Mi’kma’ki
/mɪɡˈmɑːɡiː/noun
The traditional Mi’kmaq name for their ancestral territory in Atlantic Canada and parts of Maine and Newfoundland.
Did you know?Mi’kma’ki is commonly described as encompassing seven traditional districts, often called the seven districts of Mi’kma’ki, though spellings and geographic descriptions vary by source.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-contact period
Mi’kmaq
Mi’kma’ki
“The territory associated with the Mi’kmaq people; the exact internal grammatical analysis is not universally simplified as a single word-for-word translation.”
16th–17th Century
French
Micmac
“A French colonial spelling of the ethnonym now generally written Mi’kmaq; it was also extended to the people’s homeland.”
17th–18th Century
English
Micmac country
“English descriptions of the territory inhabited by the Mi’kmaq.”
20th Century
Mi’kmaq/English
Mi’kma’ki
“A standardized or revived spelling used for the traditional Mi’kmaq homeland.”
Modern English
English
Mi’kma’ki
“The Mi’kmaq ancestral and contemporary territory, commonly referring to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, parts of Newfoundland and Labrador, and the Gaspé region of Quebec.”