18 - Quills

It is said that the Malicite people of eastern Canada referred to the Mi'kmaq as Porcupine people. The porcupine was important in Mi'kmaq life. They were used traditionally as a source of food and its quills were used to adorn many items in their daily lives. Early explorers to Nova Scotia first commented on this quill work called matachias as early as 1603.

 There seems to be an abundance of porcupines even to this day throughout mainland Nova Scotia. Just this summer, I pointed one out to my children as it slowly crossed a highway near the Caribou ferry terminal outside of Pictou. Luckily, the porcupine made it safely across the road and into the woods. Unfortunately, many do not, and seeing them dead on the side of the road is very common in this part of the world.  It is interesting to note that porcupines do not live on Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland, all places where there are Mi'kmaq communities. All quill work that is done in these areas is made with quills imported from the mainland provinces.

Sheila Porter demonstrates how a quill is prepared.  

When I think of the Mi'kmaq and porcupines, it drums up images in my mind of  beautiful birch bark boxes decorated with the quills. Once common in households as button boxes and souvenirs, these days the boxes are costly, mostly due to the large amount of time, skill, gathering and preparation of the materials that goes into making them. They are treasures to those who own them. This year at Mawiomi, I was fortunate to see a demonstration with Mi'kmaq artist Sheila Porter from Lunenburg. Sheila is an artisan who makes beautiful quill jewelry and quill boxes. I loved her work so much that I purchased a necklace and earrings at the powwow.

During her demonstration, Sheila told us that one porcupine can produce up to 30 000 quills. She gets her quills from animals that have died on the road, but she mentioned that others do catch them for this purpose. She takes it home, removes the quills and then buries the animal with respect, as it has been given to her for her work. She groups the quills according to color because just like we have different color hair, all porcupines have different colored quills and often she will want to use similar colors together depending on the project. Quills may be dyed with natural dyes from plants ,which produces more subdued colors, or other dyes which produce brighter colors. Both have been used by Mi'kmaq for generations. She mentioned that she is beginning to experiment with traditional ways of dyeing the quills but the work that I saw that day used the natural color of the quills and was beautiful. You can see a few pictured above.

Sheila Porter, Mi'kmaq quill artist

The quill itself has small barbs on the end, which are rough to the touch. She burned these off with a cigarette lighter producing a smooth, sharp quill. As I did not see an actual box being built that day, I did a bit of reading on the subject of quill work and apparently the white birch bark that is used in these projects is gathered at one time of the year when it peels easily from the tree in sheets. Bark used for baskets, wigwams and canoes was harvested and the time of year varied depending upon the location of the tree. The design for the quills would be scratched or drawn on the bark. "Both bark and quills were traditionally worked while slightly damp, the quills being moistened one at a time as required. A bone or metal awl, or a darning needle, was used to make the insertion hole, first for the base of the quill; next another hole was made and then the barbed end was inserted, until the entire dark tip of the quill was pushed into the hole." (pg. 97 Micmac Quill Work, Ruth Holmes Whitehead) Traditionally, the dark area of the quill was not used in designs, but this has changed today as artisans find original ways to design their own creations with the quills. Sheila is one who uses the dark portion of the quills to great effect.

Mi'kmaq quill work was always popular with early settlers but gained great popularity in the nineteenth century. Chair panels, purses, wallets, pin cushions, boxes, and tea cosies were some of the items adorned with porcupine quill work. The Nova Scotia Museum in Halifax houses what may be the word's largest collection of Mi'kmaq quill work on bark. Other major collections both public and private are housed in Canada, United States, Great Britain, Ireland and France. Ruth Holmes Whitehead, a noted Mi'kmaq historian has written a wonderful book, which I used as a reference for this post called Micmac Quill Work. 


If you are interested in owning beautiful quill work, either jewelry or boxes, please contact Sheila Porter at Little Arrow's Porcupine Quill Jewelry via email at littlearrow92@yahoo.ca or you can order through the Halifax South Western Railway Museum at www.hswmuseum.ednet.ns.ca

17 - Happenstance

Last year when I was home visiting the Glooscap Center in Millbrook, the exact day of my realization that I had a connection to the Mi'kmaq people, I was very interested to learn that there was an archaeological dig happening in Debert Nova Scotia. This dig is currently uncovering the remains of Mi'kmaq settlements that were over 11 000 years old. So, since I was not far from the area, I thought this would be a fun place to visit.

We found the site. It had a big sign where it asked you to imagine going back in time 11 000 years, just after the last ice age, when giant beavers weighing 450 pounds, caribou, elk , moose, foxes and possibly woolly mammoths roamed the area. According to the Mi'kmaq Debert website, the "land was mostly covered with grass, small stands of spruce, birches and willows." Exciting. I was ready to see it all. Thankfully, there are no longer 450 pound beavers roaming Nova Scotia ,although it would not be strange to find the usual kind along the way. It was exciting to think that the path I was about to follow would have been frequented by Mi'kmaq ancestors thousands of years ago. So, off we went and followed a lovely cut path into the forest.

We began to walk and noticed lots of rare lady slipper plants along the way, a bit past their prime, but special none the less. The trail had been nicely cut out with various small stops along the way where you could rest. I understand that the whole trail is over 4km long. We walked for quite a bit but did not encounter any dig spots. It then occurred to us that these sites may not be open to the public and that the trail we were on might be it, lovely as it was.

That's me on the right and the archaeologist who we met on the trail.

