Who are the Mi’kmaq? The Mi’kmaq are Aboriginal people who are known as the original inhabitants of the Atlantic provinces of Canada. They were known to be located in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Today, there are 60,000 Mi’kmaq people in Canada.

Interesting Facts The term “Mi’kmaq” comes from the word nikmak. It means my friends. Mi’kmaq is pronounced like “meeg-maw.” They have lived in Canada for over 10,000 years. They are known to be hunter-gatherers.

Food The Mi’kmaq got their food from the forest and the sea. They planned what they were going to eat based on the migration cycle. December- Ice fishing to catch cod. January- hunted seals along the seacoast. February & March- hunted caribou. The meat was dried and smoked to preserve it. April- caught herring at the coast. Summer months- Fished and gathered shellfish. Ex. Lobster Gathered berries and roots

Hunting & Gathering

Tools The Mi’kmaq used items found in the nature to make tools. Bones and wood were two tools used by the Mi’kmaq to make sewing needles. Knife blades were made by hand. They were made by chipping at stones. This made the blade sharp. It created an axe. The tools were needed to cut wood and hunt.

Medicine They have their own powers of healing. The sources used are found in the environment. They were used as cures and preventative medicine. Used to cure illnesses and diseases. Examples: Cherry Tree- bark used to treat colds and the flu. Ground juniper- treats bladder infections. Flagroot- preventative medicine. Good for colds, stomach, and colic in babies.

Mi’kmaq Medicine Wheel

Mi’kmaq Dwelling They lived in homes called wigwams. Wigwams are: Shaped like a cone. Built with spruce poles. Covered with bark. They used birchbark to cover their wigmams because it stopped the rain from coming in. They could build a wigwam in one day.

Transportation The Mi’kmaq travelled by water a lot. They used canoes made of birchbark. The canoes had wide bottoms with raised ends. The shape allowed the canoes to be used in seas and streams. In the summer, the Mi’kmaq travelled by foot. In the winter, they travelled by using snowshoes. The snowshoes helped them when they were hunting.

Clothing When the weather was cold, they wore robes. The robes were made from animal hides and fur. They wore leggings that were made from caribou or moose skins. Breechcloths were worn around their waist and were made from caribou hide. Moccasins were wore for footwear. The moccasins were made from animal skins and decorated with quills and/or beads. The Mi’kmaq wore headdresses decorated with feathers.