BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE MICMAC INDIANS OF NOVA SCOTIA AND 

 THEIR EEMAINS. BY HARRY PIERS, Curator of the 

 Provincial Museum of Nova Scotia, Halifax, N. S. 



Read 8th January, 1912. 



The following paper has been prepared for the purpose of 

 presenting in a concise and systematic form some general 

 information regarding the native tribe of Nova Scotia, and it 

 is hoped it may be useful at least for ready references, as the 

 writer does not know of anything dealing with the whole sub- 

 ject in just this way. He hopes at some future time to expand 

 these brief notes into a paper which will deal with the subject 

 more in retail. The bibliography which is appended, although 

 not exhaustive, will assist in placing students in touch with 

 most of the available sources of information. 



Location. The Indians of Nova Scotia belong to the 

 Micmac tribe which is an important branch of the Algonquian 

 family. Besides this province they inhabited Prince Edward 

 Island, the northern part of New Brunswick and probably 

 parti of southern and western Newfoundland. In New Bruns- 

 wick they came in contact with the Malecite tribe, another 

 branch of the same family, and in Newfoundland they occupy 

 a region once inhabited by the extinct tribe of Beothuks, which 

 latter is now regarded as a distinct family by itself. 



Name. The Micmacs call themselves Megumawaach, and 

 the name Micmac evidently is a corruption of this.* J. N. B. 

 Hewitt gives the meaning of Migmak to be 'allies'. The Micmac 

 name for an Indian is Ulnoo. The French called the tribe 

 Souricois or Souriquois* (Champlain, 1603; Lescarbot, 1609) ; 



* Vccording to my notes made from the pronunciation of Chief Noel, the Micmac 

 name for the tribe is Meegamauk and for any Indian, irrespective of tribe, Ilanoo or 

 Ilanoo(k). Ilanoo or Ulnoo originally meant " a man " generally . 



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