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Mi'kmaq

January 09, 2024

This article is about the people. For other uses, see Mi'kmaq (disambiguation).

The Mi'kmaq (also Mi'gmaq, Lnu, Miꞌkmaw or Miꞌgmaw; English: /ˈmɪɡmɑː/ MIG-mah; Miꞌkmaq: [miːɡmaɣ])[3][4][5] are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces, primarily Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland,[6] and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as Native Americans in the northeastern region of Maine. The traditional national territory of the Mi'kmaq is named Miꞌkmaꞌki (or Miꞌgmaꞌgi).

Mi'kmaq
Lnu
Grand Council Flag of the Miꞌkmaq Nation.[1] Although the flag is meant to be displayed hanging vertically as shown here, it is quite commonly flown horizontally, with the star near the upper hoist.
A Miꞌkmaw father and child at Tufts Cove, Nova Scotia, around 1871
Total population
66,748 registered members (2023)
168,480 claimed Mi'kmaq ancestry (2016)[2]
Regions with significant populations
(Mi'kma'ki, Dawnland)
Canada, United States
Newfoundland and Labrador28,282
Nova Scotia18,814
New Brunswick9,025
Quebec7,655
Maine1,489
Prince Edward Island1,483
Languages
English, Miꞌkmaq, French
Religion
Native American religion, Christianity, others
Related ethnic groups
Other Algonquian peoples
Especially Abenaki, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot
PersonLnu
PeopleLnu'k (Mi'kmaq)
LanguageMi'kmawi'simk
CountryMi'kma'ki
     Wabanaki

There are 66,748 Mi'kmaq people in the region as of 2023, (including 25,182 members in the more recently formed Qalipu First Nation in Newfoundland.[7][8]) According to the Canadian 2021 census, 9,245 people claim to speak Miꞌkmaq, an Eastern Algonquian language.[9] Once written in Miꞌkmaw hieroglyphic writing, it is now written using most letters of the Latin alphabet.

The Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and Pasamaquoddy nations signed a series of treaties known as the Covenant Chain of Peace and Friendship Treaties with the British Crown throughout the eighteenth century; the first was signed in 1725, and the last in 1779. The Miꞌkmaq maintain that they did not cede or give up their land title or other rights through these Peace and Friendship Treaties.[10] The landmark 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision in R v Marshall upheld the 1752 Peace and Friendship Treaty "which promised Indigenous Peoples the right to hunt and fish their lands and establish trade."[11]

The Miꞌkmaw Grand Council is the official authority that engages in consultation with the Canadian federal government and the provincial government of Nova Scotia, as established by the historic August 30, 2010 agreement with the Miꞌkmaq Nation, resulting from the Miꞌkmaq–Nova Scotia–Canada Tripartite Forum.[12] This collaborative agreement, which includes all the First Nations within the province of Nova Scotia, was the first in Canadian history.[12]

Historically the Santé Mawiómi, or Grand Council, which was made up of chiefs of the district councils of Miꞌkmaꞌki, was the traditional senior level of government for the Miꞌkmaw people. The 1876 Indian Act disrupted that authority, by requiring First Nations to establish representative elected governments along the Canadian model, and attempting to limit the Council's role to spiritual guidance.[13][14]

Grand Council Santé Mawiómi edit

On August 30, 2010, the Miꞌkmaw Nation and the Nova Scotia provincial government reached an historic agreement, affirming that the Miꞌkmaw Grand Council was the official consultative authority that engages with the Canadian federal government and the provincial government of Nova Scotia.[12] The Miꞌkmaq–Nova Scotia–Canada Tripartite Forum preceded the agreement.[12] The August 2010 agreement is the first such collaborative agreement in Canadian history; it includes representation for all the First Nations within the entire province of Nova Scotia.[12]

Historically the Santé Mawiómi, or Grand Council, which was made up of chiefs of the district councils of Miꞌkmaꞌki, was the traditional senior level of government for the Miꞌkmaw people. The 1876 Indian Act disrupted that authority, by requiring First Nations to establish representative elected governments and attempting to limit the Council's role to that of spiritual guidance.[15][14]

In addition to the district councils, the Mꞌikmaq have been traditionally governed by a Grand Council or Santé Mawiómi. The Grand Council was composed of Keptinaq ("captains" in English), who were the district chiefs. There were also elders, the putús (wampum belt readers and historians, who also dealt with the treaties with the non-natives and other Native tribes), the women's council, and the grand chief. The grand chief was a title given to one of the district chiefs, who was usually from the Miꞌkmaw district of Unamáki or Cape Breton Island. This title was hereditary within a clan and usually passed on to the grand chief's eldest son.

On June 24, 1610, Grand Chief Membertou converted to Catholicism and was baptised. He concluded an alliance with the French Jesuits. The Miꞌkmaq, as trading allies of the French, were amenable to limited French settlement in their midst.

 
Chief Gabriel Sylliboy - first to fight for Treaty Rights in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, 1929

Gabriel Sylliboy (1874 – 1964), a respected Mi'kmaq religious leader and traditional Grand Chief of the Council, was elected as the Council's Grand Chief in 1918. Repeatedly re-elected, he held this position for the rest of his life.[16]

In 1927, Grand Chief Sylliboy was charged by Nova Scotia with hunting muskrat pelts out of season. He was the first to use the rights defined in the Treaty of 1752 in his court defence. He lost his case. In 1985, the Supreme Court of Canada finally recognized the 1752 treaty rights for indigenous hunting and fishing in their ruling on R. v. Simon.[17] On the 50th anniversary of Sylliboy's death, the Grand Council asked the Nova Scotia government for a pardon for the late Grand Chief. Premier Stephen McNeil granted the posthumous pardon in 2017.[16] Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia, John James Grant, McNeil, and the Justice Minister Diana Whalen, pardoned Sylliboy and issued a formal apology: it was the "second posthumous pardon in Nova Scotia's history".[16] His grandson, Andrew Denny, now the Grand Keptin of the Council, said that his grandfather had "commanded respect. Young people who were about to get married would go and ask for his blessing. At the Chapel Island Mission boats would stop if he was crossing."[16]

Traditionally, the Grand Council met on a small island, Mniku, on the Bras d'Or lake in Cape Breton. In the early 21st century, this site is now within the reserve known as Chapel Island or Potlotek. The Grand Council continues to meet at Mniku to discuss current issues within the Miꞌkmaq Nation.

Taqamkuk (Newfoundland) was historically defined as part of Unamaꞌkik territory. (Later the large island was organized as a separate district in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador.)

Miꞌkmaq language edit

Main article: Miꞌkmaq language

According to the 2021 census, 9,245 people identified as speakers of the Miꞌkmaq language. 4,910 of which said it was their mother tongue, and 2,595 reported it to be their most often spoken language at home.[9]

Hieroglyphic writing edit

The Mi'kmaq language was written using Miꞌkmaq hieroglyphic writing. Today it is written mainly using letters of the Latin alphabet.

At the Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site, petroglyphs of "life-ways of the Mi'kmaq", include written hieroglyphics, human figures, Mi'kmaq houses and lodges, decorations including crosses, sailing vessels, and animals, etched into slate rocks. These are attributed to the Mi'kmaq, who have continuously inhabited the area since prehistoric times.[18]: 1  The petroglyphs date from the late prehistoric period through the nineteenth century.[18]: 32 

Jerry Lonecloud (1854 – 1930, Mi'kmaq) is considered the "ethnographer of the Mi'kmaq nation". In 1912, he transcribed some of the Kejimkujik petroglyphs, and donated his works to the Nova Scotia Museum.[18]: 6  He is credited with the first Mi'kmaq memoir, which was recorded from his oral history in the 1920s.[19]

In the late 1670s, French missionary Chrestien Le Clercq, who was working in the Gaspé Peninsula, was inspired by hieroglyphics made by a young Mi'kmaq using charcoal on birchbark. Leclercq adopted the use of Mi'kmaq hieroglyphs to teach Catholic prayers and hymns to the people in their own form of language.[20]

 
The Holy Mary Rosary prayer in Mi'kmaq hieroglyphics by Christian Kauder, 1866

Christian Kauder was a missionary in Miꞌkmaꞌki from 1856 to 1871. He included samples of Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing, such as the Holy Mary Rosary prayer and the Lord's Prayer, in his German Christian catechism published in 1866.[21]

David L. Schmidt and Murdena Marshall published some of the prayers, narratives, and liturgies represented in hieroglyphs—pictographic symbols in a 1995 book. As noted, the pre-contact Mi'kmaq developed these hieroglyphs. French Jesuit missionaries adopted their use to teach Catholic prayers and religion to the Mi'kmaq.[22] Schmidt and Marshall showed that these hieroglyphics served as a fully functional writing system.[22] They assert it is the oldest writing system for an indigenous language in North America north of Mexico.[22]

Etymology of the word Miꞌkmaq edit

By the 1980s, the spelling of the ethnonym Miꞌkmaq, which is preferred by the Miꞌkmaq people, was widely adopted by scholarly publications and the media. It replaced the previous spelling Micmac.[23]: 3 [Notes 1] Although this older spelling is still in use, the Miꞌkmaq consider the spelling "Micmac" to be "tainted" by colonialism.[24] The "q" ending is used in the plural form of the noun, and Miꞌkmaw is used as singular of Miꞌkmaq. It is also used as an adjective, for example, "the Miꞌkmaw nation".[25]

The Miꞌkmaq prefer to use one of the three current Miꞌkmaq orthographies when writing the language.[26][Notes 2] Spellings used by Mi'kmaq people include Miꞌkmaq (singular Miꞌkmaw) in Prince Edward Island (Epekw'itk), Nova Scotia (Mi'kma'ki-Unama'ki), and Newfoundland (K'taqamkuk); Miigmaq (Miigmao) in New Brunswick (Sipekni'katik); Miꞌgmaq by the Listuguj Council in Quebec (Kespek); and Mìgmaq (Mìgmaw) in some native literature.[24]

Lnu (the adjectival and singular noun, previously spelled "L'nu"; the plural is Lnúk, Lnuꞌk, Lnuꞌg, or Lnùg) is the term the Miꞌkmaq use for themselves, their autonym, meaning "human being" or "the people".[27] Members of the Miꞌkmaq historically referred to themselves as Lnu, but used the term níkmaq (my kin) as a greeting.[28]

The French initially referred to the Miꞌkmaq as Souriquois[29] and later as Gaspesiens. Adopting a term from the English, they referred to them as Mickmakis. The British originally referred to the people as Tarrantines, which appears to have a French basis.[30]

Various explanations exist for the rise of the term Miꞌkmaq. The Miꞌkmaw Resource Guide says that "Miꞌkmaq" means "the family".[31][Notes 3] The Anishinaabe refer to the Miꞌkmaq as Miijimaa(g), meaning "The Brother(s)/Ally(ies)", with the use of the nX prefix m-, opposed to the use of n1 prefix n- (i.e. Niijimaa(g), "my brother(s)/comrade(s)") or the n3 prefix w- (i.e., Wiijimaa(g), "brother(s)/compatriot(s)/comrade(s)").[32]

Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye was documented as the first European to record the term "Mi'kmaq" for the people, using it in his 1676 memoir. Marion Robertson stated this in the book Red Earth: Tales of the Mi'kmaq (1960s), published by the Nova Scotia Museum,[33]: 5  [33]: 5  Robertson cites Professor Ganong, who suggested that "Mi'kmaq" was derived from the Mi'kmaq word megamingo (earth). Marc Lescarbot had also suggested this.[33]: 5 

The Mi'kmaq may have identified as "the Red Earth People, or the People of the Red Earth".[33] Megumaagee, the name the Mi'kmaq used to describe their land, and Megumawaach, what they called themselves, were linked to the words megwaak, which refers to the colour red, and magumegek, "on the earth".[33]: 5  Rand translated megakumegek as "red on the earth", "red ground", or "red earth".[33]: 5  Other suggestions from Robertson include its origin in nigumaach, which means "my brother" or "my friend", or a term of endearment.[33] Stansbury Hagar suggested in Mi'kmaq Magic and Medicine that the word megumawaach is from megumoowesoo, in reference to magic.[33]

Geography edit

Main articles: Miꞌkmaꞌki and Dawnland
 
Miꞌkmaꞌki: Divided into seven districts. Not shown is Taqamgug/Tagamuk, the eighth district that includes the entire island of Newfoundland.[34] Taqamgug was historically part of Onamag before the 1800s.

Miꞌkmaw Country, known as Miꞌkmaꞌki, is traditionally divided into seven districts. Prior to the imposition of the Indian Act, each district had its own independent government and boundaries. The independent governments had a district chief and a council. The council members were band chiefs, elders, and other worthy community leaders. The district council was charged with performing all the duties of any independent and free government by enacting laws, justice, apportioning fishing and hunting grounds, making war and suing for peace.

Districts edit

The eight Miꞌkmaw districts (including Ktaqmkuk which is often not counted) are Epekwitk aq Piktuk (Epegwitg aq Pigtug), Eskikewaꞌkik (Esgeꞌgewaꞌgi), Kespek (Gespeꞌgewaꞌgi), Kespukwitk (Gespugwitg), Siknikt (Signigtewaꞌgi), Sipekniꞌkatik (Sugapuneꞌgati), Ktaqmkuk (Gtaqamg), and Unamaꞌkik (Unamaꞌgi). The orthography between parentheses is the Listuguj orthography used in the Gespeꞌgewaꞌgi area.

Current federal and provincial relations with Miꞌkmaq edit

Tripartite Forum edit

In 1997, the Miꞌkmaq–Nova Scotia–Canada Tripartite Forum was established. On August 31, 2010, the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia signed a historic agreement with the Miꞌkmaw Nation, establishing a process whereby the federal government must consult with the Miꞌkmaw Grand Council before engaging in any activities or projects that affect the Miꞌkmaq in Nova Scotia. This covers most, if not all, actions these governments might take within that jurisdiction. This is the first such collaborative agreement in Canadian history including all the First Nations within an entire province.[12]

Marshall Decision edit

Main article: R v Marshall

On September 17, 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the treaty rights of Miꞌkmaw Donald Marshall Jr. its landmark R v Marshall ruling, which "affirmed a treaty right to hunt, fish and gather in pursuit of a 'moderate livelihood'."[35] The Supreme Court also cited Section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act in their 1999 ruling that resulted in Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, and Peskotomuhkati people the "right to hunt, fish and gather in pursuit of a 'moderate livelihood' from the resources of the land and waters."[36] The legal precedent had previously been established in the Treaty of 1752, one in a series of treaties known as the Peace and Friendship Treaties,[35] but was not being respected prior to R v Marshall.[35] This resulted in the 1993 charges laid against Marshall Jr. for "fishing eels out of season, fishing without a licence, and fishing with an illegal net".[37] In the 2018 publication, Truth and conviction: Donald Marshall Jr. and the Mi'kmaq quest for justice, Marshall was quoted as saying, "I don't need a licence. I have the 1752 Treaty."[38] The 1989 Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall, Jr. Prosecution resulted in a compensation to Marshall of a lifetime pension of $1.5 million.[39][38] Marshall used the financial compensation to finance the lengthy and costly Supreme Court case.[36] When Marshall won, 34 Mi'kmaq and Maliseet First Nations bands were affected in the provinces of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and the Gaspé region of Quebec.[35] The West Nova Fishermen's Coalition submitted an appeal asking for the Marshall decision to be set aside.[37] In November 17, 1999, released a new ruling (Marshall 2) to clarify that the DFO had the power to regulate the fishery for conservation purposes if it "consulted with the First Nation and could justify the regulations".[40][Notes 4]

Soon after the September 17 decision, Miramichi Bay—"one of Canada's most lucrative lobster fisheries"—[citation needed]became the site of a violent conflict between Mi'kmaq fishers and non-Mi'kmaq commercial fishers. Immediately after the ruling, Mi'kmaq fishers began to lay lobster traps out of season. Incidents such as the Burnt Church Crisis were widely covered by the media from 1999 and 2002.[36] On October 3, 1999, non-Indigenous commercial fishers in 150 boats destroyed hundreds of Mi'kmaq lobster traps, then returned to shore and vandalized fishing equipment, as well as three fish plants.[41] This was captured and documented in the 2002 National Film Board feature-length documentary Is the Crown at war with us? by Alanis Obomsawin. The documentary also described how Ocean and Fisheries department officials seemed to "wage a war" on the Mi'kmaq fishermen of Burnt Church, New Brunswick with "helicopters, patrol boats, guns, with observation by airplanes and dozens of RCMP officers".[42] The documentary asks why the fishers were being harassed for "exercising rights that had been affirmed by the highest court in the land."[42] Following lengthy negotiations with the Mi'kmaq, the DFO developed the $160 million Marshall Response Initiative, which operated until 2007, through which the DFO offered to purchase over 1,000 commercial fishing licences, including boats and gear, to support the expansion of the Mi'kmaq lobster fishery. By mid-2000, about 1,400 commercial fishermen stated their intention to retire over 5,000 licences.[41] On August 20, 2001, the DFO issued a temporary license to Burnt Church Mi'kmaq fishers while negotiations for a more permanent agreement were underway.[41] The DFO license had restrictions that some Burnt Church fishers refused: the fishers could not sell their lobsters, they could only use them for food, social, and ceremonial (FSC) purposes.[41] The "Aboriginal right to fish for food, social and ceremonial purposes (FSC)" was confirmed in the landmark 1990 R. v. Sparrow Supreme Court case which cited section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act, 1982.[Notes 5] In May 2003, the House of Commons' Standing Committee On Fisheries And Oceans chaired by MP Tom Wappel, submitted its report on fisheries issues, which "recommended that all charges stemming from the [confrontation over the lobster fisheries]" be dropped and that the fishers should be compensated by federal government for "their lost traps and boats."[43] The report said that Mi'kmaq fishers have the "same season as non-native fishermen" and could not therefore, fish in the fall. It recommended that "native bands be issued licences, which they would distribute to native fishermen."[43]

On the tenth anniversary of the benchmark decision, CBC News reported that "Maritime waters" were "calm a decade after Marshall decision."[37]

However, by 2020, the Fish Buyers' Licensing and Enforcement Regulations, under the 1996 N.S. Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act, remains in effect—as it does in other Atlantic provinces.[44][45] These regulations do not mention the Mi'kmaq or the Marshall decision. These regulations prevent Mi'kmaq lobster fishers from selling their lobster to non-Mi'kmaq. Mi'kmaq fishers say that this does not align with the Marshall decision.[46] In 2019, the government of the Listuguj First Nation in the Bay of Chaleur developed their own self-regulated lobster fisheries management plan and opened their own lobster fishery in the fall of 2020.[46] Under the existing Fish Buyers' Licensing Regulations the self-regulated Listuguj fisheries can harvest, but can only use the lobster for "food, social and ceremonial purposes".[46]

According to Chief Terry Paul of Membertou First Nation, early in 2020, a negotiator for the DFO had offered Nova Scotia First Nations nearly $87 million for boats, gear, and training, with the condition that the First Nations would not practice their treaty right to earn a moderate livelihood fishing (ie out of the DFO season) for a period of 10 years. The proposal did not define "moderate livelihood", and was rejected.[47]

On November 9, 2020, a group of Miꞌkmaq First Nations and Premium Brands Holdings Corporation announced their $1 billion purchase of Clearwater Seafoods, which was finalised on January 25, 2021. The group of First Nations includes Sipekne'katik, We'koqma'q, Potlotek, Pictou Landing, and Paqtnkek First Nations, and is led by Membertou and Miapukek First Nations.[48] The purchase represents the "largest investment in the seafood industry by a Canadian Indigenous group". The harvest of non-Indigenous fishermen in the region will now be purchased by Clearwater Seafoods' Miꞌkmaq part owners.[49]

Dispute over rights-based inshore lobster fishery (2020–present) edit

Main article: 2020 Mi'kmaq lobster dispute
Dispute over rights-based inshore lobster fishery
DateSeptember 2020 - ongoing
Location
Canada
Caused byMiꞌkmaq exercising their treaty rights to fish
Statusongoing
Parties
Miꞌkmaq
Commercial fishers
Casualties
Charged23

Since September 2020, there has been an ongoing lobster fishing dispute between Sipekne'katik First Nation[50] members of the Mi'kmaq and non-Indigenous lobster fishers mainly in Digby County and Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia.

