At the beginning of the 1600s, the French came to our shores in hopes of colonizing the new land and using its rich and vast resource of fish, furs, and lumber for trade in European markets.

The Mi’kmaq welcomed the newcomers and an alliance was formed. We helped the French survive during their first winter at the settlement at Port Royal in 1605-1606. The French lived among our people, feasted, hunted, traded, and inter-married with us.

Habitation of Port Royal
Photo Credit: National Library of Canada, Rare Book Division, Ottawa (NL-8760)

As time passed, the Mi’kmaq began to depend on European tools and goods the French traded for our fur pelts. Our people spent much time hunting fur-bearing animals to feed the endless demand for pelts. Europeans also brought diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis, from which our people had no natural immunity; many Mi’kmaq died as a result.

As the animals essential to our survival began to disappear, and with our population declining because of disease, our way of life was changing.