Elsipogtog (formerly known as Big Cove), means “River of Fire”, and is located on the Richibucto River, known as the Sikniktuk, translated as “the land where the water drains”.  Anthropological evidence shows that for over 5,000 years, the Mi’kmaq people have maintained permanent summer village sites along the shores of the Richibucto River.

The main community lies 8 kilometres southwest of Rexton.  With a population of 3,451 people, it is the largest populated First Nation community in New Brunswick.  It is comprised of two tracts of land totaling 3,266 hectares.  Fishing and forestry are two of the main drivers of the community’s economy.

Plants/medicines that can be found include sweetgrass, blueberries, striped bass, eel, black ash, birch, spruce, maple tree, cedar, muskrat root, fiddleheads, cattails.  Beaver, black bear, eagle, mallard duck, moose, porcupine and wood turtle can be found here. Caribou were present until the 1930s but are extirpated.