| The Mi'kmaq are an Algonkian speaking people who traditionally lived in what is now the Canadian maritime provinces. The present day Mi'kmaq reside in these geographical areas, includiung Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, and the Gaspe peninsula of Quebec, though some scholars believe that the Mi'kmaq occupancy of the Gaspe may have been more recent than in the other areas. Parts of Newfoundland may have been traditional Mi'kmaq territory as well, although there is some dispute as to when the Mi'kmaq moved to that area on a permanent basis. Many scholars believe that the only aboriginal residents of Newfoundland were the Beothuk, a now extinct tribe of which very little is known. [Photograph of Miq'maks of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia in 1860 in front of a traditional conical birchbark covered wigwam.] From an article by Philip Bock (1978) in The Handbook of North American Indians, V15 Northeast, ed. by Bruce Trigger. |
