Introduction
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Conne River 2009
© Memorial University
The south coast of Newfoundland presents a barren rugged face to the Atlantic, an imposing escarpment broken by jagged fiords and poor harbours. Midway across the island the shoreline arcs 30 miles inland, outlining Bay d'Espoir, an anglicanization of Baie d'Espoir, or Bay of Hope. Short of the northern extremity, Conne Arm branches eastward through a “gut” or narrows, then widens briefly at the mouth of Conne Brook. The shore of this arm adjacent to the gut is the village of Conne River. Six settler communities occupy the opposite shore of Bay d'Espoir.
- Conne River 2009
© Memorial University
The first historical association of Micmac with Bay d'Espoir is Palliser's anxious announcement of 1766, informing the British Admiralty that a party of some 200 had landed there. For hunters there were advantages here. The bay neatly bisects caribou feeding grounds, two expanses of barrens between the Grey and Salmon Rivers to the west and above Fortune and Placentia bays to the east. Proximity to big game, especially in winter, was essential. The Salmon and Bay du Nord Rivers converge on Bay d'Espoir with Conne Arm positioned midway. Both offered access to prime hunting and trapping grounds. Conne Brook and Southeast Brook supported salmon, trout, geese and ducks. The gut abounded with eels, a favourite Micmac food. The forested slopes of the bay provided shelter, firewood and small game.
- Conne River 2009
© Memorial University
Elsewhere along the south coast forests were sparse and stunted. Bay d'Espoir had large stands of softwood and hardwood. The Micmac occupied the bay in a number of temporary family campsites throughout its upper reaches. They regularly shifted camps, alternating between the coast in summer and the interior in winter.
From Doug Jackson, "On the Country": The Micmac of Newfoundland, edited by Gerald Penney, St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Limited, ©1993 Copyright Miawpukek Mi'kamawey Mawi'omi, pp. 111-123, 124-131, 132-145. Reproduced by permission.
