Ancient Times in the Maritimes

1. Ancient Times in the Maritimes Native Studies 120

2. Learning About the Past - Three Main sources: • Physical Evidence (artifacts such as spear point) • Written Records (journals, etc. from early explorers) • The Oral Traditions (Creation Stories) “The Birth of Mnigu” page 122 textbook

3. What is the “best” source of information for learning about the past? • The “Best” way to learn about the past is to use all three methods together. • This will give us a more accurate and complete picture of the past

4. What is Archeology? • The study of physical evidence from the past.

5. Answer the Following • When and where did Archeology start? Explain. • At the start, what was the purpose of Archeology? • With regard to #2, how has Archeology changed over the past 100 years? • What characteristics of Maritime soil prevent the finding of many artifacts? • “Archeology is limited.” Explain this statement and provide two examples of things that Archeology does NOT tell us about a people. • What are artifacts found in the Maritimes usually made from?

6. Answers • Italy, 1400s, specifically, Greece. • To collect objects for museums and private collections. • Over the past 100 years Archeologists started realizing that artifacts reveal something about a people and how those people lived. This information is valued now. • Maritime soil is wet and acidic • Archeology does not tell us everything about a people. For example, it might not tell us what people looked like, valued, how they spoke, about their spirituality or even their names. • Fired (baked) clay pottery and the stone parts of artifacts

7. Mastodon Thigh Bone

8. 1. The Paleo Indian Period • 11,000 - 9,000 years ago • Tundra-like environment prevailed over most of the Maritimes • People we call Paleo-Indians were hunting large game animals in the high plains using a distinctive type of stone spear tip called a fluted point

9. 2. Maritime Archaic Period • 5000-3500 • This was a period of dramatic geographic, climatic and vegetation change • As the long climatic improvement that followed the Ice Age reached its peak, the region became covered by mixed forest • Food varied according to the season. Fish and sea mammals were caught on the coast, while rivers also provided fish and access to game such as deer, moose, caribou and beaver.

10. 3. Maritime Woodland Period • 2,500-500 years ago • Pottery was first made and used in Nova Scotia approximately 2500 years ago as a result of contact with other areas where it had already developed. • Although only fragments have survived archaeologists can tell Mi'kmaw pots were of a general shape that could be used for cooking and storage • As time went on, however, they became thicker and of poorer quality. The use of pottery decreased. Birch bark containers, which were much more convenient, had probably replaced fragile and cumbersome pots by the time Europeans arrived.

11. Metepenagiag • In ancient times Mi'kmaq people established a village where the Little Southwest and Northwest Miramichi Rivers meet. The village site was excellent, one of the best fishing locations within the entire river system. The community was strong and generation after generation flourished. The river and the surrounding lands and forests provided an abundance of tasty foods, effective medicines and other necessities of life. The people called their home Metepenagiag. • Today we, the Mi'kmaq people of Metepenagiag (Red Bank), have not forgotten our ancestors nor our bond with the Miramichi River. Oral traditions, outstanding heritage sites and a renewed spirituality have combined to awaken the past, to rekindle cultural pride and to offer hope to future generations.

12. The Augustine Mound In 1972, when reading a magazine about the discovery of an ancient burial ground in Arizona, Joseph Mike Augustine remembered a similar mound nearby. He could remember going there with his father years before and that is when his curiosity was sparked. The next day he took his shovel and went to inspect the mound. His findings were unbelievable. When he brought them home, his oldest daughter, Madeline thought that her father had found gold because Joe handled the artifacts with such care. He told her what he had remembered the day before and that he had gone today to inspect. So he took her along the next day and together they found the links to the past that were aged more than 2000 years. Later this mound that Joe had remembered, was named after him. "The Augustine Mound" and a nearby hunting ground proved that there was life in this area more than 2000 years ago.

13. The Oxbow Site • Years of study at the Oxbow village site have provided excellent information concerning the Miramichi Mi'kmaq of the past. The Oxbow archaeology established the Mi'kmaq community of Red Bank as New Brunswick's oldest occupied village. Metepenagiag is truly an ancient place. • Although it was farmed until 40 years ago, the Oxbow site is today covered by a dense growth of hawthorn bushes. Prior to European contact this same land served as a Mi'kmaq fishing village for over 2500 years. • At Oxbow and at the other large ancient Metepenagiag villages the record of settlement is sparse during the 16th and 17th centuries.

14. One of the best documented archaeological sites in the Maritimes, the Oxbow site on the Miramichi River in northeastern New Brunswick, spans 2 600 years. This was primarily a fishing station, and was typical of the rich areas exploited seasonally by aboriginal people as part of the year round search for food and other resources. Located in a salmon fishing area, it would have been visited primarily when the salmon runs were at their peak. Today, the area is a Micmac reserve. • This illustration shows one of the major excavations at the Oxbow site. The layering effect in the wall profile was produced by camping floors, which were covered by sand during the spring river flooding. The dark layers consist of decomposed organic material such as plants, ash and charcoal from living areas and fires.   

16. Contact • We know from Archeology that people inhabited the Maritimes from as far back as 11,000 years ago • The first know contact with Aboriginal people was between the Norse (Vikings) and the Beothuk people of Newfoundland approximately 1000 years ago. There is abundant physical evidence to support this.

18. It was during the early 1500’s that contact was made between European fishermen and Maritime Aboriginal people (Micmac and Maliseet). These fishermen were of Spanish, Portuguese and English descent. • During the 1500s contact was also made between European Explorers/Missionaries and Micmac/Maliseet people. The first of these explorers were the French. Example: Jacques Cartier, 1534.

20. The first Aboriginal people encountered by Europeans in the Maritimes were the Mi’kmaq. This was due to the fact that Mi’kmaw territory was traditionally on the coast, the first place that Europeans would have come to shore (Wolastoqiyik people lived inland). • It was not until the 1600s that Europeans came to live with the Wabanaki year round. • The estimated population of Wabanaki people at this point was 32,000 • Villages could include ½ dozen houses to 100+ houses.

21. Houses were built near bodies of water (river and/or ocean). Waterways were sources of transportation and survival (food/water) • Houses were wigwams framed with saplings and covered with bark or woven mats. The building materials depended on location and season. Sometimes to complete the wigwam it was decorated with pictures of animals.

22. Question: Why did the first Europeans come Answer: For resources. These resources included mainly natural resources, such as land, animal pelts, tress, etc.