The Mi'kmaq
The first inhabitants of Minudie were the Mi'kmaq, who called themselves L'nu'k, meaning "the people". The term Mi'kmaq comes fromt he word "nikmak" which translated means "my-kin friend". The Mi'kmaq were hunters of the sea and the land.
Mi'kmaq's Way of Life
The Mi'kmaq created a wide-bottom birch bark canoe that was used to travel in the sea as well as shallow streams and through rapids. Being 3 metres wide and 8 meters long, it was able to carry several hundred pounds in weight, and still light enough for one person to carry.
Travel - the canoe
Food - Hunting and Gathering
The Mi'kmaq men spent much of their time fishing on along the coast and hunting in the forests to proovide food for their family and materials for the women to make neccessary items with. Along with fish and game, berries, roots and various plants were gathered and used as food, medicine and anything else they could be used for.
Homes - the "Wigwam"
Women did most things within the homes such as prepparing meals and looking after the children, on top of all of that they also built the homes, which are "wikuom" known to us as "wigwams". These homes are made from spruce and moosewood trees and birch bark, with the spruce trees made into ploes as the structure and birch bark held on the structure with the moosewood, provided to be a great material for the home as it is waterproof and portable.
Clothing - the animal
Clothing was made from the skin of fish, mammals and birds, after it went through the process of being tanned. Tanning is the process of stretching and working the skin, resulting in creating beautiful fur and leather. The boneswere using to make holes in the leather and to sew.
Roles - Men & Women
The roles for males and females within the Mi'kmaq communities were both very important. The males spent most of their time hunting, fishing and gathering, to bring food and uaseable materials back to their communities. The females would then take those materials and harvest the food, make clothing out of the skins and tend to the children and buid the homes when need be.
