Wolastoqiyik in the context of "Maritime Canada"

The Bay of Fundy (French: Baie de Fundy) is a bay between the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, with a small portion touching the U.S. state of Maine. It is an arm of the Gulf of Maine. Its tidal range is the highest in the world.

The bay was named Bakudabakek by the indigenous Mi'kmaq and Passamaquoddy groups, meaning "open way". The Wolastoqiyik peoples named it Wekwabegituk, meaning "waves at the head of the bay". The name "Fundy" has been speculated to have derived from the French word fendu ("split") or Fond de la Baie ("head of the bay"). Some individuals have disputed this, including William Francis Ganong, who suggested that the name likely derived from Portuguese origin instead, specifically regarding João Álvares Fagundes, who may have referred to the bay as Gram Baya ("Great Bay") and nearby waters as Rio Fondo ("deep river").

The Wabanaki Confederacy (Wabenaki, Wobanaki, translated to 'People of the Dawn' or 'Easterner'; also: Wabanakia, 'Dawnland') is a North American First Nations and Native American confederation of five principal Eastern Algonquian nations: the Abenaki, Mi'kmaq, Wolastoqiyik, Passamaquoddy (Peskotomahkati) and Penobscot.

There were more tribes, along with many bands, that were once part of the Confederation. Native tribes such as the Nanrantsouak, Alemousiski, Pennacook, Sokoki, and Canibas, through massacres, tribal consolidation, and ethnic label shifting were absorbed into the five larger national identities.

The Saint John River (French: fleuve Saint-Jean; Maliseet-Passamaquoddy: Wolastoq) is a 673-kilometre-long (418 mi) river flowing within the Dawnland region from headwaters in the Notre Dame Mountains near the Maine-Quebec border through western New Brunswick to the northwest shore of the Bay of Fundy. Eastern Canada's longest river, its drainage basin is one of the largest on the east coast at about 55,000 square kilometres (21,000 sq mi). This “River of the Good Wave” and its tributary drainage basin formed the territorial countries of the Wolastoqiyik and Passamaquoddy First Nations (named Wolastokuk and Peskotomuhkatik, respectively) prior to European colonization, and it remains a cultural centre of the Wabanaki Confederacy to this day.

The Webster–Ashburton Treaty following the Aroostook War established a border between New Brunswick and Maine following 130 km (81 mi) of the river, while a tributary forms 55 km (34 mi) of the border between Quebec and Maine. Maine communities along the river include Fort Kent, Madawaska, and Van Buren. New Brunswick settlements through which it passes include, moving downstream, Edmundston, Fredericton, Oromocto, and Saint John.

The Penobscot (Abenaki: Pαnawάhpskewi) are an Indigenous people in North America from the Northeastern Woodlands region. They are organized as a federally recognized tribe in Maine.

The Penobscot Nation, formerly known as the Penobscot Tribe of Maine, is the federally recognized tribe of Penobscot in the United States. They are part of the Wabanaki Confederacy, along with the Abenaki, Passamaquoddy, Wolastoqiyik, and Miꞌkmaq nations, all of whom historically spoke Algonquian languages. The Penobscots' main settlement is now the Penobscot Indian Island Reservation, located within the state of Maine along the Penobscot River.