Blacks of the Lower Saint John River Valley

The Black Loyalists mark the first mass migration of free and enslaved Blacks beginning in 1782. But from the early seventeenth century Blacks likely traversed the regions coastal regions with Champlain and other European powers.
The first identified Black in the Saint John River Valley is noted in Benjamin Church’s journal in the 1680s. Coincidentally, this record also hints at ties between fugitive British slaves and the Wəlastəkwewiyik. The regions Black history is extensive and rich and challenges the victim narrative still prevalent in contemporary dialogue.