The New Year was met with great celebration and excitement for three First Nations in the Eastern Region, who became the first in their respective provinces to ratify their community land codes. The Abénakis de Wôlinak (Wolinak, QC), Miawpukek First Nation (Conne River, NFLD) and Madawaska Maliseet First Nation (Edmundson, NB) have welcomed 2018 by governing their lands under their own land laws, free from the encumberances of 32 sections of the Indian Act.