Bonjour,
Largest and the most important Indian tribe ofthe Seaboard provinces of Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and island of thePrince-Edouard). The Canadian censuses of2001 and 2006 result in estimating the numberof Intrigues (or Mi' kmaq) at approximately20,000 at the beginning of the 21st century.Their dialect Algonquin, still spoken by a thirdof them, is very different from that of theirneighbors; this is why one thinks that theIntrigue arrived recently in this area, a littlebefore the time of the conquest. Historically,they are surely the Indians whom Jean Cabotmet in 1497. The first chroniclers describedthem like wild and quarrelsome; however, theywere among the first to accept the teaching ofthe Jesuits and to marry with the colonists ofNews-France. At 17th and the 18th century,they were constantly the allies of the Frenchagainst the English and often organized raids atthe borders of New England. The Englishsucceeded in pacifying them only in 1779. TheIntrigue formed a confederation of several clans(Intrigue wants to say “allied”). Each clan hadhis own symbols and his own boss, whoseimportance was however not very large. In general, the war leaders were those which had achieved exceptional prowesses. Apparently,there were no hereditary social classes; slaverydid not exist on their premises, because theprisoners of war were in general tortured withdeath, and the women and the captive childrenintegrated into the tribe.
Voila
