Early Relations Between Mi

1
Early Relations Between Mikmaq/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 Mikmaq to England they never
  returned!
• Cabot disappeared during the next journey
• Coincidence ????
• By 1501 Trade between Mikmaq, Basque, Spanish,
  French and Irish fishers was routine

2

• Mikmaq beaver furs helped create a fashion craze
  in France for beaver hats
• The French felt that Cartiers voyages of
  discovery gave them the right to claim Mikmaq
  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, it failed
  because of starvation and cold

3

• By 1578 more than 400 European fishing boats were
  working every summer around Mikmaq territory
• Despite the lack of permanent European
  settlements, outbreaks of European diseases
  struck between 1564-1570 and in 1586
• By 1581 the organized fur trade had started
• 1588 the destruction of the Spanish Armada
  (fleet) ended Spains ability to control trade in
  the New World
• Fur Trade was now overwhelming Mikmaq supply
• They began to trade with First Nations in the
  interior to get furs to trade with the French

4

• The fierce Mikmaq 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 and Port Royal was
  established in 1605
• By 1607 fur trade rivalries caused an 8 year war
  to break out between the Mikmaq and the
  Penobscot of Maine
• By 1610 Jesuit missionaries began converting
  Mikmaq
• In 1611 Chief Membertou (the first to convert)
  died from a European disease
• By 1613 the Mikmaq were getting caught up in the
  wars between France and England to control North
  America, Mikmaq captured in English raids
  against French settlements were sold as slaves

5

• By 1615 Mikmaq warriors had defeated their
  Penobscot enemies and accidentally began to bring
  European diseases back to their territory
• These diseases devastated the Mikmaq and by 1620
  only 4000 Mikmaq were still living (out of
  20000)
• 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 Mikmaq

6

• The French and English were also competing for
  control of NFLD
• The French came into conflict with the Beothuk
  and began to encourage Mikmaq to settle in NFLD,
  they then came into conflict with the Beothuk who
  retreated to the interior of NFLD
• In 1654 a fleet from Boston captured Port Royal
  this left Acadia under British control until 1667
• The French supported Abenaki confederacy was
  formed to fight against the British
• When war started again in 1688 Mikmaq 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

7

• By 1720 the French were hard at work building the
  Fortress of Louisbourg and despite a treaty
  signed between the Mikmaq, 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 1725
  when a Treaty was signed.
• Despite this treaty the British rarely ventured
  into Mikmaq controlled territory as it could be
  hazardous to their health