Chief’s calls for audience with King Charles highlights struggle for recognition [video]

Peskotomuhkati Chief Hugh Akagi issued a message Monday to King Charles III, asking the monarch for an audience during his visit to Canada. 

That royal audience never materialized, and the King left Canada shortly after delivering a Speech from the Throne containing assurances that the government would “uphold its constitutional obligations to Indigenous Peoples.”

The story highlights the Peskotomuhkati Nation at Skutik’s struggle to gain official recognition centuries after signing the Treaties of Peace and Friendship. 

In a video posted to YouTube on Monday morning, just before King Charles and Queen Camilla were scheduled to arrive in Ottawa, the chief called for the recognition of treaties signed between the Crown and the Peskotomuhkati.

“Hey King, let’s sit down and straighten this out,” Akagi said. “I mean, what does it take? Shouldn’t you be able to just say to Canada, ‘Excuse me, but these are treaty partners.’” 

The Peskotomuhkati, also called the Passamaquoddy, were among the Indigenous nations that signed the Peace and Friendship Treaties with the British Crown in the mid-1700s. 

Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution recognizes and affirms those treaty rights, as acknowledged by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada.

“We were told that these treaties that would last forever, that came from the Great Father or the Great Mother – these would protect us,” Akagi said in the video. 

“We were promised this incredible relationship. And then somebody came to my home and said, ‘Nice home, we like it here, and you can leave now.’ And that somebody, that country was Canada.” 

He pointed to issues including the loss of fish species in the Bay of Fundy and the storage of nuclear waste at the Point Lepreau generating station on traditional Peskotomuhkati land.

The First Nation, which has members in New Brunswick and in two communities in Maine, has sought recognition from the Canadian government for decades. Although members live on both sides of the border, they only have official recognition in the United States. 

In response to queries from the NB Media Co-op, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace provided a list of audiences with Indigenous leaders that occurred during the King’s brief visit.

He met with Natan Obed, President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations; and Victoria Pruden, President of the Métis National Council, the email stated.

The NB Media Co-op also reached out to the provincial and federal government for an update about the process towards gaining official recognition.

Keith Chiasson, provincial Minister of Indigenous Affairs, deferred to the feds.

“We can say that the province continues to work collaboratively with the Peskotomuhkati Nation at Skutik as they seek official recognition and we are supporting our federal counterparts on this important matter,” according to a statement attributed to the Minister.

The federal government, for its part, provided a statement noting that negotiations began with the First Nation in 2017 “to advance the treaty relationship and their vision of self-determination” before a tripartite deal between Ottawa, Fredericton and the Peskotomuhkati in 2019. 

The federal spokesperson said that Canada and the Peskotomuhkati also arrived at a fisheries agreement in 2023 that “recognizes and implements the Nation’s historic treaty rights” with “fisheries access, a vessel, and gear” along with “dedicated funding to support the Nation’s active role in the collaborative management of Indigenous fisheries within their traditional territory.

Other negotiations at the tripartite table are ongoing,” the spokesperson added. “Details concerning these active negotiations, including on treaty rights, is confidential to the parties and therefore cannot be shared publicly.”

A delegation of Indigenous leaders welcomed the King when he arrived in Ottawa, where they reportedly planned to raise concerns about provincial and federal initiatives meant to fast-track resource projects potentially trampling treaty rights. 

The King read the Speech from the Throne to open Parliament on Tuesday, a rare move widely regarded as a response to annexation threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. 

The speech included some language apparently designed to quell fears about treaty rights violations.

“Through the creation of a new Major Federal Project Office, the time needed to approve a project will be reduced from five years to two; all while upholding Canada’s world-leading environmental standards and its constitutional obligations to Indigenous Peoples,” the King said, in part.

It remains to be seen how that will play out during Mark Carney’s tenure as Prime Minister, as his minority Liberal government faces pressure from business interests in sectors including mining and oil and gas.

This article was updated to include responses from the federal government, the provincial government, and Buckingham Palace at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. 

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users (CACTUS).