The Wolastoqiyik (Malecite-Passamaquoddy pronunciation: [wəlastəkʷijik]), also known as the Maliseet or Malecite (English: /ˈmæləsiːt/), are an Algonquian-speaking First Nation of the Wabanaki Confederacy. They are the Indigenous people of the Wolastoq (Saint John River) valley and its tributaries. Their territory extends across the current borders of New Brunswick and Quebec in Canada, and parts of Maine in the United States.

The Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, based on the Meduxnekeag River in the Maine portion of their historical homeland, are—since 19 July 1776—the first foreign treaty allies with the United States of America. They are a federally recognized tribe of Wolastoqey people. Today Wolastoqey people have also migrated to other parts of the world. The Wolastoqiyik have occupied areas of forest, river and coastal areas within their 20,000,000-acre, 200-mile-wide, and 600-mile-long homeland in the Saint John River watershed.

The people call themselves Wəlastəkwewiyik and Wolastoqiyik'. Wəlastəkw means "bright river" or "shining river" ("wəl-" = good, "-as-" shining, "-təkw" = river; "-iyik" = people of). Wəlastəkwiyik therefore simply means "People of the Bright River" in their native language. The Wolastoqiyik have long been associated with the Saint John River, from which they draw their name. Their territory still extends as far as the Saint Lawrence River. Their lands and resources are bounded on the east by the Miꞌkmaq people, on the west by the Penobscot, and on the south by the Passamaquoddy, who also still speak related Algonquian languages.

Malesse'jik was a Miꞌkmaq word believed to mean "He speaks slowly," or differently, and was a term that Miꞌkmaq people used to describe people from other nations. The meaning of the word today is unknown but it is commonly mistranslated to "he speaks badly, lazy, or broken". This term is the exonym by which the Miꞌkmaq people referred to this group when speaking to early Europeans. The French met the Miꞌkmaq people before the Wəlastəkwewiyik, and transliterated Malesse'jik to Malécite, not understanding that it was not their name. The later English colonists anglicized this term as Maliseet.

Beginning in 1758, the terms "Marichites" in French and in English "Maricheets" increased in use.

At the time of European encounter, the Wəlastəkwewiyik were living in walled villages and practicing horticulture (corn, beans, squash and tobacco). In addition to cultivating and growing crops, the women gathered and processed fruits, berries, nuts and natural produce. The men contributed by fishing and hunting, and the women cooked these finds. Written accounts in the early 17th century, such as those of Samuel de Champlain and Marc LesCarbot, refer to a large Wolastoqey village at the mouth of the Saint John River. Later in the century, sources indicate their headquarters had shifted upriver to Meductic, on the middle reaches of the Saint John River.

The French explorers were the first to establish a fur trade with the Wəlastəkwewiyik, which became important in their territory. Some European goods were desired because they were useful to Wəlastəkwewiyik subsistence and culture. The French Jesuits also established missions, where some Wəlastəkwewiyik converted to Catholicism. After years of colonialism, many learned the French language. The French called them Malécite, a transliteration of the Mi'kmaq name for the people.

Local histories depict many encounters with the Iroquois, five powerful nations based south and east of the Great Lakes, and the Innu located to the north. Contact with European fisher-traders in the early 17th century and with specialized fur traders developed into a stable relationship which lasted for nearly 100 years. Despite devastating population losses to European infectious diseases, to which they had no immunity, these Atlantic First Nations held on to their traditional coastal or river locations for hunting, fishing and gathering. They lived along river valleys for trapping.