Place names in the Maritimes

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.