Geography and Maps

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If the Mi’kmaq ever produced maps of their dominions, these have been lost in the mists of time. The earliest mapping of Mi’kmaq lands was by European cartographers and therefore shows the biases of western culture. For example, while the indigenous population is identified on Thomas Jeffery’s "A New Map of Nova Scotia & Cape Britain with the Adjacent parts of New England and Canada, 1755," there is no indication of their proprietary rights to the lands displayed on the map.

A far more revealing plan is that of Captain Lewis, the "Map of the surveyed parts of Nova Scotia," also dating from 1755. Lewis included landmarks such as the Abbé LeLoutre’s mass house, plus various identified trails and Acadian settlements in the province. These transportation routes and early communities were undoubtedly influenced by traditional Mi’kmaq paths and campsites prior to European settlement.

In the nineteenth century the government decided to ‘reserve’ or set aside lands for the Mi’kmaq population, as shown on "Map of Cape Breton, 1831" and in the extended "Maps of Indian Lands in Nova Scotia, 1842." With the creation of these reservations, and their delineation(s) in ink, the government defined Mi'kmaq proprietary rights in Nova Scotia.