Illustration by Christopher Hoyt

For generations, the Mi’kmaq of Digby and Annapolis counties made the annual trek to the coast of each summer to hunt porpoises in the Bay of Fundy. During the nineteenth century, the porpoise hunt became an economic necessity for our people.

While the meat of the porpoise was generally eaten, the blubber was boiled down to make oil. Poured into wooden kegs, the oil was taken, by canoe to Digby, or across the Bay of Fundy to New Brunswick, and sold to factories as a lubricant for machinery.

Photo Credit: Dr. Alexander Leighton Collection / Nova Scotia Museum, Halifax

One of the most renowned porpoise hunters of this area was Mi’kmaw guide Malti Pictou, who is said to have harvested over 400 porpoises in one season!

With the advent of petroleum in the early twentieth century, porpoise oil was no longer needed, and this source of income was lost to our people.

When at the Centre, ask to see a video of the 1927 porpoise hunt.