Government of New Brunswick

Extracts from Maliseet &Mi’kmaq:
First Nations of the Maritimes by Robert Leavitt

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Mactaquac, Nashwaak, Quispamsis, Kouchibouguac, Restigouche, Abegweit, Pictou, Kejimkujik - Maliseet and Mi'kmaq place-names are what most non-Native Maritimers know of the languages that were spoken here when the first Europeans arrived. Their meanings are a record of what the original inhabitants of the land found significant.

They also show that early visitors, who kept many of the names, depended upon Indian guides when they travelled. Today, there are more Native names used for rivers, towns and other places in New Brunswick than in any of the other Atlantic provinces.

Native place names are much like those in English and French which name or describe a geographical feature - Grand Bay, Brookfield, Oyster Bed, Grande Anse,Baie Verte. But while many English and French names refer to people- Fredericton, Halifax, Charlottetown, Saint John - Native place names do not.

Nor did Maliseet and Mi'kmaq people borrow names from other places and apply them to their own locale - as settlers did with New Glasgow, Nouvelle France or Cambridge. Maliseet and Micmac place-names fall into two categories: those that simply name natural features and those that describe them.

 

Place Name

 

Origin

 

Language

 

English Translation

 

Cobscook

 

kapskuk

 

Maliseet

 

at the falls

 

Quispamsis

 

qospemsis

 

Maliseet

 

little lake

 

Aukpaque

 

eqpahak

 

Maliseet

 

where the tide stops coming in

 

Katahdin

 

ktoton

 

Maliseet

 

big mountain

 

Wolastook

 

wolastoq

 

Maliseet

 

beautiful river

 

Mactaquac

 

meqtoqek

 

Maliseet

 

where the river is red

 

Keswick

 

nuhkamkicuwok

 

Maliseet

 

where water flows over soft gravel

 

Gaspe

 

gespe'g

 

Mi'kmaq

 

where it (land) ends

 

Shubenacadie

 

s'p'gne'gatig

 

Mi'kmaq

 

gound-nut land

 

Wagmatcook

 

waqam'tgug

 

Mi'kmaq

 

where water flows clean

 

Abegweit

 

epegwitg

 

Mi'kmaq

 

lying in the water (name for PEI)

 

Restigouche

 

ulastuguj

 

Mi'kmaq

 

nicely flowing river