Summer Solstice at Kouchibouguac

Kouchibouguac, pronounced Koo-she-boo-gwac is the Mi'kmaq expression meaning "river of the long tides." Not sure how it works that land that has not been ceded to the Crown by these peoples became a national park. I feel like something similar is going on at Glacier National Park in the US. The Visitor Center here has one of the best interpretive programs I've come across, so I'm guessing that any confusion I walked away from it with is user-error. Nonetheless, as repulsed as I am by the pride of the French conquerors in their accomplishments transforming these lands, Canada is a bit ahead of the game in my book over the US as they at least did not exterminate all of their natives. The ones we didn't overtly kill, or subvertly by killing their food source like the buffalo so we could build a railway, we are still working on exterminating today with the character of the reservations, etc. But I've probably pointed that out enough elsewhere, maybe in my travels across Montana or in my rant about the lack of health care responsible for the death from COVID of a dear Navajo friend of mine. And my absolute relief that humanity includes at least a few organizations like  in Doctors Without Borders. Interestingly, the province of New Brunswick has many trilingual signs (as distinguished from Quebec Province, where I found a few notable individuals pretty niggardly about helping out English speakers. And the road signs are only in French. Are official languages dictated by provincial governments here?

Although I did not meet anyone clearly indigenous, the woman from the gift shop at the Visitor Center said the locals had in years past brought their creations to sell, no one had come this year. If I lived here, I would totally sell white cedar garlands. The power of its medicine was palpable walking through the Medicine Trail Sunday morning. 

Another of my favorite trails there was the Osprey Trail which takes you out to Black River Point where the Kouchibouguac River flows into the bay. The river is black and beautiful and has a strong current. But you can wade out in the soft sands of the bay side and enjoy languishing in the clear water there. I was a bit surprised to find this red-purple jellyfish washed up on shore, but not to worry as the water is so clear you would see one before it stung you. If you looked where you were stepping of course.

I think the next time I would camp there at Cote-a-Fabian for its proximity to the Osprey Trail. And I'd hike it every day. South Kouchibouguac was nice, but if you stay there for more than a couple days you will find yourself aching to have a bicycle. Its got loads of trails, churt-like roads, ideal especially if you have children as they can loop in and out and around the campground and on long trails at its perimeter. Too, South Kouchibouguac had wi-fi! And showers and a cleaning station. Downright deluxe amenities for a campground.