| Official Name: | Eel Ground Band |
| Pushpin Map: | New Brunswick |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 200 |
| Pushpin Label Position: | left |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location of Eel Ground in New Brunswick |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | New Brunswick |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Northumberland County |
| Leader Title: | Chief |
| Leader Title1: | Council |
| Leader Title2: | MP |
| Leader Title3: | Provincial Representatives |
| Leader Name: | George Harold Ginnish |
| Leader Name1: | Merrill Martin Mike Simon Wallace Francis Alisha Sweezey Tyler Patles Willie Sark Kyle Francis Cody Narvey Brian Simon Kelvin Simonson |
| Leader Name2: | Pat Finnigan (L) |
| Leader Name3: | Rick Brewer (L) John W. Foran (L) |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 1783 |
| Area Total Km2: | 28.23 |
| Population As Of: | 2012 |
| Population Total: | 977 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Code: | 506 / 428 |
| Utc Offset: | -4 |
| Timezone Dst: | ADT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -3 |
| Coordinates: | 46.9692°N -65.6273°W |
| Elevation Min M: | 0 |
| Blank Name: | NTS Map |
| Blank Info: | 021I13 |
| Website: | http://www.eelgroundfirstnation.com/ |
| Footnotes: | Postal code span: |
The Eel Ground Band or Eel Ground First Nation is a Mi'kmaq First Nation band government of 977 people located on the Miramichi River in northern New Brunswick, Canada. The community comprises three reserves (Eel Ground #2, Big Hole Tract #8 (south half), and Renous #12).[2]
See also: History of New Brunswick and List of historic places in Northumberland County, New Brunswick. Eel Ground principally occupies lands adjoining the City of Miramichi, New Brunswick, and members of the two communities have no doubt interacted from the time of earliest European settlement. About 1648, Nicolas Denys, Sieur de Fronsac, established a fort and trading post nearby, "on the North side of the Miramichi, at the forks of the river". His son, Richard Denys, was placed in charge of the fort and trading post. In 1688 Richard describes the establishment as including about a dozen French and more than 500 Indians.[3] [4] [5] [6]
The band was officially recognised by the British in 1783, soon after the French defeat in the Seven Years' War.[1]
No doubt the First Nation population had long preceded Denys' "establishment", and present-day inhabitants of Eel Ground would largely be descended from Richard Denys' immediate neighbours. For the Mi'kmaq, the nearby junction of the Northwest and Main Southwest branches of the Miramichi River had long served as a natural meeting point.
See main article: List of people from Northumberland County, New Brunswick.