Mi’kmaq Atlas Reveals True Nova Scotia Names

October 21st, 2015  |  Canadian Business

Like many parts of Canada, Nova Scotia is deeply rooted in aboriginal language and culture and a new atlas of Mi’kmaq place names reveals some bizarre ones.

The project was started to raise awareness of 13,000 years of Mi’kmaq history in the area and it has done exactly that with some humorous results.

Pictou, for example, is a small town on the north shore of a harbour in Nova Scotia and was initially settled by Scottish immigrants.

The Mi’kmaq, however, knew the area long before the Europeans arrived and they had their own opinions about it.

"It's the expulsion of gas, human gas and that's where we get the word Picto," said Bernie Francis the linguist on the project. 

In short, Pictou means fart. It’s thought the name comes from the fact some parts of Pictou County do smell like sulfur, an odour similar to itsexplosive human equivalent.

But if that doesn’t make Nova Scotia a central travel destination, perhaps Hectanooga in Digby county could offer more appeal. Francis said Hectanooga is very similar to a Mi'kmaq word meaning "Your dog's on fire." 

He believed the word was mispronounced by early European settlers and became the name seen today.

The atlas shares a lot more than just these few examples, the Mi’kmaq travelled extensively and left their language mark throughout the province.

"So the Mi'kmaq people being who they were, they would travel all over the place and pretty well camp anywhere," Francis stated.

The Mi'kmaq Place Names Digital Atlas and Website was many years in the making and officially launched on Oct. 1, Treaty Day.

Image Courtesy of Adobe Stock