FINDING A NAME FOR A NEW BAND
This Agreement-in-Principle speaks about the creation of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq
First Nation Band. William P. Duggan of Corner Brook supplied the name
qalipu, which is the Mi’kmaq word for caribou. In his words, this is why it
is fitting:
The caribou were a staple of the Mi’kmaq people and were essential to their survival in Newfoundland. They were used for food, tools, clothing, wigwam covering and floor blankets, caribou-skin canoes, moccasins, snowshoes, caribouhide packsacks. Mi’kmaq used looms to make caribou hair wool, which was used in straps for the packsacks. So the Mi’kmaq used the caribou for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation.
The caribou were always available for the use of the Mi’kmaq, who knew their migratory paths and followed the caribou through the seasons. Using a name that is linked to wandering and migration makes sense for a landless band, because the native people lived a lifestyle similar to the caribou. They were not tied down to surveyed and fenced-in land, and they travelled the length and breadth of Newfoundland in their wanderings.
The caribou, even in early times, were considered noble and dignified. Their uses are woven into the lifestyle and history of Newfoundland Mi’kmaq.