The Mi’kmaw Nation
Part One

“Mi’kmaq” and “Mi’kmaw”

Mi’kmaq means “the family” and should be used as a noun, or the subject of a sentence. Example: The Mi’kmaq had their own laws.

Mi’kmaw is the singular of Mi’kmaq. Example: He is a Mi’kmaw.
Mi’kmaw is also an adjective. Example: The Mi’kmaw people have lived here a long time. Mi’kmaw treaties were signed with England.

The Mi’kmaq were the first people to live in what we now call Cape Breton Island. They lived all over the Atlantic provinces and in the southern part of the Gaspé Peninsula. We know they have been in Nova Scotia for more than 10,000 years because of things archaeologists have found near Debert, Colchester County, and Dartmouth, Halifax County. The Mi’kmaq called the land where they lived Mi’kma’ki.