The Mi'kmaq
The 'Mi'kmaq' (; (also spelled 'Míkmaq, Mi'gmaq, Micmac' or 'MicMac') are a
First Nations people, indigenous to northeastern
New England,
Canada's
Atlantic Provinces, and the
Gaspé Peninsula of
Quebec. The word 'Míkmaw' is an adjectival form of the plural noun for the people, ''Míkmaq''.
The nation has a population of about 40,000 of whom approximately one-third still speak the
Algonquian language
Lnuísimk which was once written in
Míkmaq hieroglyphic writing and is now written using most letters of the standard
Latin alphabet.
In the Canadian provinces of
Nova Scotia and
Newfoundland and Labrador October is celebrated as Mi'kmaq History Month and the entire Nation celebrates Treaty Day annually on October 1st.
Name
'L’nu' (plural "Lnu'k") is the self-recognized term for the Mi'kmaq of
New Brunswick,
Newfoundland,
Nova Scotia,
Quebec and
Maine, meaning
human being.
[1]. The name ''Mi'kmaq'' comes from a word in their language meaning "allies". With constant use, the term "Micmac" entered the English lexicon, and was used by the Lnu'k as well. Present day Lnu’k linguists have standardized the writing of Lnui'simk for modern times and "Mi’kmaq" is now the official spelling of the name.
Members of the Mi'kmaq
First Nation historically referred to themselves as L'nu, but, the Mi'kmaq's
French allies, whom the Mi'kmaq referred to as Ni'kmaq, meaning "my kin", initially referred to the Mi'kmaq, (as is written in ''
Relations des Jésuites de la Nouvelle-France'') as "
Souriquois" (the Souricoua River was a travel route between the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of St. Lawrence) or "
Gaspesians". Over time their French allies and succeeding immigrating nations’ peoples began to refer to the Lnu'k as Ni’knaq, (invariably corrupting the word to various spellings such as Mik Mak, Mic Mac, etc.) The British originally referred to them as
Tarrantines.
[2]
History
The Mi'kmaq were members of the ''Waponahkiyik'' (
Wabanaki Confederacy), an alliance with four other Algonquian nations: the
Abenaki,
Penobscot,
Passamaquoddy, and
Maliseet. At the time of contact with the French (late 1500s) they were expanding from their Maritime base westward along the Gaspé Peninsula /St. Lawrence River at the expense of
Iroquioian Mohawk tribes, hence the Mi'kmaq name for this peninsula, ''Gespedeg'' ("last-acquired"). In 1610, Chief
Membertou concluded their first alliance with Europeans, a concordat with the French
Jesuits that affirmed the right of Mi'kmaq to choose
Catholicism, Mi'kmaq tradition, or both.
The Mi'kmaq were allies with the French, and were amenable to limited French settlement in their midst. But as France lost control of
Acadia in the early 1700s, they soon found themselves overwhelmed by
British (
English,
Irish,
Scottish,
Welsh) who seized much of the land without payment and deported the French. Between
1725 and
1779, the Mi'kmaq signed a series of
peace and friendship
treaties with
Great Britain, but none of these were land cession treaties. The nation historically consisted of seven
districts, but this was later expanded to eight with the ceremonial addition of Great Britain at the time of the
1749 treaty. Later on the Mi'kmaq also settled
Newfoundland as the unrelated
Beothuk tribe became extinct. Mi'kmaq representatives also concluded the first international treaty with the
United States after its declaration of independence, the
Treaty of Watertown.
Mi'kmaq First Nation subdivisions
Note: Mi'kmaq names in the table have all been spelled according to a several orthographies; The Mi'kmaq orthographies in use are
Míkmaq hieroglyphs, the orthography of
Silas Tertius Rand, the
Pacifique orthography, and the most recent
Smith-Francis orthography, which has been adopted by most of the Mi'kmaq First Nation. (Compare ''Kespék'' versus ''Gespeg'').
Demographics
| Year | Population | Verification |
|---|
| 1500 | 4.500 | Estimation |
| 1600 | 3.000 | Estimation |
| 1700 | 2.000 | Estimation |
| 1750 | 3.000 | Estimation |
| 1800 | 3.100 | Estimation |
| 1900 | 4.000 | Census |
| 1940 | 5.000 | Census |
| 1960 | 6.000 | Census |
| 1972 | 9.800 | Census |
| 2000 | 20.000 | Estimation |
The pre-contact population is estimated at 35,000. In 1616 Father Biard believed the Mi'kmaq population to be in excess of 3.000. But he remarked that, because of European diseases, there had been large population losses in the last century.
Smallpox, wars and alcoholism led to a further decline of the native population, which was probably at its lowest in the middle of the 17th century. Then the numbers grew slightly again and seemed to be stable during the 19th century. In the 20th century the population was on the rise again. The average growth from 1965 to 1970 was about 2.5 %.
Notable Mi'kmaq
★
Kevin Cloud
★
Anna Mae Pictou Aquash, activist (1946-1976)
★
Henri Membertou, kji-saqmaw/puowin (c.1525-1611)
★
Rita Joe, poet
★
Donald Marshall Jr.
★
Chad Denny, Lewiston MAINEiacs defenceman and Atlanta Thrashers draftee
Other
The spiritual capital of the Mi'kmaq nation is the gathering place of the Mi'kmaq Grand Council, Mniku or Chapel Island in the
Bras d'Or Lakes of
Cape Breton Island. The island also the site of the St. Anne Mission, an important pilgrimage site for the Mi'kmaq. The island has been declared a historic site.
(CBC)
The name "
Quebec" is thought to derive from a Mi'kmaq word meaning "strait," referring to the narrow channel of the
Saint Lawrence River near the city site.
See also
★
Treaty of Watertown
★
Bob Newman - radio host and Mi'kmaq
★
Elsipogtog First Nation
★
Canada Post French Settlement Series
Notes
1. The Nova Scotia Museum's Mi'kmaq Portraits database
2. Our Language
References
★ Bock, Philip K. 1978. "Micmac." Pp. 109-122. In''Handbook of North American Indians. Vol. 15. Northeast''. Bruce G. Trigger, editor. Smithsonian Institution Press.
★ Davis, Stephen A. 1998. ''Mi'kmaq: Peoples of the Maritimes'', Nimbus Publishing.
★ Paul, Daniel N. 2000. ''We Were Not the Savages: A Mi'kmaq Perspective on the Collision Between European and Native American Civilizations'', Fernwood Pub.
★ Prins, Harald E. L. 1996. ''The Mi'kmaq: Resistance, Accommodation, and Cultural Survival (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology),'' Wadsworth.
★ Rita Joe, Lesley Choyce. 2005. ''The Mi'kmaq Anthology'', Nimbus Publishing (CN), 2005, ISBN 1-895900-04-2
★ Whitehead, Ruth Holmes. 2004. ''The Old Man Told Us: Excerpts from Mi'kmaq History 1500-1950'', Nimbus Pub Ltd, 2004, ISBN 0-921054-83-1
★ Wicken, William C. 2002. ''Mi'kmaq Treaties on Trial: History, Land, and Donald Marshall Junior'', University of Toronto Press.
Documentary film
★ Our Lives in Our Hands (Mi'kmaq basketmakers and potato diggers in northern Maine, 1986)
[1]
External links
★
First Nations Profiles
★
Micmac History
★
Mi'kmaq History Month
★
Mi'kmaq Portraits Collection
★
Mi'kmaq Dictionary Online
★
The Micmac of Megumaagee
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