Peter Lewis Paul


Peter Lewis Paul was a Maliseet ethnohistorian who, from the 1930s on, helped and advised many of his contemporaries in exploring Maliseet culture.

Biography

Peter Lewis Paul lived on the small Maliseet Woodstock Reserve on the banks of the Saint John River in New Brunswick, Canada. His mother and twin brother died in childbirth. Peter's father worked in a lumber camp, but after he left the reservation Paul was raised by his grandfather Nowell Polchies, who was a tribal elder and known as Wapeyit Piyel. Paul grew up hunting and learning family and tribal lore from his grandfather.
Paul married Minnie Dedham, granddaughter of Chief Gabe Atwin, in 1928. Together they had nine children: Rowenna, Donna, Carole, Diana, Wanda, Reggie, Robert, William and Darrell. Peter respected the value of mainstream education and tried to give his children the best education possible, but it came at the expense of their not learning their native language.
Paul became a fountain of traditional knowledge and generously shared information with numerous professional linguists, ethnohistorians, and anthropologists. The recipient of many honours, he was awarded a Centennial Medal in 1969, received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from the University of New Brunswick in 1970, and the Order of Canada on June 29, 1987.
Peter Lewis Paul died on August 25, 1989, and was buried at the Calvary Cemetery in Woodstock, Carleton County, New Brunswick, Canada.