When my grandfather passed away in 1956, my grandmother Agnes spent a lot of time with us. They also made sleds to carry heavy loads over snow; they called the sled a toboggan. They are very similar to us, because they are our neighbors. Once written in Miꞌkmaw hierogl… I received my traditional education from my elders. After it was down, they would move in to finish it off with spears and their dogs. Local Clans were interconnected through kinship ties and blood relations. The Europeans met the Miꞌkmaq people before the Wəlastəkwewiyik, and transliterated Malesse'jik to Malécite in French for this people, not understanding that it was not their true name. Mi'kmaq Clan Names and Spirit Animals Alex - Giant - Jenu. This section needs expansion. So I will share something of what I have learned from my Elders, through our Creation story. endstream endobj startxref Mi’kmaq, also spelled Micmac, the largest of the Native American (First Nations) peoples traditionally occupying what are now Canada’s eastern Maritime Provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island) and parts of the present U.S. states of Maine and Massachusetts. And the stories talk about the importance and the meaning of the number 7. These groups would make up a Clan and each Clan was represented by elders and a local Sakamow (chief). Their name comes from a word from their own language meaning "allies." The third level of creation is Mother Earth. The table also includes Mi'kmaq plural and fourth person forms. 60 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<77F95434885D4232B419A7F62245304A><49F271393DA53C47B01B0C4EF58FD46C>]/Index[7 96]/Info 6 0 R/Length 199/Prev 1027042/Root 8 0 R/Size 103/Type/XRef/W[1 3 1]>>stream You can help by adding to it. Precontact Mi'kmaq were a hunting-gathering people who were well-adapted to the natural world. There are many clans in the Mi’kmaq nation but ours set up camp in Dartmouth, St Margarets Bay and Gold River. The sun is symbolic of the centre direction and also of the self. She was born in a wigwam on June 14, 1898 in Lennox Island, Prince Edward Island. Mi'kmaq Clan Names and Spirit Animals. This was all recorded on our wampum belt, which is a mnemonic device made out of quahog shells and blue and purple beads. The MFNAN is of the opinion that the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nations Band application process is discriminatory. Life began with the number 7. Denny - Lobster - Jakej. Mi`Kmaq are a part of the Wabanki Confederacy who are The People Of The Dawn. Mi’kmaq surnames taken from Change in the Real Property Law of a Cape Breton Island Micmac Band Vol.2 by Daniel P. Strouthes, a doctoral thesis written at Yale University, 1994, pp.751-751. I speak the Mi’kmaq language but I also understand the Maliseet language, and French and German. of Mi’kmaq Clans held permanent villages in Kjipuktuk. Mi’kmaq reation Story Narrated by: Stephen Augustine, Mi’kmaq Elsipogtog (Big Cove) New Brunswick The Mi’kmaq people have been gathering together around fires. Mi’kmaq today are starting to research familial connec-tions as we come to understand the significance of the matrilineal clan system. Prior to colonization, like other First Nation people across North America, they practiced a religion that was based on Mother Nature, deeply tied to the land. I’m from Big Cove, which is on the north shore of the Richibucto River in New Brunswick, in the Signigtog District of the Mi’kmaq nation. Bennett/Benoit/Benwah - Eagle - Kitpu. "����Wރ�k�A�)y8${d9�}�.�|����Yb3z�Ȉ� � ���"�6�H�����Z��2A\,^y&�lwe0��L2>AR��G�a|����� �: R��d}v��T)&�A"�� �⪬@�S�&`N��"����@� 0++X They knew how to hunt, fish, and harvest their own food, how to build their own shelters, make their own clothes, and manufacture a wide variety of tools, weapons, and other implements. Moose and Rabbit both show up as clans for this family. Individuals applying for recognition and status have been treated differently than any other band in Canada. In honor of my elders, wela’lin – thank you. Other names used for Micmac were: Cape Sable Indians, Gaspesian (Gaspesien, Micmac of Gaspé), Matueswiskitchinuuk (Malecite "Porcupine Indians"), Shonack … The Algonquian based languages - Blackfoot, Cree, Saulteaux, Anishnabek, Atikamekw, Mi’kmaq, Maliseet and Beothuk, for example, are all related, just like Latin would be related to Italian, Spanish, French, or Portuguese. Nigamaw is the more appropriate term. In the Mi’kmaq understanding of the world, the sky or the direction above is symbolic of this first level of