Secondary IV • 3yr.
Hello
Why is the territory of the Mi'kmaqs smaller than the territory of their ancestors? (This is a question in my notebook).
Thanks
Hello
Why is the territory of the Mi'kmaqs smaller than the territory of their ancestors? (This is a question in my notebook).
Thanks
Explanation from Alloprof
This Explanation was submitted by a member of the Alloprof team.
Hello TomateSupra7536,
This is a fairly complex question!
Before colonization, the indigenous nations divided themselves their territories according to the relations between each of the nations as well as their oral history.
When the Europeans colonized the territory, they imposed a new way of delimiting it, without necessarily taking into account the usual functioning of the native communities. This is why certain territories have been taken from the Natives and certain communities have been relocated to other territories. Sometimes native lands were taken from them and used by the settlers to build railways.
In the 20th century, Mi'kmaq communities, like many other Native communities, were clustered into approximately 60 reserves (government-demarcated territories). These reserves represented only a tiny part of their ancestral territories.
Even today, some Native communities fight for the government’s recognition of their ancestral rights, such as living in the same territory as their ancestors.
Indigenous rights, according to the Government of Canada website “relate to the practices, traditions and customs that characterize the unique culture of each First Nation and that were exercised before the arrival of Europeans”.
If that does not answer your question, you can always share with us the sheet of your notebook where the question is. Maybe that would help us answer you better! :)
- Noémie