A birch bark canoe hand made by aboriginal Mi'Kmaq in Nova Scotia Canada
The way of life of the Mi'kmaq after 1600 may have been significantly different from that of their ancestors. In the ealry historic period, the basic unit of Mi'kmaq society was the extended family. When the Mi'kmaq began to trade with Europeans in the 16th century, they modified some of their tools and replaced others. At a very early date the Mi'kmaq learned to use small European sailing vessels such as the shallop. We know more about traditional Mi'kmaq material culture than we do about their traditional beliefs. Traditional Mi'kmaq (Micmac) Culture Because of a lack of archaeological information about the late prehistoric period in the Maritimes it is difficult for us adequately to describe Mi'kmaq culture on the eve of European arrival in the area. Much of the coastline of the Maritime provinces has been sinking, relative to the sea, and as a result many late prehistoric coastal sites are now under water. In fact, we do not have good documentary evidence about the Mi'kmaq until the first decade of the 17th century, and by that time the Mi'kmaq had been in contact with European fishermen, fur traders and explorers for about a hundred years. This means that the missionaries and other Europeans who wrote about the Mi'kmaq after 1600 were actually describing people who had begun to acquire European goods and whose way of life may have been significantly different from that of their ancestors.
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Photo credit: © gary corbett / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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