creation. However, decisions made at the Sante Mawiomi could affect migrations based on principles of kindness, sharing and a spiritual relationship with the natural world. The talking dictionary project is developing an Internet resource for the Mi'gmaq/Mi’kmaq language. It lists a sample of animal names in Mi'kmaq with their English equivalent. At the heart of the dispute lies a 1999 Supreme Court decision affirming that the Mi’kmaq have a treaty-protected right to earn a “moderate livelihood” by fishing, hunting and gathering when and where ever they want. Doucette - Needle - Sa'qati. A Virtual Exhibit showcasing another 130 heritage photographs, artifacts, treaties, documentary art and maps. The Mi’kmaq people in Restigouche, in the Gaspe region of Quebec, have a lot of words that are similar to the Montagnais people. To kill the moose, they would injure it first, by using a bow and arrow or other weapons. Mi'kmaq is actually correct spelling, but over the years, Micmac has become the more commonly used name. https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/aboriginal/mikmaq-land-claims.php Young- Also known as Lejeune in french. Mi'kmaq knowledge of the country served them in other ways, as well. When I hear a Maliseet or Montagnais Innu person speak, I can pretty well understand what they’re talking about. History. My grandfather received his teachings from his father, who in turn received them from his ancestors before him. Mi'kmaq territory included all of what is now Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and the Gaspe of Quebec, New Brunswick - north of the Saint John River, northern Maine and probably a part of Western Newfoundland. Before the moose hunt, the Mi'kmaq would starve their dogs for two days to make them fierce in helping to finish off the moose. In the 1850s the colonial government hired Mi'kmaq guides to survey a route for a telegraph line which was to run the length of the island from St. John's to Port aux Basques. Even though they were not Christian at that time they must have seen that we were like them, wishing to live in harmony with the earth and its creatures. And if you go down to Big Cove, a lot of the words are similar to Maliseet words, because they were our neighbours. That was the only economy that our people could rely on at that time, because our traditional ways of survival on the land were becoming very limited. Other variations are Míqmaq, Míkmaq, and Mi'mkaq. The Mi’kmaq and my people have always been at peace. Mi’kmaw people depended on the land for their sustenance and as such were a nomadic people who lived and travelled throughout A fully-searchable database with information about 2200 Mi'kmaq and Mi'kmaq-related textual records and published items. These ceremonies and our language are all part of our traditional education; they teach us about our own systems of knowledge. h�b``0f``��������01G��130. h�bbd```b``n� `�~�! Cope - Beaver - Kopit Christmas - Hawk - Pi'jkejk. The Mi’kmaq Nation belonged to a much larger tribal grouping known as the ‘Wabanaki Confederacy,’ which included the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, and Abenaki tribes of Eastern North America. Gloade - Wolf fish - Kluq. For the most part, annual migrations of the clans were determined by weather, resource availability and transportation routes. 102 0 obj <>stream They were able to get tea and sugar and flour from local stores that were subsidized by the colonial governments. We used the wampum belts to record the story of the treaty, and to record sacred teachings like the creation story. The tribes include The Mi`Kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Penobscot, Abenaki, Sokoki, Pennacook, Algonkin, Montagnais/Naskapi, and the Cree people who live on the Northeastern … %%EOF The Mi’kmaq are the First Nation people that traditionally inhabited the eastern coast of North America. So these teachings have been passed down. Note: All names in the below table are in Francis-Smith orthography (see Mi'kmaq Orthographies for more details). The Mi'kmaq created different shapes and weaves for various snow conditions. 