Mi’kmaq << MIHK mak >> are a First Nations people of eastern Canada. First Nations is a designation used in Canada for Indigenous (native) peoples. The name is sometimes spelled Micmac. Tens of thousands of Mi’kmaq live in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Quebec. Scattered communities also live in northern Maine in the United States. Large numbers of Mi’kmaq work in cities. But they maintain close ties with family members on reserves.
The Mi’kmaq traditionally fished and gathered clams, mussels, and bird eggs from spring to fall. They hunted bears, moose, and small game during the winter. The Mi’kmaq used birchbark canoes for summer travel. In winter, they traveled using wooden toboggans and snowshoes. They lived in tipis that they covered with animal skins or birchbark. The Mi’kmaq have many legends about a giant called Glooscap. Glooscap shaped their mountains and coastal landscape.
A few related families usually camped together in bands. Many bands, such as the Bear River band and the Red Bank band, were named after the area where they once lived. A chief called a sagamore led each band. He provided his followers with canoes, hunting dogs, and weapons in exchange for fish, game, and pelts.
In the early 1500’s, the Mi’kmaq traded with French, Portuguese, and Spanish fishing crews who visited Canada. Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, came to Canada in 1534. After Cartier arrived, the Mi’kmaq traded their furs for beads and knives. Over many decades, the Mi’kmaq and the French joined in unsuccessful attempts to keep the British out of Canada. By the early 1800’s, the British controlled most of the land occupied by the Mi’kmaq. The Mi’kmaq retreated to remote sections of their land as the British founded settlements along the Atlantic coast. The Mi’kmaq in Canada came under the authority of the Canadian government in 1867. Since the 1980’s, the Mi’kmaq in the United States have been campaigning for federal tribal recognition. In 1991, the Aroostook band of northern Maine were officially recognized by the U.S. government.
See also Prince Edward Island.
