The Mi’kmaq people are indigenous to the Atlantic Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and speak an eastern Algonquin language called Mi’kmaq. Archaeological evidence dates the presence of the Mi’kmaq in the region to at least 4,000 years ago (“Mi’kmaq.” Encyclopaedia Britannica). Prior to colonization, the Mi’kmaq were primarily a maritime civilization, sustaining themselves through fishing, hunting, and gathering. Although the Mi’kmaq established communities, these groups were migratory, following the seasons. During the winter, small inland camps were established, and during the summer, these camps followed spawning populations of smelt and herring. In summer, Mi’kmaq communities moved to larger, coastal camps where they fished for cod, shellfish, and other seafood. After the September eel harvest, groups moved inland to hunt moose and caribou.

The Mi’kmaq peoples and the British settler-colonialists first met on the coast. The Mi’kmaq began to trade with British settlers, and these relations reshaped Mi’kmaq society: They hunted and trapped more to trade with the British. Because coastal regions in the Americas were the first to be explored, settled, and exploited by Europeans, including British, French, Spanish, and Portuguese explorers, the Mi’kmaq were among the original First Nations people to have contact with settlers and traders.