Miꞌkmaw hieroglyphic writing

Miꞌkmaw hieroglyphic writing was a writing system and memory aid used by the Miꞌkmaq, a First Nations people of the east coast of Canada.

Miꞌkmaq hieroglyphs
komqwejwiꞌkasikl
Type
logographic
LanguagesMiꞌkmaq
Time period
17th–19th century (logographic); date of precursors unknown

The missionary-era glyphs were logograms, with phonetic elements used alongside (Schmidt & Marshall 1995), which included logographic, alphabetic, and ideographic information. They were derived from a pictograph and petroglyph tradition.[1] In Miꞌkmaq the glyphs are called komqwejwi'kasikl, or "sucker-fish writings", which refers to the tracks the sucker fish leaves on the muddy river bottom.

Classification

Scholars have debated whether the earliest known Miꞌkmaw "hieroglyphs" from the 17th century qualified fully as a writing system, rather than as a pictographic mnemonic device. In the 17th century, French missionary Chrétien Le Clercq adapted the Miꞌkmaw characters as a logographic system for pedagogical purposes.

In 1978, Ives Goddard and William Fitzhugh of the Department of Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution, contended that the pre-missionary system was purely mnemonic, as it could not be used to write new compositions. In their 1995 book, David L. Schmidt and Murdena Marshall published some of the prayers, narratives, and liturgies represented by hieroglyphs—pictographic symbols—that had been first developed by pre-contact Mi'kmaq, and then expanded on by French missionaries in the last quarter of the seventeenth century, to teach prayers and hymns.[2] Schmidt and Marshall showed that these hieroglyphics served as a fully functional writing system,[2] making it the oldest writing system for a native language north of Mexico.[2]

History

Father Le Clercq, a Roman Catholic missionary on the Gaspé Peninsula in New France from 1675, saw Miꞌkmaw children writing hieroglyphics on birchbark.[3] Le Clercq adapted those symbols to writing prayers, developing new symbols as necessary.[3] Mi'kmak also used porcupine quills pressed directly into the bark in the shape of symbols.[3]

This adapted writing system proved popular among Miꞌkmaq, and was still in use in the 19th century. Since there is no historical or archaeological evidence of these symbols from before the arrival of this missionary, it is unclear how ancient the use of the mnemonic glyphs was. The relationship of these symbols with Miꞌkmaq petroglyphs is also unclear.

The Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site (KNPNHS), petroglyphs of "life-ways of the Mi'kmaw", include written hieroglyphics, human figures, Mi'kmaq houses and lodges, decorations including crosses, sailing vessels, and animals, etched into slate rocks—attributed to the Mi 'kmaw who have continuously inhabited the area since prehistoric times.[4]:1 The petroglyphs date from the late prehistoric period through the nineteenth century.[4]:32 A Mi'kmaq healer, Jerry Lonecloud, transcribed some of these petroglyphs in 1912, and donated them to the Museum.[5][4]:6

Pierre Maillard, Roman Catholic priest, during the winter of 1737–38[6] created a system of hieroglyphics to transcribe Miꞌkmaq words. He used these symbols to write formulas for the principal prayers and the responses of the faithful, in the catechism, so his followers might learn them more readily. There is no direct evidence that Maillard was aware of Le Clercq's work; in any event Maillard's work is outstanding in that he left numerous works in the language, which continued in use among the Miꞌkmaq into the 20th century.

An unknown number of birch scrolls containing Miꞌkmaw writings were destroyed by missionaries in New England, before the writing system was adapted to aid conversion of community members to Christianity.

Examples
  • The beginning of the Lord's Prayer in Míkmaq hieroglyphs. The text reads Nujjinen wásóq – "Our father / in heaven"
  • The full text.
  • The Ave Maria.
  • Text of the Rite of Confirmation in Míkmaq hieroglyphs. The text reads Koqoey nakla msɨt telikaqumilálaji? – literally 'Why / those / all / after he did that to them?', or "Why are all these different steps necessary?"
  • Page 5 of Buch das gut, enthaltend den Katechismus by Christian Kauder

See also

References
  1. Edwards, Brandan Frederick R. Paper Talk: A History of Libraries, Print Culture, and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada before 1960. Toronto: The Scarecrow Press, Inc. 2004 ISBN 978-0-8108-5113-9 p.11
  2. Schmidt, = David L.; Marshall, Murdena (1995). Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic prayers: readings in North America's first indigenous script. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Nimbus Pub. ISBN 978-1-55109-069-6.
  3. Dubé, Alexandre (2003). Tradition, Change and Survival: Mi'kmaq Tourist Art. McCord Museum. Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  4. Cave, Beverley (September 2005). The Petroglyphs of Kejimkujik National Park, Nova Scotia: A Fresh Perspective on their Physical and Cultural Contexts (PDF). Memorial University (Thesis). Retrieved October 19, 2020.
  5. Whitehead, Ruth H. 2002 "Tracking Doctor Lonecloud: Showman to Legend Keeper". Goose Lane Editions, Fredericton
  6. Johnson, Micheline D. (1974). "Maillard, Pierre". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. III (1741–1770) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press. Retrieved 4 October 2009.

Bibliography
  • Goddard, Ives, and William W. Fitzhugh. 1978. "Barry Fell Reexamined", in The Biblical Archaeologist, Vol. 41, No. 3. (September), pp. 85–88.
  • Hewson, John. 1982. Micmac Hieroglyphs in Newfoundland. Languages in Newfoundland and Labrador, ed. by Harold Paddock, 2nd ed., 188-199. St John's, Newfoundland: Memorial University.
  • Hewson, John. 1988. Introduction to Micmac Hieroglyphics. Cape Breton Magazine 47:55-61. (text of 1982, plus illustrations of embroidery and some photos)
  • Kauder, Christian. 1921. Sapeoig Oigatigen tan teli Gômgoetjoigasigel Alasotmaganel, Ginamatineoel ag Getapefiemgeoel; Manuel de Prières, instructions et changs sacrés en Hieroglyphes micmacs; Manual of Prayers, Instructions, Psalms & Hymns in Micmac Ideograms. New edition of Father Kauder's Book published in 1866. Ristigouche, Quebec: The Micmac Messenger.
  • Lenhart, John. History relating to Manual of prayers, instructions, psalms and hymns in Micmac Ideograms used by Micmac Indians of Eastern Canada and Newfoundland. Sydney, Nova Scotia: The Nova Scotia Native Communications Society.
  • Schmidt, David L., and B. A. Balcom. 1995. "The Règlements of 1739: A Note on Micmac Law and Literacy", in Acadiensis. XXIII, 1 (Autumn 1993) pp 110–127. ISSN 0044-5851
  • Schmidt, David L., and Murdena Marshall. 1995. Míkmaq Hieroglyphic Prayers: Readings in North America's First Indigenous Script. Nimbus Publishing. ISBN 1-55109-069-4
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