7 0 obj <> endobj Stephen Augustine is a member of the Elsipogtog Mi’kmaq First Nations community located outside Rexton, New Brunswick. This article is part of the vocabulary section of the Mi'kmaq language. She grew up traveling with her parents and family from one community to another and living off the land, looking for places where certain fish would be abundant, or making baskets and selling them. He was a direct descendant from Michael Augustine, who signed the treaty of 1760, which ended hostilities between the French and the British, agreeing that the Mi’kmaq would stay neutral. Gabriel - Crow - Ka'qawej. Bernard - Fox - Wowkwis. And when we gather together, we hear the stories from our old people. And those clans are all responsible together for assembling and tending to that Great Spirit Fire, from which they all originated. The later English colonists anglicized this term as Maliseet, in another transliteration of sound in their own language. Quicklinks. In this way they were able to more or less get the basics that they were beginning to rely on more and more. Cremo - Mosquit0 - Klmuej Dennis - Over Extravagant - Mo'qi. I am a hereditary chief of one of those seven clans, from the Signigtog region, and also work as a curator at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Genealogical resources for tracing Mi'kmaq ancestry and determining band status. %PDF-1.5 %���� Each recorded word is used in an accompanying phrase. Pre-contact, the Mi’kmaq Nation was divided into seven districts, each led by a … In our Creation story, the path of the Great Fire refers to how the seven clans of the Mi’kmaq dispersed in the Maritimes, each to their own district. Links to digitized images for 300 representative documents. When looking at past treaties signed by the Mi’kmaq, we can see how the signers relate their clan symbols as extensions of themselves. Mi’kmaq lived in family groups comprised of a number of families that were usually connected by kinship. Multiple speakers allow one to hear differences and variations in how a word is pronounced. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/micmac-mikmaq And between 1900 and the 1920’s there was no real assistance from the government for the Indians. Part of the responsibility that hereditary chiefs have is to carry the sacred bundles of our ancestors, and to carry the stories that accompanied those bundles. As for the word Mi’kmaq, there is no such word in our language. Nigamaw means something like, “I am related to that person.” My sense of the word Mi’kmaq is that it originates with the arrival of the French who most likely failed to understand what was meant by the reference to Nigamaw, or “our relations,” when they questioned the people about the surrounding communities. And those clans are all responsible together for assembling and tending to that Great Spirit Fire, from which they all originated. The federal government has confirmed it is committed to implementing the Mi’kmaq treaty right to pursue a moderate livelihood. My ancestors did not wish to cut down the forests or fight them for their lands, so the Mi’kmaq watched them create fields from the sea. In our Creation story, the path of the Great Fire refers to how the seven clans of the Mi’kmaq dispersed in the Maritimes, each to their own district. My grandfather, Basil Tom Augustine, was born near Moncton in the early 1860’s. The Mi'kmaq usually hunted moose in groups of 3 to 5 men. The Miꞌkmaq are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas now known as Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northeastern region of Maine. The nation has a population of about 170,000 (including 18,044 members in the recently formed Qalipu First Nation in Newfoundland ), of whom nearly 11,000 speak Miꞌkmaq, an Eastern Algonquian language. So they signed a treaty of peace and friendship; they didn’t surrender any of their land. After the line was completed in 1856, Mi'kmaqs were retained as repairmen. they where there for a fair while before the arrival of Europeans. The Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq | Promoting and assisting Mi'kmaw communities in mainland Nova Scotia for over 25 years. Ta’n Weji-sqalia’tiek: Mi’kmaw Place Names Digital Atlas and Web Site was created to raise awareness of the deep connection the Mi’kmaq have to the landscape of Eastern Canada they call Mi’kma’ki, the place of the Mi’kmaq. The second level of creation is our Grandfather Sun. And part of our family responsibility, which comes with our sacred bundles and teachings, is to learn and understand and pass on this knowledge and these ceremonies – beginning with the sweetgrass ceremony, the tobacco offering ceremony, the pipe ceremony, and the sweat lodge ceremony. Each headword is recorded by a minimum of three speakers. 0 The name ‘Big Cove’ was changed two years ago to Elsipogtog, which means “The Path of the Great Fire,” as in the Great Spirit fire. 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