompanied British military officers on trips to hunt with them, and his skills in this area became legendary in the [New Brunswick](/source/New_Brunswick) area. Acquin reportedly killed five [moose](/source/moose) and 25 [caribou](/source/caribou) in a single year, and Acquin himself claimed to have killed 60 red [deer](/source/deer) in just two weeks' time.<ref name=dcb/>

Acquin became popular among [British North America](/source/British_North_America) government officers, and befriended two [Lieutenant Governors](/source/Lieutenant_Governor_of_New_Brunswick). When Prince Albert Edward (later King [Edward VII](/source/Edward_VII)) visited [Fredericton](/source/Fredericton%2C_New_Brunswick) in 1860 and spotted Acquin canoeing past [Government House](/source/Government_House_(New_Brunswick)), he asked him for a ride. Acquin obliged, taking the Prince on a brief trip to the [Nashwaak River](/source/Nashwaak_River)'s mouth. Apparently, as a result of that encounter, Acquin later received an invitation to the United Kingdom to be one of Canada's entries in the International Fisheries Exhibition, held in London in 1883. He made the journey, taking with him a canoe and beaded clothing, and set up a wigwam near ponds at [South Kensington](/source/South_Kensington). In London, he interacted socially with Prince Albert Edward, other members of the royal family, and officers with whom he became acquainted back at home.<ref>{{citation| url=https://kingslanding.nb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Platinum-Jubilee_Jubile-de-platine_Web.pdf| title=Celebrating the Platinum Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II| page=2| year=2022| publisher=Kings Landing| accessdate=3 April 2023}}</ref> One Canadian historian has said that Acquin was received in London as "the greatest social lion of the day."<ref name=dcb/> Acquin made at least one additional visit to London in 1893, when, at age 82, he was part of the World's Water Show.<ref name=dcb/>

Acquin died in Fredericton on October 2, 1901. He was survived by his wife, four sons and three daughters.<ref name=dcb/>

== Legacy ==
Acquin was seen by many as a symbol of both [romanticism](/source/romanticism) as it related to the native population of Canada and the [assimilation](/source/cultural_assimilation) of Aboriginal Canadians into European culture. In 1999, Acquin was named a [Person of National Historic Significance](/source/Persons_of_National_Historic_Significance_(Canada)) by the [Government of Canada](/source/Government_of_Canada).<ref name=dcb/>{{failed verification|reason=Not in source listed; Not on Parks Canada website|date=July 2015}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite journal |last=Jack |first=David Russell |url=https://archive.org/stream/acadiensisquarte00jackuoft#page/282/mode/2up |title=Gabriel Acquin |journal=Acadiensis |date=October 1901 |volume=1 |issue=4 |pages=250–252}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acquin, Gabriel}}
Category:1810s births
Category:1901 deaths
Category:Wolastoqiyik people
Category:Persons of National Historic Significance (Canada)
Category:Native American hunters

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gabriel Acquin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Acquin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabriel_Acquin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.