Tools & Equipment

Before the arrival of Europeans the Mi'kmaq people had mastered techniques which enabled them to make tools and equipment from animal bone, ivory, teeth, claws, hair, feathers, fur, leather, quills, shells, clay, native copper, stone, wood, roots and bark. Axes, adzes and gouges were made by pecking and grinding stone to a sharp edge and smooth surface. In turn, these tools were used to cut and carve wood. Fine carving was done with sharp beaver teeth. For killing game and butchering meat, they used spears, knives, arrow points and scrapers, all made from special stones like chalcedony. This rock fractures in a way which "peels" the stone away in flakes, creating a razor-sharp edge. Bone points were used to harpoon sturgeon and porpoise, and for the wood-and-bone fish spears. Awls, painting tools and sewing needles were also of bone. Copper was worked into needles and fishhooks. This type of equipment was usually made by men, who also fashioned baby-carriers, sleds, snowshoe frames and tobacco pipes of stone, bone, bark, wood and even lobster claws.

In addition to preparing clothing, women made bags and mats of reeds, of cedar and basswood bark, of grasses and cattail leaves. The variety of weaves and dye-colours they used impressed early European settlers. Women may also have made baskets of long tree shoots or plant stems, using a wicker weave. Weirs were made in this way to trap fish, driving stakes into the stream bed and weaving branches in and out until the river was blocked and the eels or fish were forced to swim into a trap.

After 1600 Mi'kmaq women began making a variety of items solely for sale to Europeans. This included their famous porcupine quillwork on bark, where hundreds of brightly-dyed quills were used to make a mosaic on top of birchbark. The quill ends were inserted into holes in wet bark, which quickly contracted around them to hold the quills in place. Bark ornamented like this was then made into boxes, chair upholstery, and many other "European" items. The women also sold settlers an enormous variety of baskets, now being made of wood splints. Dyes and decorative weaves made these as pretty as the older reed bags. Bead-work items were for sale, too, and examples of lavishly beaded and appliquéd tea-cosies, purses and men's vests still survive in museums.

Transportation

The wide-bottomed Mi'kmaq canoe was raised at both ends and the sides curved upwards in the middle. This shape allowed the Mi'kmaq to canoe far out to sea as well as in shallow streams and even in rapids. Canoes were 3m to 8m long, made of birchbark over a light wooden frame. A small canoe could take a load of several hundred pounds but was light enough for one person to carry.

Snowshoes are an native invention. The Mi'kmaq created different shapes and weaves for various snow conditions. They also made sleds to carry heavy loads over snow; they called the sled a toboggan.