Early Relations Between Mi’kmaq/French/British
•First European contact may have been as early as 11th Century
with Vikings
•First recorded contact in 1497 with John Cabot, who took three
Mi’kmaq to England; they never returned!
•Cabot disappeared during the next journey…Coincidence ????
•By 1501 Trade between Mi’kmaq, Basque, Spanish, French
and Irish fishers was routine
• Mi’kmaq beaver furs helped create a fashion craze in France for
beaver hats
• The French felt that Cartier’s voyages of “discovery” gave them the
right to claim Mi’kmaq territory even though England and Spain also
claimed it
• 1527 Basque fishers set up a temporary whaling station
• 1541 Cartier attempted to set up a permanent settlement on the St.
Lawrence River, but it failed because of starvation and cold
• By 1578 more than 400 European fishing boats were working every
summer around Mi’kmaq territory
• By 1581 the organized fur trade had started
• Despite the lack of permanent European settlements, outbreaks of
European diseases struck between 1564-1570 and in 1586
• 1588 the destruction of the Spanish Armada (fleet) ended Spain’s
ability to control trade in the “New World”
• Fur Trade was now overwhelming Mi’kmaq supply
• They began to trade with First Nations in the interior to get furs to
trade with the French
• The fierce Mi’kmaq warriors protected this
trade with the help of metal weapons
acquired through trade with Europeans
• 1604 Samuel Champlain and Pierre
DeMonts set up a settlement between
Maine and New Brunswick - Most of the
settlers died
• Port Royal was established in 1605
• By 1607 fur trade rivalries caused an 8 year
war to break out between the Mi’kmaq and
the Penobscot of Maine
• By 1610 Jesuit missionaries began
converting Mi’kmaq
• In 1611 Chief Membertou (the first to
convert) died from a European disease
• By 1615 Mi’kmaq warriors had defeated
their Penobscot enemies and accidentally
began to bring European diseases back to
their territory
• These diseases devastated the Mi’kmaq
and by 1620 only 4000 Mi’kmaq were still
living (out of 20000)
• By 1613 the Mi’kmaq were getting caught
up in the wars between France and
England to control North America,
Mi’kmaq captured in English raids
against French settlements were sold as
slaves
• In 1627 the French government founded
the Company of New France (100
Associates) to settle New France
• In 1632 the French claim to the
Maritimes and Quebec was confirmed by
the Treaty of St. Germain-en-Laye
• After this more and more French settlers
came to Acadia (Nova Scotia) where
they lived side by side with the Mi’kmaq
• The French and English were also competing for
control of NFLD
• The French came into conflict with the Beothuk
and began to encourage Mi’kmaq to settle in
NFLD, they then came into conflict with the
Beothuk who retreated to the interior of NFLD
• In 1654 a British fleet from Boston captured Port
Royal leaving Acadia under British control until
1667
• The French supported the Abenaki confederacy,
which was formed to fight against the British
• When war started again in 1688 Mi’kmaq
warriors (along with Abenaki allies) forced the
British to abandon most of their frontier
settlements
• War continued off and on until 1713 when the
Treaty of Utrecht gave control of NS and NFLD
to the British although Cape Breton remained in
French hands
• By 1720 the French were hard at work building the Fortress of
Louisbourg and despite a treaty signed between the Mi’kmaq,
Maliseet, Abenaki, and the British war continued
• At the same time New England settlers began to move into Abenaki
lands in modern Maine
• The French supported and encouraged their allies to resist these
new settlements
• More or less open warfare continued until the Treaty of 1725 was
signed.
• Despite this treaty the British rarely ventured into Mi’kmaq controlled
territory as it could be hazardous to their health