Background edit

After Mi'kmaq chiefs declared a state of emergency in October 2020,[51] the Federal Government appointed Allister Surette as Federal Special Representative to investigate.[52]

In the March 2021 report's backgrounder, Surette cited Macdonald-Laurier Institute's Ken Coates who said that Mik'maq communities had benefitted from improvements resulting from the Marshall decision, as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) granted access to Mi'kmaq fishers to the "commercial fishery through communal licences operated by the bands". Macdonald-Laurier Institute's Ken Coates said that the commercial fishing industry had not suffered because of this.[52][53] Others disagreed, saying that Canada had never fully implemented the Marshall Decision, and that, over the decades, various levels of government and authorities mishandled and neglected local concerns related to the implementation of the Marshall decision.[51]

In September 2020, the Sipekne'katik First Nation developed a fishing plan based on their right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood.[52] They issued seven lobster licenses to band members; each license has 50 tags, representing a combined total of 350 tags. One commercial lobster license represents 350 tags.[54] The lobster fishery they initiated was located "outside of the regulated commercial season in Lobster Fishing Area 34[52]in St. Marys Bay, Nova Scotia—the Kespukwitk (also spelled Gespogoitnag) district of Mi'kma'ki.

The inshore fishery is the last small-scale fishery in Nova Scotia.[citation needed] St. Marys Bay is part of Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 34, making it the "largest lobster fishing area in Canada with more than 900 licensed commercial fishermen harvesting from the southern tip of Nova Scotia up to Digby in the Bay of Fundy."[55] It is also "one of the most lucrative fishing areas in Canada".[54] DFO reported that as of December 2019, there were 979 commercial lobster licenses in LFA 34.[54]

The Sipekneꞌkatik fishing plan "became a flash point" resulting in violent highly-charged conflict pitting non-Miꞌkmaw lobster fishers in the adjacent coastal communities and Miꞌkmaw fishers those carrying out the moderate livelihood fishery.[52]

Violence edit

On September 11, Sipekne'katik First Nation Chief Michael Sack sent a letter to Premier Stephen McNeil, DFO Minister Bernadette Jordan and Nova Scotia RCMP Commanding Officer Lee Bergerman, calling for them "to uphold the rule of law amid ongoing violence, threats, human rights discrimination and ongoing failure to uphold the 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. Marshall, recognizing the Mi'kmaq right to fish and trade." By that point, vehicles and property belonging to members of the Sipekne'katik First Nation had already been damaged and stolen, including boats being burned. There were already planned protests by non-Indigenous fishers to block the Mi'kmaq fishers' access to several wharves.[56] One such protest took place on September 15 at Saulnierville and Weymouth wharves.[57]

On September 17, Sipekne'katik launched a "moderate livelihood fishery" with a ceremony at the Saulnierville wharf, the first lobster fishery regulated by Miꞌkmaq in Nova Scotia. On September 18, the Assembly of Nova Scotia Miꞌkmaw Chiefs declared a province-wide state of emergency in response to threats by commercial and non-indigenous fishers, including some that had cut the Miꞌkmaw lobster traps.[51] On September 25, the Sipekne'katik fishery released its proposed regulations allowing the legal sale of seafood harvested under the fishery to Indigenous and non-Indigenous consumers and wholesalers. However, at the time of the announcement, Nova Scotia's Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act prohibited anyone in Nova Scotia from purchasing fish from "a person who does not hold a valid commercial fishing license issued by Fisheries and Oceans Canada," which would include the fishery.[46]

On October 1, Potlotek First Nation and Eskasoni First Nation[58] launched their own moderate livelihood fishery in a celebration at Battery Provincial Park that coincided with Mi'kmaq Treaty Day. The management plan behind this fishery had been in development for three months, prompted by the seizure of lobster traps by DFO officials. Community licenses issued through this fishery will entitle fishers to 70 tags, and boats will be allowed to carry up to 200 lobster traps each. At the time of the launch of the Potlotek fishery, Membertou was also planning on launching their own fishery, following a similar plan.[47] After the launch of this fishery, DFO officers continued to seize Mi'kmaq traps.[58]

Harassment around the Sipekne'katik fishery continued through October. On October 5, Sipekne'katik fisher Robert Syliboy, a holder of one of the moderate livelihood fishery's licenses, found his boat at the Comeauville wharf destroyed in a suspicious fire.[59] On the evening of October 13, several hundred non-Indigenous fishers and their supporters raided two storage facilities in New Edinburgh and Middle West Pubnico that were being used by Miꞌkmaw fishers to store lobsters. During the raids, a van was set aflame, another vehicle was defaced and damaged, lobsters being stored in the facilities were destroyed, and the New Edinburgh facility was damaged, while a Miꞌkmaw fisher was forced to barricade himself inside the facility in Middle West Pubnico. Indigenous leaders called the raids racist hate crimes and called on the RCMP to intervene, citing their slow response on the evening and lack of arrests even a day after the police claimed they "witnessed criminal activity". Social media posts from the commercial fishers and their supporters claimed that the lobsters taken in the raids were removed as they represented "bad fishing practices" on the part of the Miꞌkmaq, but Sipekne'katik Chief Mike Sack and a worker at the Middle West Pubnico facility claimed the lobsters that were stored there were caught by the commercial fishers, not Miꞌkmaw. Assembly of First Nations national chief Perry Bellegarde, federal Fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan, and Colin Sproul, president of the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen's Association, all condemned the violence. Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil maintained his position that this issue must be solved federally when asked about it at a press conference.[60] Several months later, in January 2021, the manager of the Middle West Pubnico facility, James Muise, made a public post in a Facebook group for commercial fishers, claiming that he gave the people involved in the raids permission to enter the facility and take the lobsters. Muise offered to work with people charged with offenses connected to the raids and try to get those charges dropped.[61]

Chief Mike Sack was sucker punched while trying to give a press conference on October 14.[62] Also during the violence, an elder had sage knocked out of her hand while smudging, and a woman was grabbed by the neck.[63]

On October 15, the Miꞌkmaq Warrior Peacekeepers arrived at the Saulnierville wharf with the intention of providing protection to Miꞌkmaq who were continuing to fish amid the violence.[63]

On Friday, October 16, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that his government was "extremely active" in trying to de-escalate the situation. He also stated that he expected the police to be keeping people safe, and acknowledged concerns that the police had not been doing so.[63]

Three days after the initial raids on the storage facilities, on the evening of October 16, the Middle West Pubnico facility was destroyed in a large fire, deemed "suspicious" by the RCMP. One man was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries after the fire, but the RCMP did not provide details regarding the man's association to the lobster pound, other than that he was not an employee.[62] The destruction led to further calls from Chief Sack for increased police presence, as well as an appeal from the Maritime Fisherman's Union for the federal government to appoint an independent mediator.[64][62]

On October 16, Mi'kmaq lobster fishers from the Sipekne'katik First Nation quickly sold all their lobsters after setting up shop in front of the Province House in Halifax with potential customers lined up around the block.[65] The fishers said they were putting pressure on Premier McNeil to act.[65]

On October 17, Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil, released a Twitter statement requesting that the federal government define "what constitutes legal harvesting in a "moderate livelihood" fishery.[11]

On October 21, Sipekne'katik managed to secure an interim injunction against the restriction of band members' access to the Saulnierville and Weymouth wharves, as well as the New Edinburgh lobster pound. The motion for the injunction was filed ex parte due to the urgency of the situation, as the band was struggling to sell any of their catch in the midst of the violence and protests. The injunction will remain in place until December 15, 2020.[66]

In January 2021, 23 people were charged in connection to the violence at the lobster storage facilities on October 13, 2020: 15 for break-and-enter and 8 for break-and-enter and mischief.[61] Their court date is set for March 29, 2021.[67]

Intimidation over the fishery dispute has continued into 2021. In mid-January, lobster harvester and Sipekne'katik citizen Jolene Marr, whose brother was surrounded in the West Pubnico lobster pound on October 13, was sent a seven second-long close-up video of a man's face that included what "sounds like a racial slur and six gunshots in the background."[67]

Legal action edit

On March 26, 2021, 43 Mi'kmaq lobster fishers from the Sipekne'katik First Nation filed a statement of claim against the attorney general of Canada, the RCMP, the DFO, and 29 non-Indigenous fishers including the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen's Association (BFIFA). The claim alleges that the non-Indigenous fishers named as defendants took the law into their own hands and engaged in violence against the moderate livelihood fishery, that they were encouraged to do so by BFIFA, and that the DFO and RCMP contributed to the harm by not intervening in the foreseeable violence.[68]

Talks with DFO edit

On October 23, 2020 the Mi'kmaq Rights Initiative (known as the KMKNO for "Kwilmu'kw Maw-klusuaqn Negotiation Office") announced that talks with the DFO over defining "moderate livelihood" had broken down. The following Wednesday (October 28), Terry Paul, chief of Membertou First Nation, stepped down from his position with KMKNO and the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi'kmaq Chiefs, saying "[his] confidence in the operations of the organization [sic] have weakened over time," citing issues of transparency, and preferring to pursue treaty rights negotiations outside of the Assembly.[58] Membertou's withdrawal follows Sipekne'katik's own withdrawal earlier in the month on October 6, leaving the Assembly as a representative of 10 of the 13 Mi'kmaq First Nation bands (Millbrook having also withdrawn earlier). According to Paul, when he talked with the other ANSMC Chiefs about his decision, there seemed to be a willingness to deal with the issues he had identified in the negotiation process, so that he could rejoin shortly.[69]

Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan sent a letter to Chief Mike Sack on March 3, 2021, outlining the terms under which a moderate livelihood fishery could be negotiated, and what the federal government would be "prepared" to allow; the letter proposed balancing "additional First Nations access through already available licences" and stated that "these fisheries will operate within established seasons." These terms were rejected by Chief Sack, who stated that "we have a management plan that is better for conservation than theirs is, so we're going to follow our own plan."[70]

Truth and Reconciliation Commission edit

In 2005, Nova Scotian Miꞌkmaw Nora Bernard led the largest class-action lawsuit in Canadian history, representing an estimated 79,000 survivors of the Canadian Indian residential school system. The Government of Canada settled the lawsuit for upwards of CA$5 billion.[71][72]: 190 

In autumn 2011, there was an Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission that travelled to various communities in Atlantic Canada, who were all served by the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, the sole residential school for the region. In his 2004 book entitled Legacies of the Shubenacadie Residential School, journalist Chris Benjamin wrote about the "raw wounds" of Miꞌkmaw children who attended the Shubenacadie institution in the period spanning over three decades, from 1930 to 1967.[72]: 195 

Miꞌkmaq Kinaꞌ matnewey edit

The first Miꞌkmaq-operated school in Nova Scotia—the Miꞌkmaq Kinaꞌ matnewey—[72]: 208 was established in 1982 he result of a collaboration between the Miꞌkmaw community and the Nova Scotia government. The school is the most successful First Nation Education Program in Canada, according to Benjamin.[72]

By 1997, all Miꞌkmaq on reserves were given the responsibility for their own education.[72]: 210  By 2014, there were 11 band-run schools in Nova Scotia,[72]: 211  and the province has the highest rate of retention of aboriginal students in schools in Canada.[72]: 211  More than half the teachers are Miꞌkmaq.[72]: 211  From 2011 to 2012 there was a 25% increase in Miꞌkmaw students going to university. Atlantic Canada has the highest rate of aboriginal students attending university in the country.[72]: 214 [73]

History edit

Pre-contact period edit

 
Miꞌkmaq Women Selling Baskets, Halifax, Nova Scotia, by Mary R. McKie c. 1845

In southwestern Nova Scotia, there is archaeological evidence that traces traditional land use and resources to at least 4,000 years.[74]: 23 [75][76] In Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site, there are canoe routes that have been used for thousands of years by Indigenous people travelling from the Bay of Fundy to the Atlantic ocean.[77] Research published in 1871 showed that some Mi’kmaq believed they had emigrated from the west, and then lived alongside the Kwēdĕchk.[78] According to Mi’kmaw traditions recorded by S. T. Rand, the Kwēdĕchk were the original inhabitants of the land.[79] The two tribes engaged in a war that lasted "many years", and involved the "slaughter of men, women, and children, and torture of captives", and the eventual displacement of the Kwēdĕchk by the victorious Mi’kmaq.[78]

In his Memorial University Masters thesis, Mi'kmaq elder, Roger Lewis, investigated how pre-contact Mi'kmaq populations had a reciprocal relationship with the environment that was reflected in subsistence fishing, hunting and gathering, as well as in settlement locations.[74]: 10  Lewis, who has held the position of ethnology curator at the Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax, since 2007[80] focused his MA research specifically on pre-contact fish weirs in southwestern Nova Scotia.[74]

In the chapter "Late Prehistory of the East Coast" in the Smithsonian's 1978 Handbook of North American Indians, archaeologist Dean Snow says that the fairly deep linguistic split between the Miꞌkmaq and the Eastern Algonquians to the southwest suggests the Miꞌkmaq developed an independent prehistoric cultural sequence in their territory. It emphasized maritime orientation, as the area had relatively few major river systems.[81]: 69  In the chapter "Early Indian-European Contact" in the 1978 Handbook, ethnologist T. J. Brasser, described how pre-contact small semi-nomadic bands of a few patrilineally related families indigenous people who lived in a climate unfavorable for agriculture, had subsisted on fishing and hunting. Developed leadership did not extend beyond hunting parties.[82]: 78  In the same 1978 Handbook, anthropologist Philip Bock described the annual cycle of seasonal movement of precontact Miꞌkmaq. Bock wrote that the Mi'kmaq had lived in dispersed interior winter camps and larger coastal communities during the summer. The spawning runs of March began their movement to converge on smelt spawning streams. They next harvested spawning herring, gathered waterfowl eggs, and hunted geese. By May, the seashore offered abundant cod and shellfish, and coastal breezes brought relief from the biting black flies, deer flies, midges and mosquitoes of the interior. Autumn frost killed the biting insects during the September harvest of spawning American eels. Smaller groups would disperse into the interior where they hunted moose and caribou.[83][84] The most important animal hunted by the Miꞌkmaq was the moose, which was used in every part: the meat for food, the skin for clothing, tendons and sinew for cordage, and bones for carving and tools. Other animals hunted/trapped included deer, bear, rabbit, beaver and porcupine.[85]

Braser described the first contact between the Mi'kmaq and early European fishermen.[82]: 79–80  These fishermen salted their catch at sea and sailed directly home with it, but they set up camps ashore as early as 1520 for dry-curing cod. During the second half of the century, dry curing became the preferred preservation method.[82]: 79–80  Brasser said that, trading furs for European trade goods had changed Miꞌkmaw social perspectives. Desire for trade goods encouraged the men devoting a larger portion of the year away from the coast trapping in the interior. Trapping non-migratory animals, such as beaver, increased awareness of territoriality. Trader preferences for good harbors resulted in greater numbers of Miꞌkmaq gathering in fewer summer rendezvous locations. This in turn encouraged their establishing larger bands, led by the ablest trade negotiators.[82]: 83–84 

According to the Nova Scotia Museum, bear teeth and claws were used as decoration in regalia. The women used porcupine quills to create decorative beadwork on clothing, moccasins, and accessories. The weapon used most for hunting was the bow and arrow. The Miꞌkmaq made their bows from maple. They ate fish of all kinds, such as salmon, sturgeon, lobster, squid, shellfish, and eels, as well as seabirds and their eggs. They hunted marine mammals such as porpoises, whales, walrus, and seals.[85]

Miꞌkmaw territory was the first portion of North America that Europeans exploited at length for resource extraction. Reports by John Cabot, Jacques Cartier, and Portuguese explorers about conditions there encouraged visits by Portuguese, Spanish, Basque, French, and English fishermen and whalers, beginning in the 16th century.

European fishing camps traded with Miꞌkmaw fishermen; and trading rapidly expanded to include furs, according to Thomas B. Costain, (1885–1965), a journalist who wrote historical novels. By 1578, some 350 European ships were operating around the Saint Lawrence estuary. Most were independent fishermen, but increasing numbers were exploring the fur trade.[86]

17th and 18th centuries edit

Colonial wars edit

Main article: Military history of the Miꞌkmaq people

In the wake of King Philip's War between English colonists and Native Americans in southern New England (which included the first military conflict between the Miꞌkmaq and New England), the Miꞌkmaq became members of the Wapnáki (Wabanaki Confederacy), an alliance with four other Algonquian-language nations: the Abenaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, and Maliseet.[87] The Wabanaki Confederacy was allied with the Acadian people.

Over a period of seventy-five years, during six wars in Miꞌkmaꞌki, the Miꞌkmaq and Acadians fought to keep the British from taking over the region (See the four French and Indian Wars as well as Father Rale's War and Father Le Loutre's War). France lost military control of Acadia in 1710 and political claim (apart from Cape Breton) by the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht with England.

