Danny Boy Stephens is a Mi’kmaq native and former sniper in the U.S. Marine Corps from Cape Breton (Since it came to be well known in recent years just how progressive our Indian Tribes were in both North and South America and the prominent civilization they enjoyed prior to the white man “discovering” them, I have been ashamed of our religious leaders and teachers for not better explaining to the us the role the native Indians had on our culture and how advanced they were in so many ways. In numerous cases, if not for them the Europeans would not have been able to endure the harsh climate and explore and survive the way they did. Suggest you read: “1491 new revelations of the Americas before Columbus” by Charles C. Mann. – CAPER) The Mi’kmaw territory was divided into seven traditional “districts”. Each district had its own independent government and boundaries. The independent governments had a district chief and a council. The council members were band chiefs, elders, and other worthy community leaders. The district council was charged with performing all the duties of any independent and free government by enacting laws, justice, apportioning fishing and hunting grounds, making war, suing for peace, etc. The Seven Mi’kmaq Districts are Kespukwitk, Sikepnékatik, Eskíkewaq, Unamákik, Piktuk aqq Epekwitk, Sikniktewaq, and Kespékewaq. Micmac Family with Toboggon and Snow Shoes In addition to the district councils, there was also a Grand Council or Santé Mawiómi. The Grand Council was composed of “Keptinaq”, or captains in English, who were the district chiefs. There were also Elders, the Putús (Wampum belt readers and historians, who also dealt with the treaties with the non-natives and other Native tribes), the women council, and the Grand Chief. The Grand Chief was a title given to one of the district chiefs, which was usually from the Mi’kmaq district of Unamáki or Cape Breton Island. This title was hereditary and usually went to the Grand Chief’s eldest son. The Grand Council met on a little island on the Bras d’Or lake in Cape Breton called “Mniku”, on a reserve today call Chapel Island or Potlotek. To this day, the Grand Council still meets at the Mniku to discuss current issues within the Mi’kmaq Nation. The Mi’kmaq were members of the Wapnáki (Wabanaki Confederacy), an alliance with four other Algonquian-language nations: the Abenaki, Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, and Maliseet. The allied tribes ranged from present-day New England in the United States to the Maritime Provinces of Canada. At the time of contact with the French (late 16th century), they were expanding from their maritime base westward along the Gaspé Peninsula /St. Lawrence River at the expense of Iroquoian Mohawk tribes, hence the Míkmaq name for this peninsula, Kespek (“last-acquired”). On 24 June 1610, Grand Chief Membertou converted to Catholicism and was baptised. He concluded an alliance with the French Jesuits which affirmed the right of Mi’kmaq to choose Catholicism, Mi’kmaw tradition, or both. Micmac Warrior – Hunter The Mi’kmaq, as allies with the French, were amenable to limited French settlement in their midst. After France lost political control of Acadia in 1710, the Mí’kmaq engaged in intermittent warfare with the British. For example, along with Acadians, the Mi’kmaq used military force to resist the founding of British (protestant) settlements in Dartmouth and Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. During the French and Indian War, the Mi’kmaq assisted the Acadians in resisting the British during the Expulsion of the Acadians. The military resistance ended with the French defeat at the Siege of Louisbourg (1758) in Cape Breton. After the war, the Mi’kmaq soon found themselves overwhelmed by the British, who seized much of their land without payment. Between 1725 and 1779, the Mí’kmaq signed a series of peace and friendship treaties with Great Britain, but none of these were land cession treaties. The nation historically consisted of seven districts, which was later expanded to eight with the ceremonial addition of Great Britain at the time of the 1749 treaty. Later the Mí’kmaq also settled Newfoundland as the unrelated Beothuk tribe became extinct. Mí’kmaq delegates concluded the first international treaty, the Treaty of Watertown, with the United States soon after it gained its independence, in July 1776. These delegates did not officially represent the Mi’kmaq government, although many individual Mi’kmaq did privately join the Continental Army Folklore In Mi’kmaq mythology, evil and wickedness among men causes them to kill each other. This causes great sorrow to the creator-sun-god, who weeps tears that become rains sufficient to trigger a deluge. The people attempt to survive by traveling in bark canoes, but only a single old man and woman survive to populate the earth.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 16:48:29 +0000
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