MICMACS
284
MICMACS
eastern Alpon()uins. The first place lit'loiigod to the
"father" of that nation, nanielv, the Ottawa tribe,
which received as its share the "land of origins"; the
second, called Wapanakiag, the "country of the
dawn", fell to the lot of the Abenakis. while the third
province, known as Miginapip. was allotteii to the Mic-
macs. Until the arrival of the white men, an ainuial
c^ >-f<? LA c >-^-<?
a >o LA >-^<? >y) c i^
c w 13' ^ ^^1=^=^ 1(?
^Aho made you the Great God indeed made me What for the Great God made you He wanted
indeed that I know Him I pray to Him I love Him I serve Him so that
to Heaven I will go were they created men(Indian3) they were created indeed all perhaps to Heaven will go such as indeed are baptized are wise those only to Heaven will go who tJien is wise he that indeed greatly loves the Creator moreover also tries to ful61 as he is commanded and his neighbour
be loves him
ceremony long recalled this compact. There is a
probability that the Micmacs were visited Isy Sebas-
tian Cabot (1497) and by Cortereal (1501). They
welcomed the French and their religion, preached to
them by secular priests and Jesuits, as well as by
Recollects and Capuchins. Father Biard (1611) has
left us an interesting account of this tribe, which he
characterized as mild and peaceful in temperament.
He estimated its numbers at three thou.sand or three
thousand five hundred. The Capuchins even opened
for it and the white settlers the first high school within
the limits of New France, and a report of the Micmac
missions sent to Rome (163.S) located one of them
in Porta Regio. Father Leclercq, a French Recollect
who did much for their instruction, called them fias-
pesians. probably t)ecau.se he had first landed (1675)
on theda.spi'- peninsula, where he successfully lalioured
for about twelve years. It was not until 16'J3 that
these aborigines t)ecame officially known under their
true name. (Juick to appreciate the religion of the
French, the Micmacs were no less faithful to the flag
which to them symbolized it. Though not given to
the cruel practices of the Iroijuois and other eastern
tribes, they proved their braverj- by their active share
in the French and English wars^ and their lasting
hostility to the colonization schemes of England. The
erection of forts on the coast, especially the one at
Halifax, exasperated them, but on the fall of Canada,
Abb(5 Maillard (1735-62) succeeded in reconciling
them to the new order. Several chiefs made their for-
mal submission (1761), and ever since, though more in
sympathy with the French, the Micmacs have re-
mained loyal to the British Crown. In 1778 the
I'niti'd States endeavoured to incite them to revolt,
liut Father Bourg, at the request of the colonial author-
ities, restrainecl them from the war-path.
The .Micmacs originally dwelt in the ordinary con- ical wig\vams common to most Algonquin tribes ; their garments were of dressed leather and onuuiicntcd with an abundance of fringe; their government resembled that of the New England aborigines; and their main occupation was fishing. Except in the case of the chiefs, polygamy was not general. There is an old tradition, related by an .\benaki of Oldtown (Nicolar, " Life and Traditions of the Red Men ", 1S93J, that the Indians came from the West while the white men originated in the East. The Micmacs are remarkable for the fact that they are the only Canadian tribe which ever used hieroglyphs, or ideograms, as a means of acquiring religious and secular knowledge. These were invented in 1677 by Father Leclercq, who took the idea from the rude signs he one day saw some chil- dren draw on birch I^ark with coal, in their attempt to memorize the prayers he had ju.st taught them. They consisted of more or less fanciful characters, a few of which, such as a star for heaven and an orb for the earth, bore some resemblance to the object repre- sented. A number of manuals were composed which remained in manuscript until 1866, when Father Kau- der, a Redemptorist who for some time ministered to them, had tv'pe bearing the ideograms cast in Austria, with which he printed a catechism and prayer book. Though the hieroglyphics are still known by the Mic- macs, for all general purposes Roman type has been substituted, in which a little newspaper is published monthly in their own language at Restigouche, Que- bec. In the autumn of 1S49 the Protestants formed a Micmac Missionary Society, which commenced work the following year and made a few proselytes in the vicinity of Charlottetown. Rev. Silas Rand, a great linguist and prolific writer, was the principal agent. The Indians, almo.st without exception, have remained steadfast in their fidelity to the Church of their first
T^zn — J' . t( ft *^ .M*!^.- i. /- /
Where the first M
Fort f)F Port Rn\ \L
24 June, 1810
8ouriquois were baptized
missionaries. Another point for which the Micmacs
may be said to be remarkable is the manner in which
their population holds its own in spite of many diffi-
culties, such as the bad example given by the whites
and the facility with which they can procure intoxi-
cants. In 1891 they had increased to 4108; and
later, a careful census taken by one of the Capuchins,
living among them since 1894, showed that they
numbered 3850 in Canada and 200 in Newfoundland.
The Blue Book of the Canadian Government for 1909
sets down their numbers at 3961 within the Dominion
alone, practically all of whom are Catholics. .\11 the
