The Micmacs, recognized as descendants of the early inhabitants of the Maritimes, came into contact with European visitors in the early seventeenth century. The events surrounding the encounter are generally regarded as marking the end of the prehistoric period. Although the Micmacs acquired many of the material objects offered in trade by the Europeans, their way of life remained relatively unchanged for another 250 years. This nineteenth-century painting of an autumn hunting and fishing encampment depicts life as it would have been in late prehistoric times, when the forebears of the Micmacs still lived in close harmony with the land.
Courtesy: National Museum of Man, National Museums of Canada
