Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Micmac Indians,

The most easterly family of the Algonquian nation. They spread over New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Breton, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island, and were called by the neighboring tribes “Salt-water Indians,” because they also inhabited the seacoasts. They carried on wars with the Little Esquimaux, north of the St. Lawrence, at a very early period; and their chief business, in peace, was fishing. When De Monts attempted settlements in that region and in Canada, the Micmacs numbered fully 3,000. The French established missions among them, and secured their friendship; and they were a source of great annoyance to the English in their wars in that region. The Micmacs plundered English vessels in the Bay of Fundy, and captured eighteen English vessels in 1722. They actually cruised in their prizes and attacked British armed vessels. From 1724 to 1760 they were the active enemies of the English in Nova Scotia; but at the latter date, Canada having been captured by the English, the Richibucto Micmacs, the most formidable of the tribe, laid down their arms and submitted to English rule. The Micmacs were sun-worshippers.