But the Miꞌkmaq were not included in the treaty, and never conceded any land to the British. In 1715, the Miꞌkmaq were told that the British now claimed their ancient territory by the Treaty of Utrecht. They formally complained to the French commander at Louisbourg about the French king transferring the sovereignty of their nation when he did not possess it. They were informed that the French had claimed legal possession of their country for a century, on account of laws decreed by kings in Europe, that no land could be legally owned by any non-Christian, and that such land was therefore freely available to any Christian prince who claimed it. Miꞌkmaw historian Daniel Paul observes that, "If this warped law were ever to be accorded recognition by modern legalists they would have to take into consideration that, after Grand Chief Membertou and his family converted to Christianity in 1610, the land of the Miꞌkmaq had become exempt from being seized because the people were Christians. However, it's hard to imagine that a modern government would fall back and try to use such uncivilized garbage as justification for non-recognition of aboriginal title."[26]: 74–75 

Along with Acadians, the Miꞌkmaq used military force to resist the founding of British (Protestant) settlements by making numerous raids on Halifax, Dartmouth, Lawrencetown, and Lunenburg. During the French and Indian War, the North American front of the Seven Years' War between France and Britain in Europe, the Miꞌkmaq assisted the Acadians in resisting the British during the Expulsion. The military resistance was reduced significantly with the French defeat at the Siege of Louisbourg (1758) in Cape Breton. In 1763, Great Britain formalized its colonial possession of all of Miꞌkmaki in the Treaty of Paris.

Covenant Chain of Peace and Friendship Treaties edit

 
Miꞌkmaw Encampment by Hibbert Newton Binney, c.1791

Between 1725 and 1779, the Mi'kmaq, Wolastoqey (Maliseet), and Peskotomuhkati (Passamaquoddy) signed numerous treaties, commonly referred to as the Covenant Chain of Peace and Friendship Treaties, through which they entered into a "peaceful relationship with the British Crown." The Mi'kmaq assert that through these treaties—which were referenced as legal precedent by the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Marshall—the Mi'kmaq "did not cede or give up their land title and other rights."[10]

Some historians have asserted that first treaty signed in 1725, after Father Rale's War, did not cede hunting, fishing, and gathering rights.[88] The Halifax Treaties (1760–61), marked the end of warfare between the Miꞌkmaq and the British.[89]

The 1752 Peace and Friendship Treaty Between His Majesty the King and Jean-Baptiste Cope,[17] on behalf of the Shubenacadie Miꞌkmaq has been cited in the Supreme Court of Canada's 1985 decision in R. v. Simon.[17] In his 2002, book on the Marshall case, historian William Wicken said that there is no written documentation to support this assertion that Cope made the treaty on behalf of all the Miꞌkmaq.[90] : 184  has been cited in the Supreme Court of Canada's 1985 decision in R. v. Simon.[17] With the signing of various treaties, the 75 years of regular warfare ended in 1761 with the Halifax Treaties.[91][92]

Although the treaties of 1760-61 contain statements of Miꞌkmaw submission to the British crown, later statements made by Miꞌkmaw reveal that they intended a friendly and reciprocal relationship, according to the 2009 book, Nova Scotia: a pocket history, by Saint Mary's University history professor, John G. Reid and Brenda Conroy.[93]: 23  In the early 1760s, there were approximately 300 Miꞌkmaw fighters in the region and thousands of British soldiers. The goals of the Miꞌkmaw treaty negotiators engaged in the 1760 Halifax treaty negotiations, were to make peace, establish secure and well-regulated trade in commodities such as furs, and begin an ongoing friendship with the British crown. In return, the Mi'kmaq offered friendship and tolerance of limited British settlement, although without any formal land surrender, according to Reid and Connor.[93]: 23  To fulfill the reciprocity intended by the Miꞌkmaq, that any additional British settlement of land would have to be negotiated, and accompanied by giving presents to the Miꞌkmaq. The documents summarizing the peace agreements failed to establish specific territorial limits on the expansion of British settlements, but assured the Miꞌkmaq of access to the natural resources that had long sustained them along the regions' coasts and in the woods.[93] Their conceptions of land use were quite different. In his 2003 book about the British expulsion of the Acadians, University of Cincinnati history professor, Geoffrey Plank, described the relationship between the Mi'kmaq and Acadians as strong. The Miꞌkmaq believed they could share their traditional lands with both the British and the Acadians—with the Mi'kmaq hunting as usual, and getting to the coast for seafood.[94]: 163 

The arrival of the New England Planters and United Empire Loyalists in greater number put pressure on land use and the treaties. This migration into the region created significant economic, environmental and cultural pressures on the Miꞌkmaq. The Miꞌkmaq tried to enforce the treaties through threat of force. At the beginning of the American Revolution, many Miꞌkmaw and Maliseet tribes supported the Americans against the British. They participated in the Maugerville Rebellion and the Battle of Fort Cumberland in 1776. Miꞌkmaw delegates concluded the first international treaty, the Treaty of Watertown, with the United States soon after it declared its independence in July 1776. These delegates did not officially represent the Miꞌkmaw government, although many individual Miꞌkmaq did privately join the Continental Army as a result. In June 1779, Miꞌkmaq in the Miramichi valley of New Brunswick attacked and plundered some of the British in the area. The following month, British Captain Augustus Harvey, in command of HMS Viper, arrived and battled with the Miꞌkmaq. One Miꞌkmaw was killed and 16 were taken prisoner to Quebec. The prisoners were eventually taken to Halifax. They were released on 28 July 1779 after signing the Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown.[95][96][97]

As their military power waned in the beginning of the 19th century, the Miꞌkmaw people made explicit appeals to the British to honor the treaties and reminded them of their duty to give "presents" to the Miꞌkmaq in order to occupy Miꞌkmaꞌki. In response, the British offered charity or, the word most often used by government officials, "relief". The British said the Miꞌkmaq must give up their way of life and begin to settle on farms. Also, they were told they had to send their children to British schools for education.[98]

 
Monument to the Treaty of 1752, Shubenacadie First Nation, Nova Scotia

Gabriel Sylliboy was the first Miꞌkmaw elected as grand chief in 1919 and the first to fight for treaty recognition—specifically, the Treaty of 1752—in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.

In 1986, the first Treaty Day was celebrated by Nova Scotians on October 1, 1986 in recognition of the treaties signed between the British Empire and the Miꞌkmaw people.

The treaties were only formally recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada once they were enshrined in Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982. The first Treaty Day occurred the year after the Supreme Court upheld the Peace Treaty of 1752 signed by Jean-Baptiste Cope and Governor Peregrine Hopson.

19th century edit

Royal Acadian School edit

Walter Bromley was a British officer and reformer who established the Royal Acadian School and supported the Miꞌkmaq over the thirteen years he lived in Halifax (1813–1825).[99] Bromley devoted himself to the service of the Miꞌkmaw people.[100] The Miꞌkmaq were among the poor of Halifax and in the rural communities. According to historian Judith Finguard, his contribution to give public exposure to the plight of the Miꞌkmaq "particularly contributes to his historical significance". Finguard writes:

Bromley's attitudes towards the Indians were singularly enlightened for his day. ... Bromley totally dismissed the idea that native people were naturally inferior and set out to encourage their material improvement through settlement and agriculture, their talents through education, and their pride through his own study of their languages.[99]

Mi'kmaq Missionary Society edit

Silas Tertius Rand in 1849 help found the Mi'kmaq Missionary Society, a full-time Miꞌkmaw mission. Basing his work in Hantsport, Nova Scotia, where he lived from 1853 until his death in 1889, he travelled widely among Miꞌkmaw communities, spreading the Christian faith, learning the language, and recording examples of the Miꞌkmaw oral tradition. Rand produced scriptural translations in Miꞌkmaq and Maliseet, compiled a Miꞌkmaq dictionary and collected numerous legends, and through his published work, was the first to introduce the stories of Glooscap to the wider world. The mission was dissolved in 1870. After a long period of disagreement with the Baptist church, he eventually returned to the church in 1885.

Mi'kmaq hockey sticks edit

 
Miꞌkmaq making hockey sticks from hornbeam trees (Ostrya virginiana) in Nova Scotia c. 1890.

The Miꞌkmaq practice of playing ice hockey appeared in recorded colonial histories from as early as the 18th century. Since the nineteenth century, the Miꞌkmaq were credited with inventing the ice hockey stick.[101]: 60  The oldest known hockey stick was made between 1852 and 1856. Recently, it was sold for US$2.2 million. The stick was carved by Miꞌkmaq from Nova Scotia, who made it from hornbeam, also known as ironwood.[102]

In 1863, the Starr Manufacturing Company in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, began to sell the Mic-Mac hockey sticks nationally and internationally.[101]: 61  Hockey became a popular sport in Canada in the 1890s.[101]: 58  Throughout the first decade of the 20th century, the Mic-Mac hockey stick was the best-selling hockey stick in Canada. By 1903, apart from farming, the principal occupation of the Miꞌkmaq on reserves throughout Nova Scotia, and particularly on the Shubenacadie, Indian Brook, and Millbrook Reserves, was producing the Mic-Mac hockey stick.[101]: 61  The department of Indian Affairs for Nova Scotia noted in 1927 that the Miꞌkmaq remained the "experts" at making hockey sticks.[101]: 73  The Miꞌkmaq continued to make hockey sticks until the 1930s, when the product was industrialized.[101]: 63 

Gallery of 19th century images edit

20th and 21st centuries edit

Jerry Lonecloud worked with historian and archivist Harry Piers to document the ethnography of the Miꞌkmaw people in the early 20th century. Lonecloud wrote the first Miꞌkmaw memoir, which his biographer entitled "Tracking Dr. Lonecloud: Showman to Legend Keeper".[104] Historian Ruth Holmes Whitehead writes, "Ethnographer of the Mi'kmaq nation could rightly have been his epitaph, his final honour."[105]

World Wars edit

In 1914, over 150 Miꞌkmaw men signed up during World War I. During the First World War, thirty-four out of sixty-four male Miꞌkmaq from Lennox Island First Nation, Prince Edward Island enlisted in the armed forces, distinguishing themselves particularly in the Battle of Amiens.[106] In 1939, over 250 Miꞌkmaq volunteered in World War II. (In 1950, over 60 Miꞌkmaq enlisted to serve in the Korean War.)

Miꞌkmaq of Newfoundland edit

Main article: Qalipu Miꞌkmaq First Nation Band

When Newfoundland joined Canada in confederation in 1949, political leader (later Premier) Joey Smallwood declared that there were "no Indians in Newfoundland."[107] This ultimately led to the Miꞌkmaq people of Newfoundland not receiving indian status or recognition as First Nations that other indigenous groups in Canada did in the years following.[107][108]

In 1972 activists formed the Native Association of Newfoundland and Labrador as the main organization representing the Mi'kmaq, Innu, and Inuit peoples of Newfoundland and Labrador.[109] After the Labrador Innu and Inuit left the Association in 1975, the organization was renamed as the Federation of Newfoundland Indians. The FNI included six Mi'kmaq bands (Elmastogoeg First Nations, Corner Brook Indian Band, Flat Bay Indian Band, Gander Bay Indian Band, Glenwood Mi'kmaq First Nation, and the Port au Port Indian Band). The provincial government supported the FNI.[110]

The federal government approved only the petition for recognition made by the Mi'kmaq at Conne River. In 1987, the Miawpukek Mi'kmaq First Nation was recognized under the Indian Act, and their community of Conne River was classified as reserved land for the Mi'kmaq.[111]

Recognition for the remainder of Newfoundland's Mi'kmaq was a much longer process. Minister David Crombie was willing to work with the FNI and the government of Newfoundland, but the provincial government considered it to be a federal matter.[110]

In 2003, Minister Andy Scott was presented with a report recommending a First Nations band without any reserved land to represent the Mi'kmaq of Newfoundland. An Agreement-in-principle was reached in 2006, which the FNI accepted in 2007. The federal government ratified it in 2008.[112]

In 2011, the Government of Canada announced recognition by an order-in-council to a group in Newfoundland and Labrador called the Qalipu First Nation. The new band, which is landless, had accepted 25,000 applications to become part of the band by October 2012.[113] In total over 100,000 applications were sent in to join the Qalipu, equivalent of one-fifth of the province's population. In response, parliament passed Bill C-25, authorizing it to review all applications and retroactively reject some, based on criteria similar to those used in the R v Powley case that defined rights for the Métis people.[114][115][116][117] Several Miꞌkmaw institutions, including the Grand Council, had argued that the Qalipu Miꞌkmaq Band did not have legitimate aboriginal heritage and was accepting too many members.[118][119][120]

In 2017, only 18,044 people were eligible for Band membership.[117][121] In 2018, the Qalipu First Nation announced that the updated Founding Members List for the Band had been adopted by way of an Order in Council which came into effect on June 25, 2018. The 2018 Band list included 18,575 members.[122] In November 2019, after concerns about legitimacy had been addressed, the Qalipu First Nation was accepted by the Miꞌkmaq Grand Council as being part of the Miꞌkmaq Nation. Qalipu Chief Mitchell stated, "Our inclusion into the AFN, APC and acknowledgement by the Miꞌkmaq Grand Council are important to us; it is part of our reconciliation as Miꞌkmaq people. Friendships are being formed, and relationships are being established. It is a good time for the Qalipu First Nation."[123] By 2021, nearly 24,000 people were recognized as founding members, in 67 Newfoundland communities and abroad.[124]

The Friends of Qalipu Advocacy Association is currently taking Qalipu First Nation (and its precursor) to court over the enrolment process.[125]

Religion, spirituality, and tradition edit

 
A dancer in the Miꞌkmaq celebration

Current forms of Miꞌkmaw faith edit

Some Miꞌkmaw people practice the Catholic faith while some only practice traditional Miꞌkmaw beliefs. However, many have adopted both because of the compatibility between both systems.[126]

Oral traditions in Miꞌkmaw culture edit

The Miꞌkmaw people had very little in the way of physical recording and storytelling; petroglyphs, while used, are believed to have been rare. In addition, it is not believed that pre-contact Miꞌkmaq had any form of written language. As such, almost all of Miꞌkmaw traditions were passed down orally, primarily via storytelling. There were traditionally three levels of oral traditions: religious myths, legends, and folklore. This includes Miꞌkmaw creation stories and myths which account for the organization of the world and society; for instance, how men and women were created and why they are different from one another. The most well known Miꞌkmaw myth is that of Glooscap. Good storytellers are highly prized by the Miꞌkmaq,[127] as they provide important teachings that shape who a person grows to be, and are sources of great entertainment.

One myth explains that the Miꞌkmaq once believed that evil and wickedness among men is what causes them to kill each other. This causes great sorrow to the creator-sun-god, who weeps tears that become rains sufficient to trigger a deluge. The people attempt to survive the flood by traveling in bark canoes, but only a single old man and woman survive to populate the earth.[128]

Spiritual sites edit

One spiritual capital of the Miꞌkmaq Nation is Mniku, the gathering place of the Miꞌkmaw Grand Council or Santé Mawiómi, Chapel Island in Bras d'Or Lake of Nova Scotia. The island is also the site of the St. Anne Mission, an important pilgrimage site for the Miꞌkmaq.[126] The island has been declared a historic site.[129]

Ethnobotany edit

Abies balsamea (balsam fir) is traditionally used for a variety of purposes by the Miꞌkmaq. They use the buds, cones and inner bark for diarrhea; the gum for burns, colds, fractures, sores and wounds; the cones for colic; the buds as a laxative; and the bark for gonorrhea.[130] They use the boughs to make beds, the bark to make a beverage, and the wood for kindling and fuel.[131]

First Nation subdivisions edit

Miꞌkmaw names in the following table are spelled according to several orthographies. The Miꞌkmaw orthographies in use are Miꞌkmaw hieroglyphic writing, the orthography of Silas Tertius Rand, the Pacifique orthography, and the most recent Smith-Francis orthography. The latter has been adopted throughout Nova Scotia and in most Miꞌkmaw communities.

