Mi'kmaq-Basque contact in the 16th century

This thesis attempts to situate and reconstruct the cross-cultural encounter between Basque fishermen and Mi'kmaq in the 16th and early 17th centuries before the first permanent settlements of Europeans were established in "Canada." Basque- Mi'kmaq contact constitutes one of the earliest forms of regular contacts between Europeans and Indigenous peoples in this country. To provide a clearer picture of the nature of contact between Mi'kmaq and Basques five centuries ago, an overview of their histories and cultures prior to contact and at the time of contact, as well as evidence of contact itself, is given. This evidence is based on ethnohistorical, historical, archival, cartographical, archaeological, linguistic and oral historical sources. The author argues that given that this contact was seasonal, and that Basques were off the shores of Mikmaki to fish, not to settle or initially to trade, this contact was different to most European-Amerindian contacts. The thesis is written in the larger context of growing interest in the social sciences in cross-cultural contact as well as the re-examining and re-writing of established histories.