Mi'kmaq culture

THE MI'KMAQ CULTURE AND THE SOCIETY CHANGE
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The Mi’kmaq is a first nation people, indigenous to Canada mostly found in Maritime Provinces of Quebec. This land occupied by mi’kmaq speaking people is currently referred to as the Newfoundland which has a population of around 40000 with mi’kmaq consisting of 11000. The migration trend of mi’kmaq people has remained uncertain, but it is believed that they migrated to the Canadian Maritime Provinces from the north before the 14 century. They did little on farming as they were too far north to grow corn, and thus they heavily emphasized on hunting and fishing making them famous for their canoes.
The Micmac politically, are a loose union that is bound together by a common system of patrilineal clans. Each clan has its own symbol that and individual Micmac frequently uses to mark their lodges, canoes, and personal possessions. For the most part, Micmac clans which are referred to as bands are independent with their own chiefs and ceremonies, and this system has remained largely in place up to the present day. Their political authority begins with the chief who govern the villages in conjunction with council of elders.
The Origin of Mi’kmaq Nation
The origin of mi’kmaq people is not well documented but it is believed that they migrated from the north to what is currently known as Newfoundland. There have been boundary fluctuations through time, and this makes it impossible to estimate the exact area this traditional territory had covered. Many of the earliest accounts were not able to differentiate the native groups by names, and only the cultural traits and geographical location that were employed in attempting to do so (Martijn, 2003). The historical sweeping gleaned very little in many instances since the available literature regarding the mi’kmaq people has replete with misreading and suppositions that are false from them. The secondary sources on which the mi’kmaq is based cannot be relied as the historical accounts results in frustrations since there are no geographical indication and lack of apparent chronology. Most of available sources are erroneous, outdated and have fabricated information which has been in use for decades.
In one of the tracts which Richard Whitbourne produced regarding Newfoundland during the 1620s he mistakenly remarked that "on the East and South side of the Land, where the English doe fish ... there is not the least sign or appearance that ever there was any habitation of the Savages, or that they ever came into those parts, to the Southward of Trinity Bay; of which I could also give some reasons, if it were not a thing needless to trouble this discourse. It is not possible to calculate the traditional territory occupation (Millais, 1907). As the advent of colonial powers in this territory eventually split up mi’kmaq traditional territory into different international territories under colonial jurisdiction, and erection of new political bounders which increased barriers against the native movements. This makes it difficult to realize that the mi’kmaq had traditionally a unified vision of their homeland which constituted domain of islands on the eastern linked by water stretches serving as connecting waterways for canoes.
The extensive and indented coastlines along their territories are believed to provide easy access to the aquatic fauna, which are bound in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic Ocean shore (Ray, 2003). The Mi’kmaq were highly adapted to maritime since they depended much on various types of terrestrial animals specifically during the winter months for food and their fur. Their diet of flesh was also supplemented with some kind of berries and nuts. Due to their territory being covered with dense forest and stretches of marshlands, in addition to being dotted with innumerable lakes and rivers, the diversity of this environmental conditions and religious difference could have affected the adaptive habits than it can be assumed. The diversity of regional differences and the fauna resources within the mi’kmaq traditional homeland impacted them significantly. The focus of the mi’kmaq people is more intense specifically on regional variability with respect to their prehistoric Mi’kmaq settlement subsistence system, and the changes which have taken place during the post contact times.
The mi’kmaq society basic social units consisted of the extended family where various individual relatives were attached even including the adapted persons. This number of the family formed a clan commonly known as a band. The clan could habitually come together at the coast during summer, but they would split again when the component family members went to hunt during winter months (Pastore, 1998). The membership of the band was fluid as one could join and leave whenever they considered it as convenient for them. In order to maintain an alliance between different clans, marriages were considered as a practice that enhanced cohesion and promotion of ethnic identity.
The chief of the clan was selected from the most respected person of the band usually a male family head, though the chief did not have coercive power and his persuasion and character force was the factor that enabled him to lead the clan (Martijn, 2003). His primary responsibility was settling of disputes, distribution of food resources and designation of territories to hunt among members. There is no evidence of political structure though some evidence indicates that there was a grand council of district chiefs headed by a grand chief, whose primary purpose was to discus on matters that had common interest and decide together on one course.
The Political authority began with the local chief who, together with a council of elders, governed the summer villages. The district chief popularly known as saqamaw, was by far, more important as he presided over the council of local chiefs who had to meet in spring or during summer every year (Governing a Nation, 2013). The saqamaw in most cases was the most influential eldest male of the Micmac family in the region. The authority of saqamaw was based on his family relative size and the most common phenomenon for the chief was having several wives as this was a necessity and distress for the early missionaries.
The Mi’kmaq were hunters, fishermen and gatherers since the seasons could not allow them to practice extensive farming as it was not viable. They were knowledgeable in exploitation of the different ecological habitats that were located within their territory through adaptation of growing seasonal vegetations and the behavioral hunting which they depended on. The Mi’kmaq were described as vagabonds because they did not practice agriculture and t hey never occupied an area in more that six weeks (Martijn, 2003). There territory was marked regionally with regard to the different fauna resources, and this was an implication that they moved extensively in the quest for shelter and nourishment during the winter seasons when the bands was split into smaller family units. It was during the summer season that the clan members could come together along the coast that were favorable for fishing where the supply of food was in plenty.
The environmental together with social factors were responsible for continued adjustments of the mi’kmaq people due to the seasonal rounds that they responded with regard to these factors (Penney, 1984). The decline in animal population due to cyclical fluctuations and overhunting, and the unfavorable winter conditions, forest fires and occasional draughts, variation in sea water temperatures affected the population of the food stock. Population pressure and conflict with other groups was also a major factor that contributed to a continued adjustment of mi’kmaq people due to the hardships encountered leading to scarcity of food.
The Development of Mi'kmaq Nation in Canadian History
The mi’kmaq nation has developed tremendously in the Canadian history to date. The current Nova Scotia in Prince Edward Island is where the native mi’kmaq people met the first European visitors to the coast. The arrival of the European visitors affected the mi’kmaq people more than the dramatic climate they experienced in the past. The Europeans established trade with these people trading fur for copper and woolen blankets and other products of early modern European (Micmac History, 1999). This was the period that enabled the mi’kmaq people to reach Newfoundland Island.
There has always been a contention issue on how the mi’kmaq people developed relations with French and English people. The French who fished off the Newfoundland islands were sporadically at war with the British from the end of 17th century up to the beginning of the 19th century, and it is argued that the French had taken mi’kmaq to cape Breton as allies dur...