Community Province/State Town/Reserve Est. Pop. Miꞌkmaw name
Abegweit First Nation Prince Edward Island Morell 2, Rocky Point 3, Scotchfort 4 403[132] Epekwitk
Acadia First Nation Nova Scotia Yarmouth 33, Ponhook Lake 10, Medway River 11, Wildcat 12, Gold River 21, Hammonds Plains 1,915[133] Malikiaq
Annapolis Valley First Nation Nova Scotia Annapolis Valley First Nation Reserve, St. Croix 34 320[134] Kampalijek
Bear River First Nation Nova Scotia Bear River 6, Bear River 6A, Bear River 6B 381[135] Lsetkuk
Buctouche First Nation New Brunswick Buctouche 16, Buctouche Mi'kmaq Band Extension 128[136] Puktusk
Eel River Bar First Nation New Brunswick Eel River 3, Indian Ranch, Moose Meadows 4 828[137] Ugpiꞌganjig
Elsipogtog First Nation New Brunswick Richibucto 15, Soegao No. 35 3,574[138] Lsipuktuk
Esgenoôpetitj First Nation New Brunswick Esgenoôpetitj Indian Reserve No. 14, Pokemouche 13, Tabusintac 9 1,953[139] Eskinuopitijk
Eskasoni Nova Scotia Eskasoni 3, Eskasoni 3A, Malagawatch 4 4,737[140] Wékistoqnik
Fort Folly New Brunswick Fort Folly 1 140[141] Amlamkuk Kwesawék
Glooscap First Nation Nova Scotia Glooscap 35, Glooscap Landing Reserve 420[142] Kluskap
Indian Island New Brunswick Indian Island 28 216[143] Lnui Menikuk
La Nation Mi'kmaq de Gespeg Quebec (administrative headquarters in Gaspé) 1,688[144] Kespék
Lennox Island Prince Edward Island Lennox Island 1, Lennox Island No. 6, Lennox Island Reserve No. 5 1,080[145] Lnui Mnikuk
Listuguj Mi'gmaq Government Quebec Listuguj 4,309[146] Listikujk
Membertou Nova Scotia Caribou Marsh 29, Malagawatch 4, Membertou 28B Sydney 28A 1,621[147] Maupeltuk
Metepenagiag Miꞌkmaq Nation New Brunswick Big Hole Tract 8 (North Half), Indian Point 1, Metepenagiag Urban Reserve 3, Metepenagiag Urban Reserve 8, Metepenagiag Uta'nk, Red Bank 4, Red Bank 7 717[148] Metepnákiaq
Mi'kmaq Nation Maine Presque Isle, Limestone 1,489[149] Ulustuk
Miawpukek Newfoundland and Labrador Samiajij Miawpukek 3,100[150] Miawpukwek
Mi'kmaqs of Gesgapegiag Quebec Gesgapegiag 1,658[151] Keskapekiaq
Millbrook Nova Scotia Beaver Lake 17, Cole Harbour 30, Millbrook 27, Sheet Harbour 36, Truro 27A, Truro 27B, Truro 27C, Tufts Cove Indian Reserve 2,288[152] Wékopekwitk
Natoaganeg New Brunswick Big Hole Tract 8 (South Half), Eel Ground 2, Renous 12 1,102[153] Natuaqanek
Pabineau New Brunswick Oinpegitjoig Indian Reserve, Pabineau 11 367[154] Kékwapskuk
Paqtnkek Mi'kmaq Nation Nova Scotia Franklin Manor No. 22 (Part), Paqtnkek-Niktuek No. 23, Welnek No. 38 612[155] Paq'tnkek
Pictou Landing Nova Scotia Boat Harbour West 37, Fisher's Grant 24, Fisher's Grant 24G, Franklin Manor No. 22 (Part), Merigomish Harbour 31 686[156] Puksaqtéknékatik
Potlotek First Nation Nova Scotia Chapel Island 5, Malagawatch 4 827[157] Potlotek
Qalipu Miꞌkmaq First Nation Newfoundland and Labrador (administrative headquarters in Corner Brook) 25,182[158] Qalipu[159][160]
Sipekneꞌkatik Nova Scotia Indian Brook 14, New Ross 20, Pennal 19, Shubenacadie 13, Wallace Hills No. 14A 2,986[161] Sipekníkatik
Wagmatcook Nova Scotia Malagawatch 4, Margaree 25, Wagmatcook 1 925[162] Waqmitkuk
We'koqma'q L’nue’kati Nova Scotia Malagawatch 4, Whycocomagh 2 1,096[163] Wékoqmáq

Demographics edit

Year Population Verification
1500      4,500 Estimation
1600      3,000 Estimation
1700      2,000 Estimation
1750      3,000[164] Estimation
1800      3,100 Estimation
1900      4,000 Census
1940      5,000 Census
1960      6,000 Census
1972    10,000 Census
1998    15,000 SIL
2006    20,000 Census
2021    66,748 Census

The pre-contact population is estimated at 3,000–30,000.[165] In 1616, Father Biard believed the Miꞌkmaw population to be in excess of 3,000, but he remarked that, because of European diseases, there had been large population losses during the 16th century. Smallpox and other endemic European infectious diseases, to which the Miꞌkmaq had no immunity, wars and alcoholism led to a further decline of the native population. It reached its lowest point in the middle of the 17th century. Then the numbers grew slightly again, before becoming apparently stable during the 19th century. During the 20th century, the population was on the rise again. The average growth from 1965 to 1970 was about 2.5%.

Commemorations edit

The Miꞌkmaw people have been commemorated in numerous ways, including HMCS Mi'kmaq (R10), and place names such as Lake Mi'kmaq, and the Mic Mac Mall.[166]

Notable Miꞌkmaq edit

See also: List of Grand Chiefs (Miꞌkmaq)

Academics edit

Activists edit

Artists edit

Athletes edit

Military edit

Other edit

Maps edit

Maps showing the approximate locations of areas occupied by members of the Wabanaki Confederacy (from north to south):

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Anne-Christine Hornbord is a Lund University professor of history of religions; she conducted fieldwork on reservations of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and Canada in 1992-1993, 1996 and 2000.
  2. ^ "It is now the preferred choice of our People." See Paul:2000.
  3. ^ "The definite article "the" suggests that "Miꞌkmaq" is the undeclined form indicated by the initial letter "m". When declined in the singular, it reduces to the following forms: nikmaq - my family; kikmaq - your family; wikma - his/her family. The variant form Miꞌkmaw plays two grammatical roles: 1) It is the singular of Miꞌkmaq and 2) it is an adjective in circumstances where it precedes a noun (e.g., miꞌkmaw people, miꞌkmaw treaties, miꞌkmaw person, etc.)" see 'Miꞌkmaw Resource Guide, Eastern Woodlands Publishing (1997).
  4. ^ CBC News reported that, "In 'Marshall 2,' the supreme court ruled that governments must justify restrictions or regulations on treaty rights based on previous, legally-tested criteria including "a valid legislative objective" such as conservation, "whether there has been as little infringement as possible" on rights, and "whether the aboriginal group in question has been consulted" on the government's proposed restrictions."
  5. ^ In Ahousaht Indian Band and Nation v. Canada, a Supreme Court case that spanned over a decade, the Ahousaht Indian Band and Nation in British Columbia confirmed their right to "fish in their court-defined territories and sell that fish into the commercial marketplace."

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Further reading edit

  • Davis, Stephen A. (1998). Míkmaq: Peoples of the Maritimes. Nimbus Publishing.
  • Joe, Rita; Choyce, Lesley (2005). The Míkmaq Anthology. Nimbus Publishing. ISBN 1-895900-04-2.
  • Johnston, A.J.B.; Francis, Jesse (2013). Niꞌn na L'nu: The Miꞌkmaq of Prince Edward Island. Charlottetown: Acorn Press. ISBN 978-1-894838-93-1.
  • Magocsi, Paul Robert, ed. (1999). Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
  • Prins, Harald E. L. (1996). The Míkmaq: Resistance, Accommodation, and Cultural Survival. Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology. Wadsworth.
  • Speck, Frank (1922). Beothuk and Micmac.
  • Whitehead, Ruth Holmes (2004). The Old Man Told Us: Excerpts from Míkmaq History 1500-1950. Nimbus Publishing. ISBN 0-921054-83-1.

Archival primary references edit

In chronological order

  • 1749 A Geographic History of Nova Scotia. 1749
  • 1758 Malliard, Antoine Simon (1758). An account of the customs and manners of the MicMakis and Marichetts Savage Nations.
  • 1760 Thomas Picheon
  • 1797 Miꞌkmaq Language, 1797
  • 1814 Bromley, Walter (1814). Mr. Bromley's second address, on the deplorable state of the Indians delivered in the "Royal Acadian School," at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, March 8, 1814. [Halifax, N.S.?] : Printed at the Recorder Office. ISBN 9780665209987.
  • 1822 Bromley, Walter (1822). An account of the aborigines of Nova Scotia called the Micmac Indians. London? : s.n. ISBN 9780665573224.
  • 1819 Rand, Silas Tertius (1850). A short statement of facts relating to the history, manners, customs, language, and literature of the Micmac tribe of Indians, in Nova-Scotia and P.E. Island: being the substance of two lectures delivered in Halifax, in November, 1819, at public meetings held for the purpose of instituting a mission to that tribe. Halifax, N.S.? : s.n. ISBN 9780665395062.
  • 1866 Vetromile, Eugene (1866). The Abnakis and their history: Historical notices on the aborigines of Acadia. New York : J.B. Kirker. ISBN 9780665339240.
  • 1873 An account of the present state of Nova Scotia Hollingsworth. 1873
  • 1896 Piers, Harry (1896). Relics of the stone age in Nova Scotia. S.l. : s.n. ISBN 9780665353376.
  • Rand and the Mi'kmaqs
  • 1922 Speck, Frank (1922). Beothuk and Micmac.

Documentary film edit

  • Our Lives in Our Hands (1986) — Míkmaq basketmakers and potato diggers in northern Maine

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mi'kmaq.
  • Qalipu First Nation
  • Benoit First Nation
  • Bras D'Or First Nation
  • Bras d'Or - Pitawpoꞌq, Indian name; Little Bras d'Or - Panuꞌskek, Indian name
  • Mi'kmaq History
  • Miꞌkmaq Language. Mass Historical Society
  • Míkmaq Dictionary Online
  • The Mi'kmaq of Megumaagee
  • Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Micmacs" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
  • Unamaꞌki Institute of Natural Resources
  • Miꞌkmaw Native Friendship Centre

