TENASS, PETER (1861-1927)

TENASS, PETER, farmer, fisherman. lumberman, policeman, and chief of the Eel Ground Indian band; b. c1861, s/o Peter Tenass; brother of John P. Tenass; m. 1881, Mary Catherine Ward; d. Eel Ground, 12 Nov 1927.

Peter Tenass's family was enumerated at Richibucto in the census of 1861, before he was born; at Burnt Church in the census of 1871; and at Eel Ground in the census of 1881. He grew up to be "the most industrious Indian ever at Eel Ground." In the 1890s he was the constable of the reserve, on the payroll of the Department of Indian Affairs. He was also active and successful in farming, fishing, and lumbering. He had his own salmon stand at the river and was one of the only Indians to own two teams of horses.

In 1888, following the death of John N. Julian, Tenass was one of those who organized the petition for an elected system of chiefs on the reserve. In the election of 1894 he supported Peter N. Julian, but he soon ran afoul of him in his capacity as constable and switched his allegiance to the 'Renou Opposition'. He was the only credible figure associated with that group of malcontents, the political ambitions of which were finally realized when he succeeded Julian as chief in 1909.

In the same year as he became chief, Tenass was a founding member and one of the first officers of the Micmac Temperance Society. Both through his temperance efforts and his work as chief he did "a lot to uplift the Indians." Above all else he wanted to improve the image of the Eel Ground reserve, both at home and in the Miramichi community as a whole, and he could be very authoritative with anyone who got in his way. A threat loomed in 1917 when the Indian Affairs Department appeared determined to assign a Micmac teacher to the Eel Ground school who had acquired a reputation for partying when she was teaching there previously. As far as Tenass was concerned she had disgraced the reserve, and he saw to it that she was prevented from re-entering the school. He continued as chief until 1918, when his opponent, John Cloud, won election by a four-vote margin.

Tenass and his wife, Mary C. Ward, had eight or more children, several of whom married and raised families at Eel Ground.