I must admit that I was a bit disappointed that I did not see a dig, but the walk was incredibly beautiful so I was thankful for that. As we made our way out of the forest my father struck up a conversation with a young woman who turned out to be an archaeologist involved with the project! She was a native of Newfoundland and was also of Mi'kmaq descent. She was able to shed some light on what was going on and we learned that there are plans in the works to set up a Mi'kmaq cultural center in the next few years. (Yes, I will be back to check it out.) I told her about this blog and that I would more than likely talk about her here.

The following was taken from the Mi'kmaq Debert website and from information learned in our conversation. This dig is considered to be one of the most significant archaeological sites in North America and they have unearthed over 7000 artifacts to date.

 The current site at Debert was uncovered in 1948 by E. S. Eaton. There was a military camp in the area during WWII and it was a major area for materials that were leaving Halifax for Britain. The site was discovered as a result of the activity and disruption of the soil at that time. The site was excavated in 1960 under the direction of the Museum of Canada, the Nova Scotia Museum and the Robert S. Peabody Foundation out of Andover, MA. Over 4500 artifacts were uncovered at that time and are currently being held at the Museum of Civilization in Ottawa.

The current site was declared an historic site and a protected place in the 1970s and in the 1990's additional sites were found nearby. Protecting the site is paramount and the Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq are developing the site on behalf of all Mi'kmaq communities in Nova Scotia. There is an Elders Council which is helping to oversee the project since 2002. They are currently planning a facility and cultural center to house the artifacts and tell the story of this historic place. Their hope is to make it a "place for instilling pride and identity." Sounds good to me.

16 -note

Due to some technical problems I have had to republish post #9 and it now appears out of sequence. My latest post is actually number #16 - PowWow and appears in the archive. I didn't want my regular readers to miss the post due to the publishing glitch. Sorry for the extra notifications.

Heather

9 - Origins

Last week, I received a large box of books about the Mi'kmaq people from my father. My father is a collector and has been picking up these books on his travels for years. He probably never imagined that I would be using them in this manner. I was thrilled because information is hard for me to find in Massachusetts. There is no shortage of Native American information, but not specific to the Mi'kmaq. I am anxiously awaiting my annual trip to Nova Scotia when I can do some exploring and obtain some new resources.

The first thing I would like to do is to gain some information on the origins of my ancestors and how they came to be in Cape Breton. I don't feel the need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to research, so I am looking to Daniel Paul's book, We Were Not the Savages,  as well as a book called LeJeune and Youngs, An Acadian Mi'kmaq family by Lark Blackburn Szick, for answers. The latter being in the shipment of books sent to me by my father. The information presented here comes from these two books.

In 1604, the French came to the maritime provinces to attempt to set up a colony. The first attempt at settlement was a failure with many dying of disease and the cold weather on a small island called St. Croix. The settlement was relocated to the current Port Royal location in Nova Scotia after the first winter, but was abandoned in 1607. The French returned in 1610 with the idea of trying once more. The settlement survived with Mi'kmaq assistance and soon Jesuit missionaries arrived at Port Royal. The Jesuits kept records of births, deaths, christenings and marriages that took place. There were documented marriages between these early traders and Mi'kmaq women.

Both the French and the English were in Acadia to acquire power and wealth through the fur trade and by extending their presence in the new world. The Mi'kmaq had formed a special attachment to the French. (My own Mi'kmaq ancestors would list themselves as being French on census records 100 years later.) Daniel Paul says the following regarding the relationship between the two nations:

"the Mi'kmaq were willing partners of the French. The French respected them as human beings, ate their food and were quite willing to learn of Mi'kmaq cultures and adapt to their ways while enjoying the people's hospitality. Most importantly, although they also thought their own culture to be superior, the French did not exhibit an overwhelming desire  to make the people conform to French cultural values. And they extended to them many courtesies. For example, if a Mi'kmaq family or individual moved to France, they were accorded all the benefits of citizenship , and full French citizenship if they desired. No genocidal actions were taken. Consequently, French settlement in Nova Scotia did not encounter organized Mi'kmaq resistance." (page 50, We Were Not the Savages)

As friends of the French, the Mi'kmaq naturally become enemies of England. They were certainly a concern for the British. Daniel Paul comments, "the Mi'kmaq, having a relatively large population to draw upon, presented an imposing force of Warriors who had to be reckoned with. This simple fact would have motivated the English and French to court Mi'kmaq neutrality or alliance." (page 55)

Port Royal Habitation, replica

Source: Wikimedia 

I am a descendant of the Young (Lejeune -Briard) family in Bras D'or and it appears that our Mi'kmaq history is intertwined with these French fur traders and Jesuit priests who arrived in Nova Scotia in the 17th century. We know that one of our distant ancestors was named Pierre Lejeune dit Briard and arrived at Port Royal from France in 1632. He married a Mi'kmaq woman. In addition, I know that many of my ancestors came from the villages of Cap-de-Sable and LaHave. These were both Indian villages in Nova Scotia.

According to 

Lark Blackburn Szick, Germaine Lejeune (my G6 grandfather), came to Bras D'or around 1750 from Petite Riviere in LaHave. The exact reason why, I will explore later. This history must be confusing to research, because it is confusing to read.  It is not unusual to find many family members with the same name in one generation and also in previous generations. The communities are very small and there are close relationships between families, often with cousins marrying cousins. It appears that we are descended from many lines because of these close relationships. More than once, I discovered myself tracing back the wrong person while reading. 

In summary, after piecing together these bits from my history, I have learned from these readings that the Lejeunes came as Fur traders and missionaries to Port Royal. They married Mi'kmaq women and their descendants continued to live within the villages of Cape Sable, Le Have and Port Royal and married other Mi'kmaq in these villages. They had a strong alliance with the French and therefore became enemies of the British by association, no doubt paving the way for their exodus to Cape Breton.