Nova Scotia Archives
Mi'kmaw Community Gatherings
Trades and Livelihoods
The large-scale slaughter of game which accompanied the influx of European settlers in the late 1700s seriously depleted traditional supplies of food and skins; nevertheless, a number of Mi'kmaq still continued to make a livelihood from the fur trade well into the 1800s. Subsequent generations of Mi'kmaq, however, relied on the sale of artefacts and handcrafts, rather than provisions, to support themselves. In summer, Mi'kmaq families camped near non-native communities; the women produced brooms, baskets and quill boxes for sale, while the men sold barrels, ax handles and butter tubs. Men also did carpentry-related work.
In time, the superb hunting and tracking skills of the Mi'kmaq were diverted into another channel—from the mid-1800s and well into the 1900s, they were employed as renowned guides for wealthy sportsmen and adventurers. In fact the canoe, snowshoe and toboggan—three major items indigenous to the Mi'kmaq and other First Nations—were quickly adopted by non-natives and fully integrated into everyday means of transportation and outdoor sport in North America. A typical example of Mi'kmaq interaction with the sporting life was the visit of the young Prince Arthur—later the Duke of Connaught—to Nova Scotia in 1870, when he was introduced to the provincial woods and entrusted to the care of three Mi'kmaq guides—Peter Joe Cope, John Williams and Jim Glode.
Results 1 to 15 of 21 from your search: Trades and Livelihoods
"Mattio Jeremy. (Mattieu?) Famous Indian hunter and trapper, Annap. & Queens & Digby Cos."
Date: ca. 1907
Photographer: Edward Breck
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Photo Drawer - Indians - Jeremy, Mattio
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Elizabeth Lonecloud, basket-weaving
Date: 1965
Photographer: Nova Scotia Information Service
Reference: Nova Scotia Information Service Nova Scotia Archives Photo Drawer - Indians - Lonecloud, Elizabeth / NSIS #3070
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"John Williams, noted Micmac Indian guide, and John Thomas ('Paddy') Lane of Halifax"
Date: ca. 1870
Photographer: Gauvin & Gentzel
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Photo Drawer - Indians - Williams, John - copy 1
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John Williams, Mi'kmaq Guide, and wife
Date: ca. 1886
Publisher: E.F. Heffler
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Photo Drawer - Indians (Micmac) - Williams, John and Magdalene
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John Williams, Mi'kmaq Guide
Date: ca. 1890
Photographer: anonymous
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Photo Drawer - Indians - Williams, John
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"Basket shop on Millbrook Reserve near Truro"
Date: ca. 1953
Photographer: Nova Scotia Information Service
Reference: Nova Scotia Information Service Nova Scotia Archives NSIS #7767
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"Preparing dinner at Jaegar's Camp"
Date: 1889
Photographer: anonymous
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Album 43, no. 1
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"Tuesday P.M. The navy and afloat. Sixth Lake stream opposite 'Camp Frost'."
Date: 1899
Photographer: anonymous
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Album 43, no. 1
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New Brunswick Mi'kmaq group with canoe
Date: ca. 1860- ca. 1870
Photographer: G.T. Taylor
Reference: Nova Scotia Archives Photo Drawer - Indians - Indian fishing trip, canoes etc.
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Mi'kmaq women selling beadwork in front of wigwams, Halifax 1906
Date: 1906
Photographer: J.A. Irvine
Reference: J.A. Irvine Nova Scotia Archives Album 35, no. 29
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"Close-up of Indian group at Annapolis"
Photographer: anonymous
Reference: Historic Restoration Society of Annapolis County Nova Scotia Archives accession no. 1985-514
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"Peggy Pictou"
Photographer: anonymous
Reference: Historic Restoration Society of Annapolis County Nova Scotia Archives accession no. 1985-514
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"Micmac Indians at Louisbourg (Eskasoni)"
Date: ca. 1958
Photographer: Nova Scotia Information Service
Reference: Nova Scotia Information Service Nova Scotia Archives NSIS 12271
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Three Mi'kmaq women holding woodsplint baskets
Date: ca. 1890
Photographer: Notman Studio
Reference: Notman Studio Nova Scotia Archives accession no. 1983-310, no. 69865
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Louis and Evangeline Pictou, Lower Granville "Cutting wood for baskets"
Date: 1948
Photographer: Helen Creighton
Reference: Helen Creighton Nova Scotia Archives accession no. 1987-178, Album 14, no. 177
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