Place Names Cape Breton Island Atlantic Provinces Gaspé Peninsula Nova Scotia Debert Colchester County Dartmouth

The Mi’kmaq were nomadic people and did not live in the same place all the time. They moved from place to place, depending on where there was the most food. During most of the year, they lived close to the sea coast. Here they could catch fish, whales, walrus, seals, lobster, eels, and seabirds. They also hunted for moose, caribou, beaver and smaller animals. In winter, they would move further into the forest to hunt.

Mi’kmaw Religion

The Mi’kmaw way of life and the things the Mi’kmaq believed in were based on respect for the land and every living thing. They believed all life was created by one Great Spirit. They believed animals, fish and plants also had spirits and should be respected. They wasted nothing. To waste something would be a sign of disrespect to the Creator who had made it.

They believed all living things are connected in a circle. They did not see themselves as the most important of all living things, like the people from Europe who came later did. The Europeans believed humans were the most important living things and should control and use nature any way they wanted. Because the Mi’kmaq saw themselves as part of a circle of life, they prayed in a circle and danced in a circle.

Mi’kmaw Government

The respect for the land that the Mi’kmaq had made them very different from Europeans in another important way. The Mi’kmaq did not believe in land ownership. They believed land was not a thing you could own, but a thing you must be responsible for, because without it life is impossible. This respect for the land helped shape the way the Mi’kmaq governed themselves.