09/30/2026
Market Mayflowers and First Nations Advocacy:
On Truth and Reconciliation Day, we remember the resilience of First Nations communities in the Maritimes and across Canada, who persevered through many injustices.
This May, we shared a post on the century-long tradition of Mi'kmaq families selling mayflowers at the Charlotte St. entrance of the Saint John City Market. This was a cherished spring ritual, with as many as one in four Saint John households buying one of the fragrant bunches.
In 1939, the paper noted that vendors from the Shubenacadie reserve (now Sipekne'katik First Nation) used the occasion for their "annual courtesy-and-business" with Mayor D.L. MacLaren.
The Mayor of Saint John had no formal powers to do business with or assist First Nations in Nova Scotia. However, Mayor MacLaren, was a close political ally of Prime Minister Mackenzie King and would later serve in his cabinet. He had served in the First World War and took great interest in veterans' welfare.
Therefore, it's possible that the leadership of the Shubenacadie Band used the annual sale of mayflowers as a chance advocate for fairer treatment of First Nations by federal authorities. In particular, they may have sought better treatment for Indigenous WWI veterans, who were often excluded from benefits programs.
While we cannot know the exact content of these meetings, the sale of mayflowers at the City Market was not just a pleasant harbinger of spring, but also illustrates the resourcefulness of Maritime First Nations in times when government restricted their traditional livelihoods. To survive, they wove baskets for farmers, picked fiddleheads, and travelled seasonally to pick crops for wages. In this way, First Nations played an important role in supplying many of the goods sold at the City Market.
https://www.makingthemarket.ca/mayflowers-at-the-city-market