January 09, 2024
kmaq, this, article, about, people, other, uses, disambiguation, also, gmaq, miꞌkmaw, miꞌgmaw, english, ɑː, miꞌkmaq, miːɡmaɣ, first, nations, people, northeastern, woodlands, indigenous, areas, canada, atlantic, provinces, primarily, nova, scotia, brunswick, n. This article is about the people For other uses see Mi kmaq disambiguation The Mi kmaq also Mi gmaq Lnu Miꞌkmaw or Miꞌgmaw English ˈ m ɪ ɡ m ɑː MIG mah Miꞌkmaq miːɡmaɣ 3 4 5 are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands indigenous to the areas of Canada s Atlantic Provinces primarily Nova Scotia New Brunswick and Newfoundland 6 and the Gaspe Peninsula of Quebec as well as Native Americans in the northeastern region of Maine The traditional national territory of the Mi kmaq is named Miꞌkmaꞌki or Miꞌgmaꞌgi Mi kmaqLnuGrand Council Flag of the Miꞌkmaq Nation 1 Although the flag is meant to be displayed hanging vertically as shown here it is quite commonly flown horizontally with the star near the upper hoist A Miꞌkmaw father and child at Tufts Cove Nova Scotia around 1871Total population66 748 registered members 2023 168 480 claimed Mi kmaq ancestry 2016 2 Regions with significant populations Mi kma ki Dawnland Canada United StatesNewfoundland and Labrador28 282Nova Scotia18 814New Brunswick9 025Quebec7 655Maine1 489Prince Edward Island1 483LanguagesEnglish Miꞌkmaq FrenchReligionNative American religion Christianity othersRelated ethnic groupsOther Algonquian peoplesEspecially Abenaki Maliseet Passamaquoddy PenobscotPersonLnuPeopleLnu k Mi kmaq LanguageMi kmawi simkCountryMi kma ki WabanakiThere are 66 748 Mi kmaq people in the region as of 2023 including 25 182 members in the more recently formed Qalipu First Nation in Newfoundland 7 8 According to the Canadian 2021 census 9 245 people claim to speak Miꞌkmaq an Eastern Algonquian language 9 Once written in Miꞌkmaw hieroglyphic writing it is now written using most letters of the Latin alphabet The Mi kmaq Maliseet and Pasamaquoddy nations signed a series of treaties known as the Covenant Chain of Peace and Friendship Treaties with the British Crown throughout the eighteenth century the first was signed in 1725 and the last in 1779 The Miꞌkmaq maintain that they did not cede or give up their land title or other rights through these Peace and Friendship Treaties 10 The landmark 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision in R v Marshall upheld the 1752 Peace and Friendship Treaty which promised Indigenous Peoples the right to hunt and fish their lands and establish trade 11 The Miꞌkmaw Grand Council is the official authority that engages in consultation with the Canadian federal government and the provincial government of Nova Scotia as established by the historic August 30 2010 agreement with the Miꞌkmaq Nation resulting from the Miꞌkmaq Nova Scotia Canada Tripartite Forum 12 This collaborative agreement which includes all the First Nations within the province of Nova Scotia was the first in Canadian history 12 Historically the Sante Mawiomi or Grand Council which was made up of chiefs of the district councils of Miꞌkmaꞌki was the traditional senior level of government for the Miꞌkmaw people The 1876 Indian Act disrupted that authority by requiring First Nations to establish representative elected governments along the Canadian model and attempting to limit the Council s role to spiritual guidance 13 14 Contents 1 Grand Council Sante Mawiomi 2 Miꞌkmaq language 2 1 Hieroglyphic writing 2 2 Etymology of the word Miꞌkmaq 3 Geography 3 1 Districts 4 Current federal and provincial relations with Miꞌkmaq 4 1 Tripartite Forum 4 2 Marshall Decision 4 3 Dispute over rights based inshore lobster fishery 2020 present 4 3 1 Background 4 3 2 Violence 4 3 3 Legal action 4 3 4 Talks with DFO 4 4 Truth and Reconciliation Commission 4 5 Miꞌkmaq Kinaꞌ matnewey 5 History 5 1 Pre contact period 5 2 17th and 18th centuries 5 2 1 Colonial wars 5 2 2 Covenant Chain of Peace and Friendship Treaties 5 3 19th century 5 3 1 Royal Acadian School 5 3 2 Mi kmaq Missionary Society 5 3 3 Mi kmaq hockey sticks 5 3 4 Gallery of 19th century images 5 4 20th and 21st centuries 5 4 1 World Wars 5 4 2 Miꞌkmaq of Newfoundland 6 Religion spirituality and tradition 6 1 Current forms of Miꞌkmaw faith 6 2 Oral traditions in Miꞌkmaw culture 6 3 Spiritual sites 6 4 Ethnobotany 7 First Nation subdivisions 8 Demographics 9 Commemorations 10 Notable Miꞌkmaq 10 1 Academics 10 2 Activists 10 3 Artists 10 4 Athletes 10 5 Military 10 6 Other 11 Maps 12 See also 13 Notes 14 References 15 Further reading 16 Archival primary references 16 1 Documentary film 17 External linksGrand Council Sante Mawiomi editOn August 30 2010 the Miꞌkmaw Nation and the Nova Scotia provincial government reached an historic agreement affirming that the Miꞌkmaw Grand Council was the official consultative authority that engages with the Canadian federal government and the provincial government of Nova Scotia 12 The Miꞌkmaq Nova Scotia Canada Tripartite Forum preceded the agreement 12 The August 2010 agreement is the first such collaborative agreement in Canadian history it includes representation for all the First Nations within the entire province of Nova Scotia 12 Historically the Sante Mawiomi or Grand Council which was made up of chiefs of the district councils of Miꞌkmaꞌki was the traditional senior level of government for the Miꞌkmaw people The 1876 Indian Act disrupted that authority by requiring First Nations to establish representative elected governments and attempting to limit the Council s role to that of spiritual guidance 15 14 In addition to the district councils the Mꞌikmaq have been traditionally governed by a Grand Council or Sante Mawiomi The Grand Council was composed of Keptinaq captains in English who were the district chiefs There were also elders the putus wampum belt readers and historians who also dealt with the treaties with the non natives and other Native tribes the women s council and the grand chief The grand chief was a title given to one of the district chiefs who was usually from the Miꞌkmaw district of Unamaki or Cape Breton Island This title was hereditary within a clan and usually passed on to the grand chief s eldest son On June 24 1610 Grand Chief Membertou converted to Catholicism and was baptised He concluded an alliance with the French Jesuits The Miꞌkmaq as trading allies of the French were amenable to limited French settlement in their midst nbsp Chief Gabriel Sylliboy first to fight for Treaty Rights in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia 1929Gabriel Sylliboy 1874 1964 a respected Mi kmaq religious leader and traditional Grand Chief of the Council was elected as the Council s Grand Chief in 1918 Repeatedly re elected he held this position for the rest of his life 16 In 1927 Grand Chief Sylliboy was charged by Nova Scotia with hunting muskrat pelts out of season He was the first to use the rights defined in the Treaty of 1752 in his court defence He lost his case In 1985 the Supreme Court of Canada finally recognized the 1752 treaty rights for indigenous hunting and fishing in their ruling on R v Simon 17 On the 50th anniversary of Sylliboy s death the Grand Council asked the Nova Scotia government for a pardon for the late Grand Chief Premier Stephen McNeil granted the posthumous pardon in 2017 16 Lieutenant Governor of Nova Scotia John James Grant McNeil and the Justice Minister Diana Whalen pardoned Sylliboy and issued a formal apology it was the second posthumous pardon in Nova Scotia s history 16 His grandson Andrew Denny now the Grand Keptin of the Council said that his grandfather had commanded respect Young people who were about to get married would go and ask for his blessing At the Chapel Island Mission boats would stop if he was crossing 16 Traditionally the Grand Council met on a small island Mniku on the Bras d Or lake in Cape Breton In the early 21st century this site is now within the reserve known as Chapel Island or Potlotek The Grand Council continues to meet at Mniku to discuss current issues within the Miꞌkmaq Nation Taqamkuk Newfoundland was historically defined as part of Unamaꞌkik territory Later the large island was organized as a separate district in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador Miꞌkmaq language editMain article Miꞌkmaq language According to the 2021 census 9 245 people identified as speakers of the Miꞌkmaq language 4 910 of which said it was their mother tongue and 2 595 reported it to be their most often spoken language at home 9 Hieroglyphic writing edit The Mi kmaq language was written using Miꞌkmaq hieroglyphic writing Today it is written mainly using letters of the Latin alphabet At the Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site petroglyphs of life ways of the Mi kmaq include written hieroglyphics human figures Mi kmaq houses and lodges decorations including crosses sailing vessels and animals etched into slate rocks These are attributed to the Mi kmaq who have continuously inhabited the area since prehistoric times 18 1 The petroglyphs date from the late prehistoric period through the nineteenth century 18 32 Jerry Lonecloud 1854 1930 Mi kmaq is considered the ethnographer of the Mi kmaq nation In 1912 he transcribed some of the Kejimkujik petroglyphs and donated his works to the Nova Scotia Museum 18 6 He is credited with the first Mi kmaq memoir which was recorded from his oral history in the 1920s 19 In the late 1670s French missionary Chrestien Le Clercq who was working in the Gaspe Peninsula was inspired by hieroglyphics made by a young Mi kmaq using charcoal on birchbark Leclercq adopted the use of Mi kmaq hieroglyphs to teach Catholic prayers and hymns to the people in their own form of language 20 nbsp The Holy Mary Rosary prayer in Mi kmaq hieroglyphics by Christian Kauder 1866Christian Kauder was a missionary in Miꞌkmaꞌki from 1856 to 1871 He included samples of Mi kmaq hieroglyphic writing such as the Holy Mary Rosary prayer and the Lord s Prayer in his German Christian catechism published in 1866 21 David L Schmidt and Murdena Marshall published some of the prayers narratives and liturgies represented in hieroglyphs pictographic symbols in a 1995 book As noted the pre contact Mi kmaq developed these hieroglyphs French Jesuit missionaries adopted their use to teach Catholic prayers and religion to the Mi kmaq 22 Schmidt and Marshall showed that these hieroglyphics served as a fully functional writing system 22 They assert it is the oldest writing system for an indigenous language in North America north of Mexico 22 Etymology of the word Miꞌkmaq edit By the 1980s the spelling of the ethnonym Miꞌkmaq which is preferred by the Miꞌkmaq people was widely adopted by scholarly publications and the media It replaced the previous spelling Micmac 23 3 Notes 1 Although this older spelling is still in use the Miꞌkmaq consider the spelling Micmac to be tainted by colonialism 24 The q ending is used in the plural form of the noun and Miꞌkmaw is used as singular of Miꞌkmaq It is also used as an adjective for example the Miꞌkmaw nation 25 The Miꞌkmaq prefer to use one of the three current Miꞌkmaq orthographies when writing the language 26 Notes 2 Spellings used by Mi kmaq people include Miꞌkmaq singular Miꞌkmaw in Prince Edward Island Epekw itk Nova Scotia Mi kma ki Unama ki and Newfoundland K taqamkuk Miigmaq Miigmao in New Brunswick Sipekni katik Miꞌgmaq by the Listuguj Council in Quebec Kespek and Migmaq Migmaw in some native literature 24 Lnu the adjectival and singular noun previously spelled L nu the plural is Lnuk Lnuꞌk Lnuꞌg or Lnug is the term the Miꞌkmaq use for themselves their autonym meaning human being or the people 27 Members of the Miꞌkmaq historically referred to themselves as Lnu but used the term nikmaq my kin as a greeting 28 The French initially referred to the Miꞌkmaq as Souriquois 29 and later as Gaspesiens Adopting a term from the English they referred to them as Mickmakis The British originally referred to the people as Tarrantines which appears to have a French basis 30 Various explanations exist for the rise of the term Miꞌkmaq The Miꞌkmaw Resource Guide says that Miꞌkmaq means the family 31 Notes 3 The Anishinaabe refer to the Miꞌkmaq as Miijimaa g meaning The Brother s Ally ies with the use of the nX prefix m opposed to the use of n1 prefix n i e Niijimaa g my brother s comrade s or the n3 prefix w i e Wiijimaa g brother s compatriot s comrade s 32 Charles Aubert de La Chesnaye was documented as the first European to record the term Mi kmaq for the people using it in his 1676 memoir Marion Robertson stated this in the book Red Earth Tales of the Mi kmaq 1960s published by the Nova Scotia Museum 33 5 33 5 Robertson cites Professor Ganong who suggested that Mi kmaq was derived from the Mi kmaq word megamingo earth Marc Lescarbot had also suggested this 33 5 The Mi kmaq may have identified as the Red Earth People or the People of the Red Earth 33 Megumaagee the name the Mi kmaq used to describe their land and Megumawaach what they called themselves were linked to the words megwaak which refers to the colour red and magumegek on the earth 33 5 Rand translated megakumegek as red on the earth red ground or red earth 33 5 Other suggestions from Robertson include its origin in nigumaach which means my brother or my friend or a term of endearment 33 Stansbury Hagar suggested in Mi kmaq Magic and Medicine that the word megumawaach is from megumoowesoo in reference to magic 33 Geography editMain articles Miꞌkmaꞌki and Dawnland nbsp Miꞌkmaꞌki Divided into seven districts Not shown is Taqamgug Tagamuk the eighth district that includes the entire island of Newfoundland 34 Taqamgug was historically part of Onamag before the 1800s Miꞌkmaw Country known as Miꞌkmaꞌki is traditionally divided into seven districts Prior to the imposition of the Indian Act each district had its own independent government and boundaries The independent governments had a district chief and a council The council members were band chiefs elders and other worthy community leaders The district council was charged with performing all the duties of any independent and free government by enacting laws justice apportioning fishing and hunting grounds making war and suing for peace Districts edit The eight Miꞌkmaw districts including Ktaqmkuk which is often not counted are Epekwitk aq Piktuk Epegwitg aq Pigtug Eskikewaꞌkik Esgeꞌgewaꞌgi Kespek Gespeꞌgewaꞌgi Kespukwitk Gespugwitg Siknikt Signigtewaꞌgi Sipekniꞌkatik Sugapuneꞌgati Ktaqmkuk Gtaqamg and Unamaꞌkik Unamaꞌgi The orthography between parentheses is the Listuguj orthography used in the Gespeꞌgewaꞌgi area Current federal and provincial relations with Miꞌkmaq editTripartite Forum edit In 1997 the Miꞌkmaq Nova Scotia Canada Tripartite Forum was established On August 31 2010 the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia signed a historic agreement with the Miꞌkmaw Nation establishing a process whereby the federal government must consult with the Miꞌkmaw Grand Council before engaging in any activities or projects that affect the Miꞌkmaq in Nova Scotia This covers most if not all actions these governments might take within that jurisdiction This is the first such collaborative agreement in Canadian history including all the First Nations within an entire province 12 Marshall Decision edit Main article R v Marshall On September 17 1999 the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the treaty rights of Miꞌkmaw Donald Marshall Jr its landmark R v Marshall ruling which affirmed a treaty right to hunt fish and gather in pursuit of a moderate livelihood 35 The Supreme Court also cited Section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act in their 1999 ruling that resulted in Mi kmaq Maliseet and Peskotomuhkati people the right to hunt fish and gather in pursuit of a moderate livelihood from the resources of the land and waters 36 The legal precedent had previously been established in the Treaty of 1752 one in a series of treaties known as the Peace and Friendship Treaties 35 but was not being respected prior to R v Marshall 35 This resulted in the 1993 charges laid against Marshall Jr for fishing eels out of season fishing without a licence and fishing with an illegal net 37 In the 2018 publication Truth and conviction Donald Marshall Jr and the Mi kmaq quest for justice Marshall was quoted as saying I don t need a licence I have the 1752 Treaty 38 The 1989 Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall Jr Prosecution resulted in a compensation to Marshall of a lifetime pension of 1 5 million 39 38 Marshall used the financial compensation to finance the lengthy and costly Supreme Court case 36 When Marshall won 34 Mi kmaq and Maliseet First Nations bands were affected in the provinces of New Brunswick Prince Edward Island Nova Scotia and the Gaspe region of Quebec 35 The West Nova Fishermen s Coalition submitted an appeal asking for the Marshall decision to be set aside 37 In November 17 1999 released a new ruling Marshall 2 to clarify that the DFO had the power to regulate the fishery for conservation purposes if it consulted with the First Nation and could justify the regulations 40 Notes 4 Soon after the September 17 decision Miramichi Bay one of Canada s most lucrative lobster fisheries citation needed became the site of a violent conflict between Mi kmaq fishers and non Mi kmaq commercial fishers Immediately after the ruling Mi kmaq fishers began to lay lobster traps out of season Incidents such as the Burnt Church Crisis were widely covered by the media from 1999 and 2002 36 On October 3 1999 non Indigenous commercial fishers in 150 boats destroyed hundreds of Mi kmaq lobster traps then returned to shore and vandalized fishing equipment as well as three fish plants 41 This was captured and documented in the 2002 National Film Board feature length documentary Is the Crown at war with us by Alanis Obomsawin The documentary also described how Ocean and Fisheries department officials seemed to wage a war on the Mi kmaq fishermen of Burnt Church New Brunswick with helicopters patrol boats guns with observation by airplanes and dozens of RCMP officers 42 The documentary asks why the fishers were being harassed for exercising rights that had been affirmed by the highest court in the land 42 Following lengthy negotiations with the Mi kmaq the DFO developed the 160 million Marshall Response Initiative which operated until 2007 through which the DFO offered to purchase over 1 000 commercial fishing licences including boats and gear to support the expansion of the Mi kmaq lobster fishery By mid 2000 about 1 400 commercial fishermen stated their intention to retire over 5 000 licences 41 On August 20 2001 the DFO issued a temporary license to Burnt Church Mi kmaq fishers while negotiations for a more permanent agreement were underway 41 The DFO license had restrictions that some Burnt Church fishers refused the fishers could not sell their lobsters they could only use them for food social and ceremonial FSC purposes 41 The Aboriginal right to fish for food social and ceremonial purposes FSC was confirmed in the landmark 1990 R v Sparrow Supreme Court case which cited section 35 of the 1982 Constitution Act 1982 Notes 5 In May 2003 the House of Commons Standing Committee On Fisheries And Oceans chaired by MP Tom Wappel submitted its report on fisheries issues which recommended that all charges stemming from the confrontation over the lobster fisheries be dropped and that the fishers should be compensated by federal government for their lost traps and boats 43 The report said that Mi kmaq fishers have the same season as non native fishermen and could not therefore fish in the fall It recommended that native bands be issued licences which they would distribute to native fishermen 43 On the tenth anniversary of the benchmark decision CBC News reported that Maritime waters were calm a decade after Marshall decision 37 However by 2020 the Fish Buyers Licensing and Enforcement Regulations under the 1996 N S Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act remains in effect as it does in other Atlantic provinces 44 45 These regulations do not mention the Mi kmaq or the Marshall decision These regulations prevent Mi kmaq lobster fishers from selling their lobster to non Mi kmaq Mi kmaq fishers say that this does not align with the Marshall decision 46 In 2019 the government of the Listuguj First Nation in the Bay of Chaleur developed their own self regulated lobster fisheries management plan and opened their own lobster fishery in the fall of 2020 46 Under the existing Fish Buyers Licensing Regulations the self regulated Listuguj fisheries can harvest but can only use the lobster for food social and ceremonial purposes 46 According to Chief Terry Paul of Membertou First Nation early in 2020 a negotiator for the DFO had offered Nova Scotia First Nations nearly 87 million for boats gear and training with the condition that the First Nations would not practice their treaty right to earn a moderate livelihood fishing ie out of the DFO season for a period of 10 years The proposal did not define moderate livelihood and was rejected 47 On November 9 2020 a group of Miꞌkmaq First Nations and Premium Brands Holdings Corporation announced their 1 billion purchase of Clearwater Seafoods which was finalised on January 25 2021 The group of First Nations includes Sipekne katik We koqma q Potlotek Pictou Landing and Paqtnkek First Nations and is led by Membertou and Miapukek First Nations 48 The purchase represents the largest investment in the seafood industry by a Canadian Indigenous group The harvest of non Indigenous fishermen in the region will now be purchased by Clearwater Seafoods Miꞌkmaq part owners 49 Dispute over rights based inshore lobster fishery 2020 present edit Main article 2020 Mi kmaq lobster dispute Dispute over rights based inshore lobster fisheryDateSeptember 2020 ongoingLocationCanadaCaused byMiꞌkmaq exercising their treaty rights to fishStatusongoingPartiesMiꞌkmaq Commercial fishersCasualtiesCharged23Since September 2020 there has been an ongoing lobster fishing dispute between Sipekne katik First Nation 50 members of the Mi kmaq and non Indigenous lobster fishers mainly in Digby County and Yarmouth County Nova Scotia Background edit After Mi kmaq chiefs declared a state of emergency in October 2020 51 the Federal Government appointed Allister Surette as Federal Special Representative to investigate 52 In the March 2021 report s backgrounder Surette cited Macdonald Laurier Institute s Ken Coates who said