Mi'kmaq Series Program 3 The Wedding Part 1 6R
1. What structure did the Mi'kmaq use to smoke their fish?
- the smoke house
2. Why would the Mi'kmaq want to smoke their fish?
- to preserve the fish for later in the winter months
3. What kind of fish would they smoke? (give at least three examples)
-flat fish, mackerel, cod, salmon
4. What did the Mi'kmaq do as a sign of greeting when they met each other, especially guests from away?
-they would shake linked index fingers
5. When they gathered berries for the winter, what did they do to keep them from rotting or spoiling?
they dried or boiled the berries and pounded them into paste cakes
6. What berries would the Mi'kmaq pick?
-blueberries, cranberries
7. Who was responsible for providing all the food for the wedding feast?
- the groom
8. What did Amskwesewa'j use the reeds for?
for making or weaving mats and baskets
9. What is a dead-fall trap and how did it work? Include a
picture with your explanation?
It is a trap made by using a suspended weighted log which is rigged to fall on the prey as it is enticed into it by the bate suspended from it. The heavy weighted log is suspended by lighter branches and it fell down on the log placed below it crushing the animal.
10. In order to avoid offending a spirit, especially the bear's spirit in this instance, what would the Mi'kmaq do to help the spirit depart in peace and gain the respect of the other animals of the forest?
-the Mi'kmaq would perform a smoke ritual. This consisted of lighting a pipe and them blowing smoke into its nostrils to release the departing spirit in peace.
11. What material would the Mi'kmaq use
to create the smoke for the smokehouse?
-green boughs
12. What did the smokehouse consist of?
- it consisted of a constructed poles lashed together to conical smoke rack with cross pieces to hang the fish from, a fire under the rack, a covering made of hides and bark to hold in the heat and smoke, which was generated by heaping green boughs on the fire.
13. What weapons did the Mi'kmaq use to hunt a moose?
-spears, and bows and arrows