Map One - Regional Approach

Atlantic and Gulf Region

The Atlantic and Gulf regions are a mixed environment of coniferous and deciduous forest. Species of birch, hemlock, pine, fir, maple, balsam, and spruce populate these forested areas. Wetlands of bog and muskeg are interspersed throughout the entire Atlantic and Gulf region. Newfoundland is unique because the vegetation is classified as Lichen Woodland, which is a terrain of mosses, bogs, and reindeer lichens.

The population of the Atlantic and Gulf regions was estimated at 35,000 at the time of European contact. The Mi'kmaq (Micmac), Maliseet, and the Beothuk (whose origins are traced to the Maritime Archaic people of Newfoundland and Labrador) inhabited the area.

Maliseet canoe model with four dolls and equipment. The canoe is of birchbark, with thin wood sheathing, wood ribs, and seven wood cross bars. There is inner and outer gunwale construction of wood, and gunwales and bark are bound with split roots in groups of six or seven stitches. Gunwale is capped with a thin piece of wood which is attached with wooden pegs. The crossbars are fitted into the inner gunwale, and split root stitches pass through a hole at either end of each bar, on the exterior, seams are sealed with spruce gum.

Courtesy of the Canadian Museum of Civilization
CMC Catalogue Number: III-E-311 a-q

Seasonal patterns of movement between coastal habitation and inland camps required local adaptation. The extent or regularity of this pattern of seasonal movement is unknown to archaeologists but abundant coastal food sources may have permitted this semi-sedentary lifeway. The inland and coastal dwellings were constructed over permanent stone foundations. To build subterranean pit houses they stretched hides over bone and branch frames. The construction materials were packed and transported from camp to camp.

The primary food sources came from the ocean. Coastal hunting and gathering practices involved procurement of fish, shellfish, seals, walrus, smelt, dolphins, small whales, and eels, which were caught and dried. By placing hot rocks into birch bark containers filled with water, the eggs of the great auk (a large, flightless extinct auk, formerly found in northern areas of the North Atlantic) were boiled. Movement away from coastal food sources occurred during the winter when the caribou migrated inland. Hunting technology resembled that of other regions. They hunted deer, for example, using wedge-shaped fences constructed of wood five to ten miles in length. The hunters would beat bones and frighten deer into the fence enclosure, which gradually became narrower. At the end there was a small opening where hunters speared the deer as they exited the wedge. They also hunted moose, otter, muskrat, porcupine, hare, and bear. River fishing also provided inland food sources. Wooden fishing weirs and birch bark canoes were utilised.

Cone Shaped Trap, Mi'kmaq.

Courtesy of the Canadian Museum of Civilization
CMC Catalogue Number: III-F-11