Which Indigenous people lived in Nova Scotia before European arrival?

The Mi’kmaq people are the Indigenous group that has occupied the area now known as Nova Scotia for centuries prior to the arrival of Europeans in the late 15th century.12

Traditionally, the Mi’kmaq were a seasonally nomadic society of hunters and gatherers. Their way of life was deeply connected to the environment, involving hunting caribou and moose in the winter and fishing or gathering shellfish along the coasts during the summer. They lived in structures known as wigwams and maintained a flexible social and political organization centered on kin relations.12

The Mi’kmaq are part of the Algonquian-speaking peoples, and their influence remains evident in many Nova Scotian place-names, such as Musquodoboit, Pugwash, and Shubenacadie. Historically, they were also members of the Abenaki Confederacy, which stood in opposition to the Iroquois Confederacy. Today, many Mi’kmaq people in Nova Scotia continue to preserve their culture and language, which has experienced a notable renaissance in recent years.12