that Mik maq communities had benefitted from improvements resulting from the Marshall decision as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada DFO granted access to Mi kmaq fishers to the commercial fishery through communal licences operated by the bands Macdonald Laurier Institute s Ken Coates said that the commercial fishing industry had not suffered because of this 52 53 Others disagreed saying that Canada had never fully implemented the Marshall Decision and that over the decades various levels of government and authorities mishandled and neglected local concerns related to the implementation of the Marshall decision 51 In September 2020 the Sipekne katik First Nation developed a fishing plan based on their right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood 52 They issued seven lobster licenses to band members each license has 50 tags representing a combined total of 350 tags One commercial lobster license represents 350 tags 54 The lobster fishery they initiated was located outside of the regulated commercial season in Lobster Fishing Area 34 52 in St Marys Bay Nova Scotia the Kespukwitk also spelled Gespogoitnag district of Mi kma ki The inshore fishery is the last small scale fishery in Nova Scotia citation needed St Marys Bay is part of Lobster Fishing Area LFA 34 making it the largest lobster fishing area in Canada with more than 900 licensed commercial fishermen harvesting from the southern tip of Nova Scotia up to Digby in the Bay of Fundy 55 It is also one of the most lucrative fishing areas in Canada 54 DFO reported that as of December 2019 there were 979 commercial lobster licenses in LFA 34 54 The Sipekneꞌkatik fishing plan became a flash point resulting in violent highly charged conflict pitting non Miꞌkmaw lobster fishers in the adjacent coastal communities and Miꞌkmaw fishers those carrying out the moderate livelihood fishery 52 Violence edit On September 11 Sipekne katik First Nation Chief Michael Sack sent a letter to Premier Stephen McNeil DFO Minister Bernadette Jordan and Nova Scotia RCMP Commanding Officer Lee Bergerman calling for them to uphold the rule of law amid ongoing violence threats human rights discrimination and ongoing failure to uphold the 1999 Supreme Court of Canada decision in R v Marshall recognizing the Mi kmaq right to fish and trade By that point vehicles and property belonging to members of the Sipekne katik First Nation had already been damaged and stolen including boats being burned There were already planned protests by non Indigenous fishers to block the Mi kmaq fishers access to several wharves 56 One such protest took place on September 15 at Saulnierville and Weymouth wharves 57 On September 17 Sipekne katik launched a moderate livelihood fishery with a ceremony at the Saulnierville wharf the first lobster fishery regulated by Miꞌkmaq in Nova Scotia On September 18 the Assembly of Nova Scotia Miꞌkmaw Chiefs declared a province wide state of emergency in response to threats by commercial and non indigenous fishers including some that had cut the Miꞌkmaw lobster traps 51 On September 25 the Sipekne katik fishery released its proposed regulations allowing the legal sale of seafood harvested under the fishery to Indigenous and non Indigenous consumers and wholesalers However at the time of the announcement Nova Scotia s Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act prohibited anyone in Nova Scotia from purchasing fish from a person who does not hold a valid commercial fishing license issued by Fisheries and Oceans Canada which would include the fishery 46 On October 1 Potlotek First Nation and Eskasoni First Nation 58 launched their own moderate livelihood fishery in a celebration at Battery Provincial Park that coincided with Mi kmaq Treaty Day The management plan behind this fishery had been in development for three months prompted by the seizure of lobster traps by DFO officials Community licenses issued through this fishery will entitle fishers to 70 tags and boats will be allowed to carry up to 200 lobster traps each At the time of the launch of the Potlotek fishery Membertou was also planning on launching their own fishery following a similar plan 47 After the launch of this fishery DFO officers continued to seize Mi kmaq traps 58 Harassment around the Sipekne katik fishery continued through October On October 5 Sipekne katik fisher Robert Syliboy a holder of one of the moderate livelihood fishery s licenses found his boat at the Comeauville wharf destroyed in a suspicious fire 59 On the evening of October 13 several hundred non Indigenous fishers and their supporters raided two storage facilities in New Edinburgh and Middle West Pubnico that were being used by Miꞌkmaw fishers to store lobsters During the raids a van was set aflame another vehicle was defaced and damaged lobsters being stored in the facilities were destroyed and the New Edinburgh facility was damaged while a Miꞌkmaw fisher was forced to barricade himself inside the facility in Middle West Pubnico Indigenous leaders called the raids racist hate crimes and called on the RCMP to intervene citing their slow response on the evening and lack of arrests even a day after the police claimed they witnessed criminal activity Social media posts from the commercial fishers and their supporters claimed that the lobsters taken in the raids were removed as they represented bad fishing practices on the part of the Miꞌkmaq but Sipekne katik Chief Mike Sack and a worker at the Middle West Pubnico facility claimed the lobsters that were stored there were caught by the commercial fishers not Miꞌkmaw Assembly of First Nations national chief Perry Bellegarde federal Fisheries minister Bernadette Jordan and Colin Sproul president of the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen s Association all condemned the violence Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil maintained his position that this issue must be solved federally when asked about it at a press conference 60 Several months later in January 2021 the manager of the Middle West Pubnico facility James Muise made a public post in a Facebook group for commercial fishers claiming that he gave the people involved in the raids permission to enter the facility and take the lobsters Muise offered to work with people charged with offenses connected to the raids and try to get those charges dropped 61 Chief Mike Sack was sucker punched while trying to give a press conference on October 14 62 Also during the violence an elder had sage knocked out of her hand while smudging and a woman was grabbed by the neck 63 On October 15 the Miꞌkmaq Warrior Peacekeepers arrived at the Saulnierville wharf with the intention of providing protection to Miꞌkmaq who were continuing to fish amid the violence 63 On Friday October 16 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that his government was extremely active in trying to de escalate the situation He also stated that he expected the police to be keeping people safe and acknowledged concerns that the police had not been doing so 63 Three days after the initial raids on the storage facilities on the evening of October 16 the Middle West Pubnico facility was destroyed in a large fire deemed suspicious by the RCMP One man was taken to hospital with life threatening injuries after the fire but the RCMP did not provide details regarding the man s association to the lobster pound other than that he was not an employee 62 The destruction led to further calls from Chief Sack for increased police presence as well as an appeal from the Maritime Fisherman s Union for the federal government to appoint an independent mediator 64 62 On October 16 Mi kmaq lobster fishers from the Sipekne katik First Nation quickly sold all their lobsters after setting up shop in front of the Province House in Halifax with potential customers lined up around the block 65 The fishers said they were putting pressure on Premier McNeil to act 65 On October 17 Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil released a Twitter statement requesting that the federal government define what constitutes legal harvesting in a moderate livelihood fishery 11 On October 21 Sipekne katik managed to secure an interim injunction against the restriction of band members access to the Saulnierville and Weymouth wharves as well as the New Edinburgh lobster pound The motion for the injunction was filed ex parte due to the urgency of the situation as the band was struggling to sell any of their catch in the midst of the violence and protests The injunction will remain in place until December 15 2020 66 In January 2021 23 people were charged in connection to the violence at the lobster storage facilities on October 13 2020 15 for break and enter and 8 for break and enter and mischief 61 Their court date is set for March 29 2021 67 Intimidation over the fishery dispute has continued into 2021 In mid January lobster harvester and Sipekne katik citizen Jolene Marr whose brother was surrounded in the West Pubnico lobster pound on October 13 was sent a seven second long close up video of a man s face that included what sounds like a racial slur and six gunshots in the background 67 Legal action edit On March 26 2021 43 Mi kmaq lobster fishers from the Sipekne katik First Nation filed a statement of claim against the attorney general of Canada the RCMP the DFO and 29 non Indigenous fishers including the Bay of Fundy Inshore Fishermen s Association BFIFA The claim alleges that the non Indigenous fishers named as defendants took the law into their own hands and engaged in violence against the moderate livelihood fishery that they were encouraged to do so by BFIFA and that the DFO and RCMP contributed to the harm by not intervening in the foreseeable violence 68 Talks with DFO edit On October 23 2020 the Mi kmaq Rights Initiative known as the KMKNO for Kwilmu kw Maw klusuaqn Negotiation Office announced that talks with the DFO over defining moderate livelihood had broken down The following Wednesday October 28 Terry Paul chief of Membertou First Nation stepped down from his position with KMKNO and the Assembly of Nova Scotia Mi kmaq Chiefs saying his confidence in the operations of the organization sic have weakened over time citing issues of transparency and preferring to pursue treaty rights negotiations outside of the Assembly 58 Membertou s withdrawal follows Sipekne katik s own withdrawal earlier in the month on October 6 leaving the Assembly as a representative of 10 of the 13 Mi kmaq First Nation bands Millbrook having also withdrawn earlier According to Paul when he talked with the other ANSMC Chiefs about his decision there seemed to be a willingness to deal with the issues he had identified in the negotiation process so that he could rejoin shortly 69 Fisheries Minister Bernadette Jordan sent a letter to Chief Mike Sack on March 3 2021 outlining the terms under which a moderate livelihood fishery could be negotiated and what the federal government would be prepared to allow the letter proposed balancing additional First Nations access through already available licences and stated that these fisheries will operate within established seasons These terms were rejected by Chief Sack who stated that we have a management plan that is better for conservation than theirs is so we re going to follow our own plan 70 Truth and Reconciliation Commission edit In 2005 Nova Scotian Miꞌkmaw Nora Bernard led the largest class action lawsuit in Canadian history representing an estimated 79 000 survivors of the Canadian Indian residential school system The Government of Canada settled the lawsuit for upwards of CA 5 billion 71 72 190 In autumn 2011 there was an Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission that travelled to various communities in Atlantic Canada who were all served by the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School the sole residential school for the region In his 2004 book entitled Legacies of the Shubenacadie Residential School journalist Chris Benjamin wrote about the raw wounds of Miꞌkmaw children who attended the Shubenacadie institution in the period spanning over three decades from 1930 to 1967 72 195 Miꞌkmaq Kinaꞌ matnewey edit The first Miꞌkmaq operated school in Nova Scotia the Miꞌkmaq Kinaꞌ matnewey 72 208 was established in 1982 he result of a collaboration between the Miꞌkmaw community and the Nova Scotia government The school is the most successful First Nation Education Program in Canada according to Benjamin 72 By 1997 all Miꞌkmaq on reserves were given the responsibility for their own education 72 210 By 2014 there were 11 band run schools in Nova Scotia 72 211 and the province has the highest rate of retention of aboriginal students in schools in Canada 72 211 More than half the teachers are Miꞌkmaq 72 211 From 2011 to 2012 there was a 25 increase in Miꞌkmaw students going to university Atlantic Canada has the highest rate of aboriginal students attending university in the country 72 214 73 History editPre contact period edit nbsp Miꞌkmaq Women Selling Baskets Halifax Nova Scotia by Mary R McKie c 1845In southwestern Nova Scotia there is archaeological evidence that traces traditional land use and resources to at least 4 000 years 74 23 75 76 In Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site there are canoe routes that have been used for thousands of years by Indigenous people travelling from the Bay of Fundy to the Atlantic ocean 77 Research published in 1871 showed that some Mi kmaq believed they had emigrated from the west and then lived alongside the Kwedĕchk 78 According to Mi kmaw traditions recorded by S T Rand the Kwedĕchk were the original inhabitants of the land 79 The two tribes engaged in a war that lasted many years and involved the slaughter of men women and children and torture of captives and the eventual displacement of the Kwedĕchk by the victorious Mi kmaq 78 In his Memorial University Masters thesis Mi kmaq elder Roger Lewis investigated how pre contact Mi kmaq populations had a reciprocal relationship with the environment that was reflected in subsistence fishing hunting and gathering as well as in settlement locations 74 10 Lewis who has held the position of ethnology curator at the Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax since 2007 80 focused his MA research specifically on pre contact fish weirs in southwestern Nova Scotia 74 In the chapter Late Prehistory of the East Coast in the Smithsonian s 1978 Handbook of North American Indians archaeologist Dean Snow says that the fairly deep linguistic split between the Miꞌkmaq and the Eastern Algonquians to the southwest suggests the Miꞌkmaq developed an independent prehistoric cultural sequence in their territory It emphasized maritime orientation as the area had relatively few major river systems 81 69 In the chapter Early Indian European Contact in the 1978 Handbook ethnologist T J Brasser described how pre contact small semi nomadic bands of a few patrilineally related families indigenous people who lived in a climate unfavorable for agriculture had subsisted on fishing and hunting Developed leadership did not extend beyond hunting parties 82 78 In the same 1978 Handbook anthropologist Philip Bock described the annual cycle of seasonal movement of precontact Miꞌkmaq Bock wrote that the Mi kmaq had lived in dispersed interior winter camps and larger coastal communities during the summer The spawning runs of March began their movement to converge on smelt spawning streams They next harvested spawning herring gathered waterfowl eggs and hunted geese By May the seashore offered abundant cod and shellfish and coastal breezes brought relief from the biting black flies deer flies midges and mosquitoes of the interior Autumn frost killed the biting insects during the September harvest of spawning American eels Smaller groups would disperse into the interior where they hunted moose and caribou 83 84 The most important animal hunted by the Miꞌkmaq was the moose which was used in every part the meat for food the skin for clothing tendons and sinew for cordage and bones for carving and tools Other animals hunted trapped included deer bear rabbit beaver and porcupine 85 Braser described the first contact between the Mi kmaq and early European fishermen 82 79 80 These fishermen salted their catch at sea and sailed directly home with it but they set up camps ashore as early as 1520 for dry curing cod During the second half of the century dry curing became the preferred preservation method 82 79 80 Brasser said that trading furs for European trade goods had changed Miꞌkmaw social perspectives Desire for trade goods encouraged the men devoting a larger portion of the year away from the coast trapping in the interior Trapping non migratory animals such as beaver increased awareness of territoriality Trader preferences for good harbors resulted in greater numbers of Miꞌkmaq gathering in fewer summer rendezvous locations This in turn encouraged their establishing larger bands led by the ablest trade negotiators 82 83 84 According to the Nova Scotia Museum bear teeth and claws were used as decoration in regalia The women used porcupine quills to create decorative beadwork on clothing moccasins and accessories The weapon used most for hunting was the bow and arrow The Miꞌkmaq made their bows from maple They ate fish of all kinds such as salmon sturgeon lobster squid shellfish and eels as well as seabirds and their eggs They hunted marine mammals such as porpoises whales walrus and seals 85 Miꞌkmaw territory was the first portion of North America that Europeans exploited at length for resource extraction Reports by John Cabot Jacques Cartier and Portuguese explorers about conditions there encouraged visits by Portuguese Spanish Basque French and English fishermen and whalers beginning in the 16th century European fishing camps traded with Miꞌkmaw fishermen and trading rapidly expanded to include furs according to Thomas B Costain 1885 1965 a journalist who wrote historical novels By 1578 some 350 European ships were operating around the Saint Lawrence estuary Most were independent fishermen but increasing numbers were exploring the fur trade 86 17th and 18th centuries edit Colonial wars edit Main article Military history of the Miꞌkmaq people In the wake of King Philip s War between English colonists and Native Americans in southern New England which included the first military conflict between the Miꞌkmaq and New England the Miꞌkmaq became members of the Wapnaki Wabanaki Confederacy an alliance with four other Algonquian language nations the Abenaki Penobscot Passamaquoddy and Maliseet 87 The Wabanaki Confederacy was allied with the Acadian people Over a period of seventy five years during six wars in Miꞌkmaꞌki the Miꞌkmaq and Acadians fought to keep the British from taking over the region See the four French and Indian Wars as well as Father Rale s War and Father Le Loutre s War France lost military control of Acadia in 1710 and political claim apart from Cape Breton by the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht with England But the Miꞌkmaq were not included in the treaty and never conceded any land to the British In 1715 the Miꞌkmaq were told that the British now claimed their ancient territory by the Treaty of Utrecht They formally complained to the French commander at Louisbourg about the French king transferring the sovereignty of their nation when he did not possess it They were informed that the French had claimed legal possession of their country for a century on account of laws decreed by kings in Europe that no land could be legally owned by any non Christian and that such land was therefore freely available to any Christian prince who claimed it Miꞌkmaw historian Daniel Paul observes that If this warped law were ever to be accorded recognition by modern legalists they would have to take into consideration that after Grand Chief Membertou and his family converted to Christianity in 1610 the land of the Miꞌkmaq had become exempt from being seized because the people were Christians However it s hard to imagine that a modern government would fall back and try to use such uncivilized garbage as justification for non recognition of aboriginal title 26 74 75 Along with Acadians the Miꞌkmaq used military force to resist the founding of British Protestant settlements by making numerous raids on Halifax Dartmouth Lawrencetown and Lunenburg During the French and Indian War the North American front of the Seven Years War between France and Britain in Europe the Miꞌkmaq assisted the Acadians in resisting the British during the Expulsion The military resistance was reduced significantly with the French defeat at the Siege of Louisbourg 1758 in Cape Breton In 1763 Great Britain formalized its colonial possession of all of Miꞌkmaki in the Treaty of Paris Covenant Chain of Peace and Friendship Treaties edit nbsp Miꞌkmaw Encampment by Hibbert Newton Binney c 1791Between 1725 and 1779 the Mi kmaq Wolastoqey Maliseet and Peskotomuhkati Passamaquoddy signed numerous treaties commonly referred to as the Covenant Chain of Peace and Friendship Treaties through which they entered into a peaceful relationship with the British Crown The Mi kmaq assert that through these treaties which were referenced as legal precedent by the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Marshall the Mi kmaq did not cede or give up their land title and other rights 10 Some historians have asserted that first treaty signed in 1725 after Father Rale s War did not cede hunting fishing and gathering rights 88 The Halifax Treaties 1760 61 marked the end of warfare between the Miꞌkmaq and the British 89 The 1752 Peace and Friendship Treaty Between His Majesty the King and Jean Baptiste Cope 17 on behalf of the Shubenacadie Miꞌkmaq has been cited in the Supreme Court of Canada s 1985 decision in R v Simon 17 In his 2002 book on the Marshall case historian William Wicken said that there is no written documentation to support this assertion that Cope made the treaty on behalf of all the Miꞌkmaq 90 184 has been cited in the Supreme Court of Canada s 1985 decision in R v Simon 17 With the signing of various treaties the 75 years of regular warfare ended in 1761 with the Halifax Treaties 91 92 Although the treaties of 1760 61 contain statements of Miꞌkmaw submission to the British crown later statements made by Miꞌkmaw reveal that they intended a friendly and reciprocal relationship according to the 2009 book Nova Scotia a pocket history by Saint Mary s University history professor John