The Three Nations
• Mi’kmaq
• Anishinabe
• Haudenosaunee
Mi’kmaq
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Mi’kmaq means “my brother”
They farmed fresh water fish, hunted game and fished for eel and cod
They lived close to the coast in summer and in the forest for winter so they could use
the land wisely.
The Mi’kmaq created canoes that could work in both the ocean and rivers. The
canoes were built to handle large waves
Decisions were made by the Saqamaw. The Council of Elders advised the
Saqamaw and a runner was sent to the Grand Council for a more permanent
solution. The Grand Council was a council of all 7 districts of the Mi’kmaq Nation.
Mi’kmaq
men
• the men participated
in meetings
• The men did the
hunting and the
fishing
women
• young women were
not allowed to
participated in general
meetings
• The women set up
the camp and tended
the crops
Anishinabe
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It means “the original people”
They had different camps for summers and winters
Anishinabe had different clans with their own responsibilities. In the clans
people treated each other as family
The Midewin Society were people with gifts as spiritual leaders and healers.
Once the people were chosen, they had to go through 8 levels of secret
training. They used medicines to heal, interpret dreams, and shared sacred
teachings and songs
Anishinabe people used canoes to harvest wild rice
Anishinabe
Men
• Were involved in the
process of decisionmaking
• Men hunted game
Women
• Were involved in the
process of decisionmaking
• Women tended the
garden (corn and
beans)
Haudenosaunee
• Men
• They could be
members of the
Hoyaneh
• Men hunted game
• Women
• Women can become
clan mothers
• They could have a
male leader replaced
• Women planted,
tended and harvested
the crops
• Women made the
clothes
Haudenosaunee
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It means “people of the longhouse”
The people lived in permanent houses with up to 1500 people
Clan members live in a long house that had no windows but had holes in
the roof that let in sunlight and let out the smoke
Farming was an important part of the society (corn, squash and beans)
Clan mothers are the women leaders that talk to the Hoyaneh (leaders of
the Mohawk nation)
Dekanawidah (the peace maker) brought the Great Law of Peace to the
people
The Great White Pine was a symbol for peace
The Haudenosaunee made baskets that washed corn to make soup