The Sea-Going Canoes of the Mi’kmaq
The Mi’kmaq were intrepid paddlers, braving ocean waves to travel from mainland Nova Scotia to Cape Breton, Prince Edward Island and possibly as far as Newfoundland. Their humped-back birchbark canoe design featured an elevated gunwale (raised ends and sides that curved upward in the middle), providing stability in rough water, as well as navigability in shallow streams and rapids. Sails were added during the 1600’s, and post-contact Mi’kmaq were quick to adapt to the maneuverable “shallops” (small fishing boats) of European fishermen.

The Game of Waltes
The ancient dice game known as waltes, or woltestakun, has long been associated with Mi’kmaq culture. The game is played with 6 caribou bone dice and 55 counting sticks (including 51 plain sticks, 3 notched sticks and a king pin) on a circular wooden dish about 30 centimetres in diameter. The dish, used to toss the dice, was also considered to have spiritual significance. When filled with water and left overnight, its appearance the following morning was thought to reveal knowledge of the past, present and future. The king pin of the counting sticks represented an old man, the notched sticks represented his wives, and the plain sticks symbolized their children.
The game has survived the censure of Indian agents and clergy, who regarded it as a heathen gambling game. It is still played at traditional Mi’kmaq cultural events such as the annual Eskasoni Powwow.

Unama’kik: “Land of Fog”
Before Europeans arrived to impose new borders and boundaries on Atlantic Canada, the land of the Mi’kmaq, known as Mi’kma’ki, was said to be divided into several districts:

• Eski’kewaq, Sikepne’katik and Kespukwitk, corresponding to most of present-day mainland Nova Scotia,
• Sikniktewaq, in the vicinity of New Brunswick,
• Piktuk aqq Epekwitk, covering Prince Edward Island and part of mainland Nova Scotia,
• Kespe’kewaq, representing the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec,
• Unama’kik, now known as Cape Breton Island.

(An additional district, Ktaqmkuk, representing part of Newfoundland, is sometimes added to this list, although some historians maintain that the Mi’kmaq did not arrive in Newfoundland until the 17th century.)

Each Mi’kmaq district had a keptan or saqamaw (district chief), who presided over a council of local chiefs that met in spring and fall. The saqamaw was usually the eldest male of the most influential family in the district (family size was often equated with influence, leading chiefs to marry as many wives as possible). The main role of the chiefs was to make practical decisions regarding hunting and fishing territories, and to maintain a balance of resources among individual families.

Periodically, the Mi’kmaq district chiefs gathered to hold a Sante’ Mawio’mi, or Grand Council, led by a kji-Saqamaw, or Grand Chief, a putus (treaty holder and counselor) and a kji’keptan (grand captain and advisor on political affairs). In addition to assigning hunting and fishing territories to the Chiefs and their families, the Grand Council ratified treaties of friendship with other tribes, and later with the Colonial government of Nova Scotia.

The honour of hosting the Grand Council, and of filling the position of Grand Chief, usually went to the district of Cape Breton, or Unama’kik: “Land of Fog.” Traditionally, Grand Council gatherings often took place at Chapel Island, near the community of St. Peter’s at the southwest end of the Bras d’Or Lakes.