G Reid and Brenda Conroy 93 23 In the early 1760s there were approximately 300 Miꞌkmaw fighters in the region and thousands of British soldiers The goals of the Miꞌkmaw treaty negotiators engaged in the 1760 Halifax treaty negotiations were to make peace establish secure and well regulated trade in commodities such as furs and begin an ongoing friendship with the British crown In return the Mi kmaq offered friendship and tolerance of limited British settlement although without any formal land surrender according to Reid and Connor 93 23 To fulfill the reciprocity intended by the Miꞌkmaq that any additional British settlement of land would have to be negotiated and accompanied by giving presents to the Miꞌkmaq The documents summarizing the peace agreements failed to establish specific territorial limits on the expansion of British settlements but assured the Miꞌkmaq of access to the natural resources that had long sustained them along the regions coasts and in the woods 93 Their conceptions of land use were quite different In his 2003 book about the British expulsion of the Acadians University of Cincinnati history professor Geoffrey Plank described the relationship between the Mi kmaq and Acadians as strong The Miꞌkmaq believed they could share their traditional lands with both the British and the Acadians with the Mi kmaq hunting as usual and getting to the coast for seafood 94 163 The arrival of the New England Planters and United Empire Loyalists in greater number put pressure on land use and the treaties This migration into the region created significant economic environmental and cultural pressures on the Miꞌkmaq The Miꞌkmaq tried to enforce the treaties through threat of force At the beginning of the American Revolution many Miꞌkmaw and Maliseet tribes supported the Americans against the British They participated in the Maugerville Rebellion and the Battle of Fort Cumberland in 1776 Miꞌkmaw delegates concluded the first international treaty the Treaty of Watertown with the United States soon after it declared its independence in July 1776 These delegates did not officially represent the Miꞌkmaw government although many individual Miꞌkmaq did privately join the Continental Army as a result In June 1779 Miꞌkmaq in the Miramichi valley of New Brunswick attacked and plundered some of the British in the area The following month British Captain Augustus Harvey in command of HMS Viper arrived and battled with the Miꞌkmaq One Miꞌkmaw was killed and 16 were taken prisoner to Quebec The prisoners were eventually taken to Halifax They were released on 28 July 1779 after signing the Oath of Allegiance to the British Crown 95 96 97 As their military power waned in the beginning of the 19th century the Miꞌkmaw people made explicit appeals to the British to honor the treaties and reminded them of their duty to give presents to the Miꞌkmaq in order to occupy Miꞌkmaꞌki In response the British offered charity or the word most often used by government officials relief The British said the Miꞌkmaq must give up their way of life and begin to settle on farms Also they were told they had to send their children to British schools for education 98 nbsp Monument to the Treaty of 1752 Shubenacadie First Nation Nova ScotiaGabriel Sylliboy was the first Miꞌkmaw elected as grand chief in 1919 and the first to fight for treaty recognition specifically the Treaty of 1752 in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia In 1986 the first Treaty Day was celebrated by Nova Scotians on October 1 1986 in recognition of the treaties signed between the British Empire and the Miꞌkmaw people The treaties were only formally recognized by the Supreme Court of Canada once they were enshrined in Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 The first Treaty Day occurred the year after the Supreme Court upheld the Peace Treaty of 1752 signed by Jean Baptiste Cope and Governor Peregrine Hopson 19th century edit Royal Acadian School edit Walter Bromley was a British officer and reformer who established the Royal Acadian School and supported the Miꞌkmaq over the thirteen years he lived in Halifax 1813 1825 99 Bromley devoted himself to the service of the Miꞌkmaw people 100 The Miꞌkmaq were among the poor of Halifax and in the rural communities According to historian Judith Finguard his contribution to give public exposure to the plight of the Miꞌkmaq particularly contributes to his historical significance Finguard writes Bromley s attitudes towards the Indians were singularly enlightened for his day Bromley totally dismissed the idea that native people were naturally inferior and set out to encourage their material improvement through settlement and agriculture their talents through education and their pride through his own study of their languages 99 Mi kmaq Missionary Society edit Silas Tertius Rand in 1849 help found the Mi kmaq Missionary Society a full time Miꞌkmaw mission Basing his work in Hantsport Nova Scotia where he lived from 1853 until his death in 1889 he travelled widely among Miꞌkmaw communities spreading the Christian faith learning the language and recording examples of the Miꞌkmaw oral tradition Rand produced scriptural translations in Miꞌkmaq and Maliseet compiled a Miꞌkmaq dictionary and collected numerous legends and through his published work was the first to introduce the stories of Glooscap to the wider world The mission was dissolved in 1870 After a long period of disagreement with the Baptist church he eventually returned to the church in 1885 Mi kmaq hockey sticks edit nbsp Miꞌkmaq making hockey sticks from hornbeam trees Ostrya virginiana in Nova Scotia c 1890 The Miꞌkmaq practice of playing ice hockey appeared in recorded colonial histories from as early as the 18th century Since the nineteenth century the Miꞌkmaq were credited with inventing the ice hockey stick 101 60 The oldest known hockey stick was made between 1852 and 1856 Recently it was sold for US 2 2 million The stick was carved by Miꞌkmaq from Nova Scotia who made it from hornbeam also known as ironwood 102 In 1863 the Starr Manufacturing Company in Dartmouth Nova Scotia began to sell the Mic Mac hockey sticks nationally and internationally 101 61 Hockey became a popular sport in Canada in the 1890s 101 58 Throughout the first decade of the 20th century the Mic Mac hockey stick was the best selling hockey stick in Canada By 1903 apart from farming the principal occupation of the Miꞌkmaq on reserves throughout Nova Scotia and particularly on the Shubenacadie Indian Brook and Millbrook Reserves was producing the Mic Mac hockey stick 101 61 The department of Indian Affairs for Nova Scotia noted in 1927 that the Miꞌkmaq remained the experts at making hockey sticks 101 73 The Miꞌkmaq continued to make hockey sticks until the 1930s when the product was industrialized 101 63 Gallery of 19th century images edit nbsp Grand Chief Jacques Pierre Peminuit Paul 3rd from left with beard meets Governor General of Canada Marquess of Lorne Red Chamber Province House Halifax Nova Scotia 1879 103 nbsp Miꞌkmaq encampment Sydney Cape Breton Island nbsp Miꞌkmaq People 1873 nbsp Miꞌkmaq people 1865 20th and 21st centuries edit Jerry Lonecloud worked with historian and archivist Harry Piers to document the ethnography of the Miꞌkmaw people in the early 20th century Lonecloud wrote the first Miꞌkmaw memoir which his biographer entitled Tracking Dr Lonecloud Showman to Legend Keeper 104 Historian Ruth Holmes Whitehead writes Ethnographer of the Mi kmaq nation could rightly have been his epitaph his final honour 105 World Wars edit In 1914 over 150 Miꞌkmaw men signed up during World War I During the First World War thirty four out of sixty four male Miꞌkmaq from Lennox Island First Nation Prince Edward Island enlisted in the armed forces distinguishing themselves particularly in the Battle of Amiens 106 In 1939 over 250 Miꞌkmaq volunteered in World War II In 1950 over 60 Miꞌkmaq enlisted to serve in the Korean War Miꞌkmaq of Newfoundland edit Main article Qalipu Miꞌkmaq First Nation Band When Newfoundland joined Canada in confederation in 1949 political leader later Premier Joey Smallwood declared that there were no Indians in Newfoundland 107 This ultimately led to the Miꞌkmaq people of Newfoundland not receiving indian status or recognition as First Nations that other indigenous groups in Canada did in the years following 107 108 In 1972 activists formed the Native Association of Newfoundland and Labrador as the main organization representing the Mi kmaq Innu and Inuit peoples of Newfoundland and Labrador 109 After the Labrador Innu and Inuit left the Association in 1975 the organization was renamed as the Federation of Newfoundland Indians The FNI included six Mi kmaq bands Elmastogoeg First Nations Corner Brook Indian Band Flat Bay Indian Band Gander Bay Indian Band Glenwood Mi kmaq First Nation and the Port au Port Indian Band The provincial government supported the FNI 110 The federal government approved only the petition for recognition made by the Mi kmaq at Conne River In 1987 the Miawpukek Mi kmaq First Nation was recognized under the Indian Act and their community of Conne River was classified as reserved land for the Mi kmaq 111 Recognition for the remainder of Newfoundland s Mi kmaq was a much longer process Minister David Crombie was willing to work with the FNI and the government of Newfoundland but the provincial government considered it to be a federal matter 110 In 2003 Minister Andy Scott was presented with a report recommending a First Nations band without any reserved land to represent the Mi kmaq of Newfoundland An Agreement in principle was reached in 2006 which the FNI accepted in 2007 The federal government ratified it in 2008 112 In 2011 the Government of Canada announced recognition by an order in council to a group in Newfoundland and Labrador called the Qalipu First Nation The new band which is landless had accepted 25 000 applications to become part of the band by October 2012 113 In total over 100 000 applications were sent in to join the Qalipu equivalent of one fifth of the province s population In response parliament passed Bill C 25 authorizing it to review all applications and retroactively reject some based on criteria similar to those used in the R v Powley case that defined rights for the Metis people 114 115 116 117 Several Miꞌkmaw institutions including the Grand Council had argued that the Qalipu Miꞌkmaq Band did not have legitimate aboriginal heritage and was accepting too many members 118 119 120 In 2017 only 18 044 people were eligible for Band membership 117 121 In 2018 the Qalipu First Nation announced that the updated Founding Members List for the Band had been adopted by way of an Order in Council which came into effect on June 25 2018 The 2018 Band list included 18 575 members 122 In November 2019 after concerns about legitimacy had been addressed the Qalipu First Nation was accepted by the Miꞌkmaq Grand Council as being part of the Miꞌkmaq Nation Qalipu Chief Mitchell stated Our inclusion into the AFN APC and acknowledgement by the Miꞌkmaq Grand Council are important to us it is part of our reconciliation as Miꞌkmaq people Friendships are being formed and relationships are being established It is a good time for the Qalipu First Nation 123 By 2021 nearly 24 000 people were recognized as founding members in 67 Newfoundland communities and abroad 124 The Friends of Qalipu Advocacy Association is currently taking Qalipu First Nation and its precursor to court over the enrolment process 125 Religion spirituality and tradition edit nbsp A dancer in the Miꞌkmaq celebrationCurrent forms of Miꞌkmaw faith edit Some Miꞌkmaw people practice the Catholic faith while some only practice traditional Miꞌkmaw beliefs However many have adopted both because of the compatibility between both systems 126 Oral traditions in Miꞌkmaw culture edit The Miꞌkmaw people had very little in the way of physical recording and storytelling petroglyphs while used are believed to have been rare In addition it is not believed that pre contact Miꞌkmaq had any form of written language As such almost all of Miꞌkmaw traditions were passed down orally primarily via storytelling There were traditionally three levels of oral traditions religious myths legends and folklore This includes Miꞌkmaw creation stories and myths which account for the organization of the world and society for instance how men and women were created and why they are different from one another The most well known Miꞌkmaw myth is that of Glooscap Good storytellers are highly prized by the Miꞌkmaq 127 as they provide important teachings that shape who a person grows to be and are sources of great entertainment One myth explains that the Miꞌkmaq once believed that evil and wickedness among men is what causes them to kill each other This causes great sorrow to the creator sun god who weeps tears that become rains sufficient to trigger a deluge The people attempt to survive the flood by traveling in bark canoes but only a single old man and woman survive to populate the earth 128 Spiritual sites edit One spiritual capital of the Miꞌkmaq Nation is Mniku the gathering place of the Miꞌkmaw Grand Council or Sante Mawiomi Chapel Island in Bras d Or Lake of Nova Scotia The island is also the site of the St Anne Mission an important pilgrimage site for the Miꞌkmaq 126 The island has been declared a historic site 129 Ethnobotany edit Abies balsamea balsam fir is traditionally used for a variety of purposes by the Miꞌkmaq They use the buds cones and inner bark for diarrhea the gum for burns colds fractures sores and wounds the cones for colic the buds as a laxative and the bark for gonorrhea 130 They use the boughs to make beds the bark to make a beverage and the wood for kindling and fuel 131 First Nation subdivisions editMiꞌkmaw names in the following table are spelled according to several orthographies The Miꞌkmaw orthographies in use are Miꞌkmaw hieroglyphic writing the orthography of Silas Tertius Rand the Pacifique orthography and the most recent Smith Francis orthography The latter has been adopted throughout Nova Scotia and in most Miꞌkmaw communities Community Province State Town Reserve Est Pop Miꞌkmaw nameAbegweit First Nation Prince Edward Island Morell 2 Rocky Point 3 Scotchfort 4 403 132 EpekwitkAcadia First Nation Nova Scotia Yarmouth 33 Ponhook Lake 10 Medway River 11 Wildcat 12 Gold River 21 Hammonds Plains 1 915 133 MalikiaqAnnapolis Valley First Nation Nova Scotia Annapolis Valley First Nation Reserve St Croix 34 320 134 KampalijekBear River First Nation Nova Scotia Bear River 6 Bear River 6A Bear River 6B 381 135 LsetkukBuctouche First Nation New Brunswick Buctouche 16 Buctouche Mi kmaq Band Extension 128 136 PuktuskEel River Bar First Nation New Brunswick Eel River 3 Indian Ranch Moose Meadows 4 828 137 UgpiꞌganjigElsipogtog First Nation New Brunswick Richibucto 15 Soegao No 35 3 574 138 LsipuktukEsgenoopetitj First Nation New Brunswick Esgenoopetitj Indian Reserve No 14 Pokemouche 13 Tabusintac 9 1 953 139 EskinuopitijkEskasoni Nova Scotia Eskasoni 3 Eskasoni 3A Malagawatch 4 4 737 140 WekistoqnikFort Folly New Brunswick Fort Folly 1 140 141 Amlamkuk KwesawekGlooscap First Nation Nova Scotia Glooscap 35 Glooscap Landing Reserve 420 142 KluskapIndian Island New Brunswick Indian Island 28 216 143 Lnui MenikukLa Nation Mi kmaq de Gespeg Quebec administrative headquarters in Gaspe 1 688 144 KespekLennox Island Prince Edward Island Lennox Island 1 Lennox Island No 6 Lennox Island Reserve No 5 1 080 145 Lnui MnikukListuguj Mi gmaq Government Quebec Listuguj 4 309 146 ListikujkMembertou Nova Scotia Caribou Marsh 29 Malagawatch 4 Membertou 28B Sydney 28A 1 621 147 MaupeltukMetepenagiag Miꞌkmaq Nation New Brunswick Big Hole Tract 8 North Half Indian Point 1 Metepenagiag Urban Reserve 3 Metepenagiag Urban Reserve 8 Metepenagiag Uta nk Red Bank 4 Red Bank 7 717 148 MetepnakiaqMi kmaq Nation Maine Presque Isle Limestone 1 489 149 UlustukMiawpukek Newfoundland and Labrador Samiajij Miawpukek 3 100 150 MiawpukwekMi kmaqs of Gesgapegiag Quebec Gesgapegiag 1 658 151 KeskapekiaqMillbrook Nova Scotia Beaver Lake 17 Cole Harbour 30 Millbrook 27 Sheet Harbour 36 Truro 27A Truro 27B Truro 27C Tufts Cove Indian Reserve 2 288 152 WekopekwitkNatoaganeg New Brunswick Big Hole Tract 8 South Half Eel Ground 2 Renous 12 1 102 153 NatuaqanekPabineau New Brunswick Oinpegitjoig Indian Reserve Pabineau 11 367 154 KekwapskukPaqtnkek Mi kmaq Nation Nova Scotia Franklin Manor No 22 Part Paqtnkek Niktuek No 23 Welnek No 38 612 155 Paq tnkekPictou Landing Nova Scotia Boat Harbour West 37 Fisher s Grant 24 Fisher s Grant 24G Franklin Manor No 22 Part Merigomish Harbour 31 686 156 PuksaqteknekatikPotlotek First Nation Nova Scotia Chapel Island 5 Malagawatch 4 827 157 PotlotekQalipu Miꞌkmaq First Nation Newfoundland and Labrador administrative headquarters in Corner Brook 25 182 158 Qalipu 159 160 Sipekneꞌkatik Nova Scotia Indian Brook 14 New Ross 20 Pennal 19 Shubenacadie 13 Wallace Hills No 14A 2 986 161 SipeknikatikWagmatcook Nova Scotia Malagawatch 4 Margaree 25 Wagmatcook 1 925 162 WaqmitkukWe koqma q L nue kati Nova Scotia Malagawatch 4 Whycocomagh 2 1 096 163 WekoqmaqDemographics editYear Population Verification1500 4 500 Estimation1600 3 000 Estimation1700 2 000 Estimation1750 3 000 164 Estimation1800 3 100 Estimation1900 4 000 Census1940 5 000 Census1960 6 000 Census1972 10 000 Census1998 15 000 SIL2006 20 000 Census2021 66 748 CensusThe pre contact population is estimated at 3 000 30 000 165 In 1616 Father Biard believed the Miꞌkmaw population to be in excess of 3 000 but he remarked that because of European diseases there had been large population losses during the 16th century Smallpox and other endemic European infectious diseases to which the Miꞌkmaq had no immunity wars and alcoholism led to a further decline of the native population It reached its lowest point in the middle of the 17th century Then the numbers grew slightly again before becoming apparently stable during the 19th century During the 20th century the population was on the rise again The average growth from 1965 to 1970 was about 2 5 Commemorations editThe Miꞌkmaw people have been commemorated in numerous ways including HMCS Mi kmaq R10 and place names such as Lake Mi kmaq and the Mic Mac Mall 166 Notable Miꞌkmaq editSee also List of Grand Chiefs Miꞌkmaq Academics edit Pamela Palmater professor at Toronto Metropolitan University Marie Battiste professor at the University of SaskatchewanActivists edit Anna Mae Aquash activist 1946 1976 J Kevin Barlow health campaigner Nora Bernard Canadian Indian residential school system activist Donald Marshall Jr wrongly convicted of murder later fought for Mi kmaq fishing rights Daniel N Paul Elder author tribal historian columnist and human rights activist Gabriel Sylliboy Grand Chief of the Miꞌkmaq Nation 1918 to 1964Artists edit Rita Joe poet Ursula Johnson visual artist Nikki Gould actress Degrassi Next Class Bretten Hannam screenwriter and film director Amanda Peters writer Morgan Toney folk singer songwriter and fiddler Jeff Barnaby film director and screenwriterAthletes edit Patti Catalano marathon runner Sandy McCarthy played for the Calgary Flames ice hockey team Everett Sanipass played for the Quebec Nordiques ice hockey team and the Chicago Blackhawks NHL team Military edit Etienne Batard 18th century Chief Jean Baptiste Cope Sam Gloade Paul Laurent 167 Other edit Judge Timothy Gabriel first Miꞌkmaw judge in Nova Scotia 168 Peter Paul Toney Babey a Miꞌkmaw chief and medical practitioner in the 1850s Indian Joe a scout around the time of the American Revolutionary War Noel Jeddore Saqmaw forced into exile 1865 1944 169 5 170 33 171 163 Henri Membertou Grand Chief and spiritual leader c 1525 1611 Lawrence Paul a chief of Millbrook First Nation Brian Francis Senator of CanadaMaps editMaps showing the approximate locations of areas occupied by members of the Wabanaki Confederacy from north to south nbsp Maliseet Passamaquoddy nbsp Eastern Abenaki Penobscot Kennebec Arosaguntacook Pigwacket Pequawket nbsp Western Abenaki Arsigantegok Missisquoi Cowasuck Sokoki PennacookSee also editAlgonquian peoples List of Grand Chiefs Military history of Nova Scotia Silas Tertius Rand Tarrantine Qalipu Miꞌkmaq First Nation BandNotes edit Anne Christine Hornbord is a Lund University professor of history of religions she conducted fieldwork on reservations of Cape Breton Island Nova Scotia and Canada in 1992 1993 1996 and 2000 It is now the preferred choice of our People See Paul 2000 The definite article the suggests that Miꞌkmaq is the undeclined form indicated by the initial letter m When declined in the singular it reduces to the following forms nikmaq my family kikmaq your family wikma his her family The variant form Miꞌkmaw plays two grammatical roles 1 It is the singular of Miꞌkmaq and 2 it is an adjective in circumstances where it precedes a noun e g miꞌkmaw people miꞌkmaw treaties miꞌkmaw person etc see Miꞌkmaw Resource Guide Eastern Woodlands Publishing 1997 CBC News reported that In Marshall 2 the supreme court ruled that governments must justify restrictions or regulations on treaty rights based on previous legally tested criteria including a valid legislative objective such as conservation whether there has been as little infringement as possible on rights and whether the aboriginal group in question has been consulted on the government s proposed restrictions In Ahousaht Indian Band and Nation v Canada a Supreme Court case that spanned over a decade the Ahousaht Indian Band and Nation in British Columbia confirmed their right to fish in their court defined territories and sell that fish into the commercial marketplace References edit Flags of the World Archived from the original on 2017 07 04 Retrieved 2009 11 20 Aboriginal Ancestry Responses 73 www12 statcan gc ca Government of Canada 2017 10 25 Retrieved 2017 11 23 Native Languages of the Americas Mi kmaq Language Mi kmaw Micmac Mikmaq Mikmak Native Languages org Retrieved October 31 2018 Lockerby Earle 2004 Ancient Miꞌkmaq Customs A Shaman s Revelations PDF The Canadian Journal of Native Studies 24 2 403 423 see page 418 note 2 Sock S amp Paul Gould S 2011 Best Practices and Challenges in Miꞌkmaq and Maliseet Wolastoqi Language Immersion Programs Mi kmaq www thecanadianencyclopedia ca Retrieved 2023 07 23 Programs and Services Qalipu ca Thousands of Qalipu Miꞌkmaq applicants rejected again CBC Dec 08 2017 a b Government of Canada Statistics Canada 2022 02 09 Profile table Census Profile 2021 Census of Population Canada