Mi'kmaq

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mi'kmaq
(one of the) Míkmaq State flags
Total population

40,000
Regions with significant populations
Canada (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec), United States (Maine)
Languages
English, Míkmaq, French
Religions
Christianity, Mi'kmaq Traditionalism and Spirituality, others
Related ethnic groups
other Algonquian peoples
The Mi'kmaq
The Mi'kmaq

The Mi'kmaq ([miːgmaɣ]; (also spelled Míkmaq, Mi'gmaq, Mi'qmac, or formerly Micmac) are a First Nations or Native American people, indigenous to northeastern New England, Canada's Atlantic Provinces, and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. The word Mí'kmaw is an adjectival form of the plural noun for the people, Mí'kmaq.

The nation has a population of about 40,000 of whom approximately one-third still speak the Algonquian language L'nuí'simk which was once written in Mi'kmaq 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 1.

Contents

[edit] 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" or "the people".[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.[citation needed]

Members of the Mi'kmaq First Nation historically referred to themselves as L'nu, but the Mi'kmaq's French allies, to whom the Mi'kmaq referred 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 Nikmaq, (invariably corrupting the word to various spellings such as Mik Mak, Mic Mac, etc.). The British originally referred to them as Tarrantines.[2]

[edit] History

The Mi'kmaq were members of the Wapna'ki (Wabanaki Confederacy), an alliance with four other Algonquian nations: the Abenaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, and Maliseet. At the time of contact with the French (late 16th century), 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, Kespek ("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. After France lost political control of Acadia in 1710, the Mi'kmaq soon found themselves overwhelmed by British (English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh) who seized much of the land without payment and, in 1755, 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, which was later expanded to eight with the ceremonial addition of Great Britain at the time of the 1749 treaty. Later 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.

The Mi'kmaq territory was divided into seven traditional "districts". 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, apportioned fishing and hunting grounds, made war, and sued for peace etc.

The Seven Mi'kmaq Districts are Kespukwitk, Sikepne'katik, Eski'kewaq, Unama'kik, Piktuk aqq Epekwitk, Sikniktewaq, and Kespe'kewaq.

In addition to the district councils, there was also a Grand Council or Sante' Mawio'mi. The Grand Council comprised of "Keptinaq" or Captains in English who were the district chiefs. Also Elders, the Putu's (Wampum belt reader, historian, and dealt with the treaties with the non-natives and other Native tribes), the women council, and the Grand Chief. The Grand Chief was a title given to one of the district chiefs, which was usually from the Mi'kmaq district of Unama'ki or Cape Breton Island. This title was hereditary and usually went to the Grand Chiefs eldest son. The Grand Council met on a little island on the Bras d'Or lake in Cape Breton called "Miniku" on a reserve today call Chapel Island or Potlotek. To this day the Grand Council still meet at the Miniku to discuss current issues within the Mi'kmaq Nation.


[edit] Mi'kmaq First Nation subdivisions

Mi'kmaq names in the table have all been spelled according to a several orthographies. The Mi'kmaq orthographies in use are Mí'kmaq 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.

Community Province/State Town/Reserve Est. Pop. Míkmaq name
Abegweit First Nation PE Scotchfort, Rocky Point, Morell 396 Epekwitk
Acadia NS Yarmouth 996 Malikiaq
Annapolis Valley NS Cambridge Station 219 Kampalijek
Aroostook Band of Micmac ME Presque Isle 920 Ulustuk
Bear River First Nation NS Bear River 272 L’setkuk
Buctouche First Nation NB Buctouche 80 Puktusk
Burnt Church First Nation NB Burnt Church 14 1,488 Eskinuopitijk
Chapel Island First Nation NS Chapel Island 576 Potlotek
Eel Ground First Nation NB Eel Ground 844 Natuaqanek
Eel River Bar First Nation NB Eel River Bar 589 Oqpíkanjik
Elsipogtog First Nation NB Big Cove 3000+ Lsipuktuk
Eskasoni First Nation NS Eskasoni 3,800+ We'kistoqnik
Fort Folly First Nation NB Dorchester 105 Amlamkuk Kwesawék
Micmacs of Gesgapegiag QC Maria 1,174 Keskapekiaq
Nation Micmac de Gespeg QC Fontenelle 490 Kespék
Glooscap First Nation NS Hantsport  ? Pesikitk
Indian Island First Nation NB Indian Island 145 L’nui Menikuk
Lennox Island First Nation PE Lennox Island 700 L’nui Mnikuk
Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation QC Listuguj Mi'gmaq First Nation 3,166 Listikujk
Membertou First Nation NS Sydney 1,051 Maupeltuk
Metepenagiag Míkmaq Nation NB Red Bank 527 Metepnákiaq
Miawpukek First Nation NL Conne River 2,366 Miawpukwek
Millbrook First Nation NS Truro 1400 Wékopekwitk
Pabineau First Nation NB Pabineau 214 Kékwapskuk
Paq’tnkek First Nation NS Afton 1 Paqtnkek
Pictou Landing First Nation NS Trenton 547 Puksaqtéknékatik
Indian Brook First Nation NS Indian Brook (Shubenacadie) 2,120 Sipekníkatik
Wagmatcook First Nation NS Wagmatcook 623 Waqmitkuk
Waycobah First Nation NS Whycocomagh 900 Wékoqmáq


[edit] 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 50,000- 100,000. 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 during the 16th 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, 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%.

[edit] Notable Mi'kmaq

Ciara Loyer, played for the kickboxing team in British Columbia

[edit] Other

The spiritual capital of the Mi'kmaq nation is Mniku, the gathering place of the Mi'kmaq Grand Council or Sante' Mawio'mi, Chapel Island in the Bras d'Or Lakes of Cape Breton Island. The island is also the site of the St. Anne Mission, an important pilgrimage site for the Mi'kmaq. The island has been declared a historic site.[3]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The Nova Scotia Museum's Mi'kmaq Portraits database
  2. ^ Lydia Affleck and Simon White. Our Language. Native Traditions. Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
  3. ^ CBCnews. Cape Breton Mi'kmaq site recognized

[edit] References

  • Bock, Philip K. 1978. "Micmac." Pp. 109-122. InHandbook 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.

http://www.cmmns.com/KekinamuekPdfs/Ch2screen.pdf

[edit] Documentary film

  • Our Lives in Our Hands (Mi'kmaq basketmakers and potato diggers in northern Maine, 1986) [1]

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: