Mikmagik, a male Mi’kmaq performer on Cam4, has recently joined the CB Explorer Club and boasts an average viewership rank of 1,091. This represents an outstanding feat for any male performer – higher than even overall average sitewide!
Mikmaq people, commonly referred to as Micmac, are an Eastern Canadian Native American group from Nova Scotia to Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland who speak the Mi’kmaq dialect of Algonquian language and form part of Wabanaki Confederacy.
Before European contact, the Mikmaq had no written language and only an extremely basic oral system. Petroglyphs can be seen before European contact as memory aids rather than actual written systems; although it’s believed they did use some sort of numbering system; no written records exist that document this knowledge either way.
Oral traditions included religious myths and legends that illuminated human life and society, as well as how things worked within each culture. Good storytellers were highly prized because these tales taught both lessons as well as provided entertainment.
Mikmaqs have traditionally been governed by a Grand Council or Sante Mawiomi. This council consisted of Keptinaq or district chiefs, elders, putus (wampum belt readers and historians) as well as women’s council members – hereditarily passed down from district chief to his son if needed. Additionally, its duties included passing laws and justice decisions, allocating hunting/fishing grounds fairly, making peace or war decisions, etc.