Country www12 statcan gc ca Retrieved 2023 06 14 a b Bernard Tim Rosenmeier Leah Morine Farrell Sharon L eds 2015 Mi kmawe l Tan Teli kina muemk Teaching About the Mi kmaq PDF The Mi kmawey Debert Cultural Centre p 106 a b Bundale Brett October 18 2020 N S calls on Ottawa to define a moderate livelihood as fishing dispute boils over Atlantic Retrieved October 18 2020 a b c d e f Miꞌkmaq of Nova Scotia Province of Nova Scotia and Canada Sign Landmark Agreement Press release Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Government of Nova Scotia Aboriginal Affairs Retrieved August 31 2021 Julien Donald M October 2007 Kekina muek learning Learning about the Mi kmaq of Nova Scotia PDF Eastern Woodland Print Communication p 11 Retrieved 21 February 2020 a b Mi kmaq Historical Overview Cape Breton University Retrieved 21 February 2020 Julien Donald M October 2007 Kekina muek learning Learning about the Mi kmaq of Nova Scotia PDF Eastern Woodland Print Communication p 11 Retrieved 21 February 2020 a b c d Weeks Joan February 16 2017 9 decades after hunting conviction Mi kmaq leader gets posthumous pardon CBC Nova Scotia Retrieved October 21 2020 a b c d 1752 Peace and Friendship Treaty Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Treaty Texts November 3 2008 retrieved October 18 2020 a b c Cave Beverley September 2005 The Petroglyphs of Kejimkujik National Park Nova Scotia A Fresh Perspective on their Physical and Cultural Contexts PDF Memorial University Thesis Retrieved October 19 2020 Whitehead Ruth Holmes Dennis Clara Lonecloud Jerry 2002 Tracking Doctor Lonecloud showman to legend keeper Fredericton N B Halifax N S Goose Lane Editions via Nova Scotia Museum ISBN 978 0 86492 356 1 Dube Alexandre 2003 Tradition Change and Survival Mi kmaq Tourist Art Archived from the original on October 21 2020 Retrieved October 19 2020 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a work ignored help Kauder Christian 1866 Buch das Gut enthaltened den Katechismus Wien Vienna Die Kaiserliche wie auch Konigliche Buchdruckerei hat es gedruckt Retrieved 2020 10 19 a b c Schmidt David L Marshall Murdena 1995 Mi kmaq hieroglyphic prayers readings in North America s first indigenous script Halifax Nova Scotia Nimbus Pub ISBN 978 1 55109 069 6 Hornborg Anne Christine 2008 Mi kmaq landscapes from animism to sacred ecology Vitality of indigenous religions series Aldershot England Burlington VT Ashgate ISBN 978 0 7546 6371 3 a b Metallic Emmanuel N Cyr Danielle E Sevigny Alexandre 2005 The Metallic Migmaq English reference dictionary Sainte Foy Quebec Presses de l Universite Laval IQRC ISBN 978 2 7637 8015 3 The use of the terms Mi kmaq and Mi kmaw PDF Government of Nova Scotia a b Paul Daniel N 2000 We Were Not the Savages A Miꞌkmaq Perspective on the Collision Between European and Native American Civilizations 2nd ed Fernwood ISBN 978 1 55266 039 3 The Nova Scotia Museum s Mikmaq Portraits database permanent dead link Johnston A J B 2013 Niꞌn na L nu The Miꞌkmaq of Prince Edward Island Acorn Press p 96 Relations des Jesuites de la Nouvelle France Lydia Affleck and Simon White Our Language Native Traditions Archived from the original on 2006 12 16 Retrieved 2006 11 08 Miꞌkmaw Resource Guide Eastern Woodlands Publishing 1997 Weshki ayaad Lippert Gambill 2009 Freelang Ojibwe Dictionary a b c d e f g h Robertson Marion 2006 Red earth tales of the Micmac with an introduction to the customs and beliefs of the Micmac 2 ed Halifax Nimbus Publisher p 98 ISBN 978 1 55109 575 2 Jeddore John Nick August 25 2011 There were no Indians here TheIndependent ca a b c d Factsheet The 1999 Supreme Court of Canada Marshall Decision Fisheries and Oceans Canada November 20 2019 retrieved October 18 2020 a b c Pannozzo Linda Baxter Joan October 5 2020 Lobster fishery at a crossroads Halifax Examiner Retrieved October 20 2020 a b c Maritime waters calm a decade after Marshall decision CBC September 17 2009 Retrieved October 18 2020 a b McMillan L Jane 2018 Truth and conviction Donald Marshall Jr and the Mi kmaw quest for justice Law and society series Vancouver Toronto UBC Press ISBN 978 0 7748 3748 4 Digest of Findings and Recommendations PDF Royal Commission on the Donald Marshall Jr Prosecution Report 1989 Retrieved October 20 2020 Meloney Nic September 19 2020 Mi kmaq tackle decades old standstill on fishing rights with historic self regulated lobster fishery CBC Retrieved October 20 2020 a b c d CBC News In depth Fishing May 9 2004 Retrieved October 20 2020 a b Obomsawin Alanis Director 2002 Is the Crown at war with us Event occurs at 1 36 35 Retrieved October 20 2020 a b Wappel Tom November 2003 Report Of The Standing Committee On Fisheries And Oceans May 2003 Atlantic Fisheries Issues Report Ottawa Ontario Report Of The Standing Committee On Fisheries And Oceans House Of Commons Listuguj impatient with failure to define moderate livelihood in fishery CBC September 24 2020 Retrieved October 20 2020 Fish Buyers Licensing and Enforcement Regulations via Fisheries and Coastal Resources Act Nova Scotia 2001 Retrieved October 20 2020 a b c d Meloney Nic September 25 2020 Mi kmaq push for legal lobster sales for non Indigenous buyers CBC News Retrieved September 28 2020 a b Googoo Maureen October 5 2020 Nova Scotia chiefs rejected 87 million offer from DFO want moderate livelihood defined Ku ku kwes News Retrieved October 21 2020 Moore Angel January 26 2021 The deal is sealed Mi kmaq coalition partner with B C company to buy seafood giant Clearwater APTN National News Retrieved January 29 2021 Morin Brandi 31 December 2020 Twenty Indigenous stories that shaped 2020 a year of racism and fear of fighting and hope The Star Retrieved 31 December 2020 Slaughter Graham October 20 2020 Mi kmaq lobster dispute A conflict brewing since the 1700s CTVNews Toronto a b c Roache Trina Moore Angel October 18 2020 Fisheries conflict Mi kmaw Chiefs declare state of emergency APTN News Retrieved October 19 2020 a b c d e Implementing the right to fish in pursuit of a moderate livelihood Rebuilding trust and establishing a constructive path forward Fisheries and Oceans Canada Government of Canada Report Final report by the Federal Special Representative 29 April 2021 Retrieved 21 September 2023 Coates Ken October 2019 The Marshall Decision at 20 Two Decades of Commercial Re Empowerment of the Mi kmaq and Maliseet Munk PDF Report Macdonald Laurier Institute p 52 a b c Smith Emma Smith September 22 2020 Scale of Sipekne katik fishery won t harm lobster stocks says prof CBC Retrieved October 20 2020 Withers Paul October 6 2020 The lobster catch in St Marys Bay is down but there s little consensus on why CBC Retrieved October 20 2020 Googoo Maureen September 15 2020 Sipekne katik Chief calls on NS Premier DFO RCMP to protect Mi kmaw harvesters treaty rights Ku ku kwes News Retrieved October 25 2020 Googoo Maureen September 15 2020 Mi kmaw harvesters confront protesters at wharf in southwestern Nova Scotia Ku ku kwes News Retrieved October 25 2020 a b c Moore Angel October 28 2020 Respected chief leaves two Mi kmaw political organizations because of distrust over moderate livelihood plans APTN National News Retrieved October 29 2020 Ryan Hailey October 5 2020 Mi kmaw fishing vessel destroyed in suspicious fire at N S wharf CBC News Retrieved October 14 2020 Grant Taryn October 14 2020 Vehicle torched lobster pounds storing Mi kmaw catches trashed during night of unrest in N S CBC News Retrieved October 14 2020 a b Moore Angel January 20 2021 Manager of Nova Scotia pound claims in online post that he opened the doors for non Indigenous fishers to take Mi kmaw catch APTN National News Retrieved January 29 2021 a b c Young Brandon April Allan October 17 2020 Southwest N S lobster pound destroyed by fire man in hospital with life threatening injuries CTV News Retrieved October 17 2020 a b c Moore Angel October 16 2020 After a week of violence Mi kmaq Warrior Peacekeepers arrive at wharf in Nova Scotia APTN National News Retrieved October 17 2020 Boynton Sean October 17 2020 Massive fire destroys lobster pound in southern Nova Scotia Global News Retrieved October 17 2020 a b Woodford Zane October 20 2020 Lobsters quickly sell out in front of Nova Scotia legislature They have a treaty right to buy from the Mi kmaq Halifax Examiner Retrieved October 20 2020 Forester Brett Moore Angel Pashagumskum Jamie October 21 2020 Mi kmaq secure injunction against interference with treaty fishery APTN National News Retrieved October 25 2020 a b Moore Angel January 19 2021 Mi kmaw lobster harvester fears for her safety after receiving online video APTN National News Retrieved January 29 2021 Moore Angel March 31 2021 Sipekne katik First Nation lobster harvesters sue feds non Indigenous fishers APTN National News Retrieved April 6 2021 Googoo Maureen October 28 2020 Membertou latest First Nation to leave Assembly of NS Mi kmaw Chiefs KMKNO Ku ku kwes News Retrieved October 29 2020 Moore Angel March 3 2021 We re going to establish our own fishery Sipekne katik First Nation rejects DFO moderate livelihood plan APTN National News Retrieved April 6 2021 Police investigate death at Bernard s home Halifax Daily News Archived from the original on 2008 10 26 Retrieved 2018 11 10 via Arnold Pizzo McKiggan a b c d e f g h i Benjamin Chris 2014 Indian school road legacies of the Shubenacadie Residential School Halifax Nova Scotia Nimbus Publishing ISBN 978 1 77108 213 6 Number of Mi kmaq graduates continues to rise the Chronicle Herald Archived from the original on 2014 10 26 Retrieved 2014 10 26 a b c Lewis Roger J February 20 2006 Pre contact fish weirs a case study from southwestern Nova Scotia PDF Thesis Ottawa Library and Archives Canada Retrieved October 19 2020 Christianson D J 1979 The Use of Subsistence Strategy Descriptions in Determining Wabanaki Residence Location Journal of Anthropology at McMaster 5 1 Ferguson R 1986 Archaeological Sites of Kejimkujik National Park Nova Scotia Unpublished Ms Parks Canada Halifax Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site Retrieved October 19 2020 a b Elder William 1871 The North American Review Vol 112 No 230 p 3 Rand Silas Tertius 1894 Legends of the Micmacs New York and London Longman Green and Co p 206 Roger Lewis Nova Scotia Museum April 8 2013 Retrieved October 19 2020 Snow Dean R 1978 Late Prehistory of the East Coast Nova Scotia Prince Edward Island and Eastern New Brunswick Drainages In Trigger Bruce G ed Handbook of North American Indians Northeast Vol 15 Smithsonian Institution Press a b c d Brasser T J 1978 Early Indian European Contacts In Trigger Bruce G ed Handbook of North American Indians Northeast Vol 15 Smithsonian Institution Press pp 78 88 Bock Philip K 1978 Micmac In Trigger Bruce G ed Handbook of North American Indians Northeast Vol 15 Smithsonian Institution Press pp 109 122 109 110 a b The Nova Scotia Museum Heritage Attractions across Nova Scotia Archived from the original on 2007 01 25 Retrieved 2007 01 17 Costain Thomas B 1954 The White and The Gold Garden City New York Doubleday amp Company p 54 ISBN 0385045263 The allied tribes occupied the territory which the French named Acadia The tribes ranged from present day northern and eastern New England in the United States to the Maritime Provinces of Canada At the time of contact with the French late 16th century they were expanding from their maritime base westward along the Gaspe Peninsula St Lawrence River at the expense of Iroquoian speaking tribes The Miꞌkmaq name for this peninsula was Kespek meaning last acquired Nicholas Andrea Bear Mascarene s treaty of 1725 University of New Brunswick Library Journals Patterson Stephen 2009 Eighteenth Century Treaties The Mi kmaq Maliseet and Passamaquoddy Experience PDF Native Studies Review 18 1 Wicken William C 2002 Miꞌkmaq Treaties on Trial History Land and Donald Marshall Junior University of Toronto Press ISBN 978 0 8020 7665 6 According to historian Stephen Patterson the British imposed the treaties on the Miꞌkmaq to confirm the British conquest of Miꞌkmaꞌki Patterson Stephen 2009 Eighteenth Century Treaties The Miꞌkmaq Maliseet and Passamaquoddy Experience PDF Native Studies Review 18 1 a b c Reid John G Conroy Brenda 2009 Nova Scotia a pocket history Halifax Fernwood Pub ISBN 978 1 55266 325 7 Plank Geoffrey Gilbert 2003 An unsettled conquest the British campaign against the peoples of Acadia University of Pennsylvania Press p 256 ISBN 978 0 8122 0710 1 Upton L F S 1983 Julien John In Halpenny Francess G ed Dictionary of Canadian Biography Vol V 1801 1820 online ed University of Toronto Press Sessional papers Volume 5 By Canada Parliament July 2 September 22 1779 Wilfred Brenton Kerr The Maritime Provinces of British North America and the American Revolution p 96 Among the annual festivals of the old times now lost was the celebration of St Aspinquid s Day he was known as the Indian Saint St Aspinquid appeared in the Nova Scotia almanacks from 1774 to 1786 The festival was celebrated on or immediately after the last quarter of the moon in the month of May when the tide was low The townspeople assembled on the shore of the North West Arm and shared a dish of clam soup the clams being collected on the spot at low water There is a tradition that in 1786 soon after the American Revolutionary War when there were threats of American invasion of Canada agents of the US were trying to recruit supporters in Halifax As people were celebrating St Aspinquid with wine they suddenly hauled down the Union Jack and replaced it with the Stars and Stripes US flag This was soon reversed but public officials quickly left and St Aspinquid was never after celebrated at Halifax See Akins History of Halifax p 218 note 94 Reid p 26 a b Fingard Judith 1988 Bromley Walter In Halpenny Francess G ed Dictionary of Canadian Biography Vol VII 1836 1850 online ed University of Toronto Press Nova Scotia Historical Society Nova Scotia Historical Society Report and collections 1878 Collections of the Nova Scotia Historical Society Halifax via Internet Archive a b c d e f Cutherbertson Brian 2005 The Starr Manufacturing Company Skate Exporter to the World Journal of the Royal Nova Scotia Historical Society 8 The Slingshot Improving the Modern Hockey Stick www odec ca Archived from the original on 2015 06 10 Retrieved 2013 09 05 Explore the Royal Collection Online www rct uk New Book Features First Known Memoir of a Miꞌkmaq Press release Nova Scotia Museum October 11 2002 Whitehead Ruth Holmes 2005 Lonecloud Jerry In Cook Ramsay Belanger Real eds Dictionary of Canadian Biography Vol XV 1921 1930 online ed University of Toronto Press Sark John Joe December 2013 In our words stories of Veterans Miꞌkmaq Maliseet Nations News a b Jeddore John Nick 21 October 2011 Getting recognized The Independent Retrieved 9 November 2021 Contenta Sandro 5 May 2013 In Newfoundland too many want recognition as Mi kmaq Indians federal government says The Toronto Star Retrieved 9 November 2021 The Mi kmaq Micmac Archived from the original on 2022 05 18 Retrieved 2022 03 28 a b Enrolment Qalipu About Miawpukek Miawpukek Mi kamawey Mawi omi Archived from the original on April 14 2021 Retrieved Oct 16 2020 Statement by the Honourable Chuck Strahl on the Ratification Vote by the Mi kmaq of the Federation of Newfoundland Indians Government of Canada April 2008 Retrieved 29 March 2022 More than 60 000 applying for Mi kmaq status CBC News 4 October 2012 Retrieved 26 July 2022 Howells Laura 27 March 2016 6 500 rejected Qalipu Mi kmaq band applications to be reconsidered CBC News Retrieved 26 July 2022 Newell David 22 December 2016 Scrap Qalipu membership requirements says Mi kmaq association chair CBC News Retrieved 26 July 2022 Hillier Bernice 4 February 2017 Decision week for thousands of applicants to the Qalipu band CBC News Retrieved 26 July 2022 a b Thomson Aly 7 February 2017 About 80 000 denied eligibility for Newfoundland first nation band The Globe and Mail Retrieved 9 November 2021 Battiste Jaimie Nova Scotia Chiefs Raise Concerns over Qalipu Miꞌkmaq Band PDF mikmaqrights com Miꞌkmaq Rights Initiative Archived from the original PDF on 5 January 2019 Retrieved 4 January 2019 Statement to United Nations Special Rapporteur Anaya PDF Grand Council of Micmacs 4 October 2013 Retrieved 4 January 2019 Battiste Jaime Defining Aboriginal Identity What the Courts Have Stated PDF Mikmaqrights com Archived from the original PDF on 4 January 2019 Retrieved 4 January 2019 Connors Colleen 8 December 2017 Thousands of Qalipu Mi kmaq applicants rejected again CBC News Retrieved 26 July 2022 Updated Founding Members List for the Qalipu First Nation Adopted Through Order in Council Qalipu 28 June 2018 Qalipu First Nation to welcome special guests from Mi kmaq Grand Council Qalipu First Nation 7 November 2019 Retrieved 20 June 2021 Connors Colleen 23 September 2021 Qalipu First Nation marks a milestone celebrating 10 years as recognized Indigenous band CBC News Retrieved 26 July 2022 Meloney Nic 25 April 2018 Canada signed private agreement with Qalipu Mi kmaq days before contentious changes to application process Retrieved 9 November 2021 a b Robinson Angela 2005 Tan Teli Ktlamsitasit Ways of Believing Mikmaw Religion in Eskasoni Nova Scotia Pearson Education ISBN 0 13 177067 5 Mi kmaq Spirit Home Page www muiniskw org Canada s First Nations Native Creation Myths Archived 2014 01 14 at the Wayback Machine University of Calgary CBCnews Cape Breton Mikmaq site recognized Chandler R Frank Lois Freeman and Shirley N Hooper 1979 Herbal Remedies of the Maritime Indians Journal of Ethnopharmacology 1 49 68 page 53 Speck Frank G and R W Dexter 1951 Utilization of Animals and Plants by the Micmac Indians of New Brunswick Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences 41 250 259 page 258 Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Aroostook Band of Micmacs Presque Isle ME Micmac Nation Mi kmaq Nation Retrieved 2023 05 21 Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Government of Canada Announces the Creation of the Qalipu First Nation Band by Marketwire Retrieved Jul 31 2020 Press Release September 26 2011 Reuters Archived from the original on July 26 2012 Retrieved Jul 31 2020 Who We Are Today Sipekne katik Retrieved 2023 05 21 Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Branch Government of Canada Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada Communications 2008 11 14 First Nation Profiles Crown Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada Government of Canada Retrieved 2023 05 21 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Massachusetts Historical Society John Davis Batchelder Collection Library of Congress 8 June 1792 Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society Boston The Society via Internet Archive Micmac www dickshovel com Bates George T 1961 Megumaage the home of the Micmacs or the True Men A map of Nova Scotia Johnson Micheline D 1974 Laurent Paul In Halpenny Francess G ed Dictionary of Canadian Biography Vol III 1741 1770 online ed University of Toronto Press Sawler Sarah 30 July 2013 50 Things You Don t Know About Halifax Halifax Magazine Tulk Jamie Esther July 2008 Our Strength is Ourselves Identity Status and Cultural Revitalization among the Miꞌkmaq in Newfoundland PDF Memorial University via Collections Canada Theses Newfoundland retrieved August 5 2008 Jeddore Roderick Joachim March 2000 Investigating the restoration of the Miꞌkmaq language and culture on the First Nations reserve of Miawpukek PDF University of Saskatchewan Master s Saskatoon Saskatchewan retrieved August 5 2016 Jackson Doug 1993 On the country The Micmac of Newfoundland St John s Newfoundland Harry Cuff Publishing ISBN 0921191804 Further reading editDavis Stephen A 1998 Mikmaq Peoples of the Maritimes Nimbus Publishing Joe Rita Choyce Lesley 2005 The Mikmaq Anthology Nimbus Publishing ISBN 1 895900 04 2 Johnston A J B Francis Jesse 2013 Niꞌn na L nu The Miꞌkmaq of Prince Edward Island Charlottetown Acorn Press ISBN 978 1 894838 93 1 Magocsi Paul Robert ed 1999 Encyclopedia of Canada s Peoples Toronto University of Toronto Press Prins Harald E L 1996 The Mikmaq Resistance Accommodation and Cultural Survival Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology Wadsworth Speck Frank 1922 Beothuk and Micmac Whitehead Ruth Holmes 2004 The Old Man Told Us Excerpts from Mikmaq History 1500 1950 Nimbus Publishing ISBN 0 921054 83 1 Archival primary references editIn chronological order 1749 A Geographic History of Nova Scotia 1749 1758 Malliard Antoine Simon 1758 An account of the customs and manners of the MicMakis and Marichetts Savage Nations 1760 Thomas Picheon 1797 Miꞌkmaq Language 1797 1814 Bromley Walter 1814 Mr Bromley s second address on the deplorable state of the Indians delivered in the Royal Acadian School at Halifax in Nova Scotia March 8 1814 Halifax N S Printed at the Recorder Office ISBN 9780665209987 1822 Bromley Walter 1822 An account of the aborigines of Nova Scotia called the Micmac Indians London s n ISBN 9780665573224 1819 Rand Silas Tertius 1850 A short statement of facts relating to the history manners customs language and literature of the Micmac tribe of Indians in Nova Scotia and P E Island being the substance of two lectures delivered in Halifax in November 1819 at public meetings held for the purpose of instituting a mission to that tribe Halifax N S s n ISBN 9780665395062 1866 Vetromile Eugene 1866 The Abnakis and their history Historical notices on the aborigines of Acadia New York J B Kirker ISBN 9780665339240 1873 An account of the present state of Nova Scotia Hollingsworth 1873 Thomas Pichon on Miꞌkmaq 1896 Piers Harry 1896 Relics of the stone age in Nova Scotia S l s n ISBN 9780665353376 Rand and the Mi kmaqs 1922 Speck Frank 1922 Beothuk and Micmac Documentary film edit Our Lives in Our Hands 1986 Mikmaq basketmakers and potato diggers in northern MaineExternal links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mi kmaq Qalipu First Nation Benoit First Nation Bras D Or First Nation Bras d Or Pitawpoꞌq Indian name Little Bras d Or Panuꞌskek Indian name Mi kmaq History Mikmaq Portraits Collection Miꞌkmaq Language Mass Historical Society Mikmaq Dictionary Online The Mi kmaq of Megumaagee Mikmaq Learning Resource Herbermann Charles ed 1913 Micmacs Catholic Encyclopedia New York Robert Appleton Company Unamaꞌki Institute of Natural Resources Miꞌkmaw Native Friendship Centre Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mi 27kmaq amp oldid 1192541343, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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