| Mi'kmaw hieroglyphic writing Suckerfish script Gomgwejui'gasit | |
|---|---|
.jpg) TheHail Mary written in Mi'kmaw hieroglyphic writing. | |
| Script type | |
Period |
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| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Languages | Mi'kmaq |
| This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
Mi'kmaw hieroglyphic writing orSuckerfish script (Mi'kmawi'simk:Gomgwejui'gasit) was a writing system for theMi'kmaw language, later superseded byvariousLatin scripts which are currently in use. Mi'kmaw are aCanadianFirst Nation whose homeland, calledMi'kma'ki, overlaps much of theAtlantic provinces, specifically all ofNova Scotia,Prince Edward Island, and parts ofNew Brunswick andNewfoundland and Labrador.
These glyphs, orgomgwejui'gaqan, although unrelated, followed a priorpictograph andpetroglyph tradition,[1] and arelogograms, with phonetic elements used alongside, includinglogographic,alphabetic, andideographic information.[2] As petroglyphs and pictographs were the writing system ofHand Talk, a sign language that was the historically most spoken language on the continent, it is unknown to academia what, if any, connection there is betweensign language and Suckerfish script. Thegomgwejui'gasultijig take their name from thegomgwej (plural:gomgwejg) orsucker fish whose tracks are visibly left on the muddy river bottom. Mi'kmawi'sit uses several spelling systems, and the script is consequently sometimes calledkomqwejwi'kasikl orgomgwejui'gas'gl.
Scholars have debated whether the earliest known Mi'kmaw "hieroglyphs", from the 17th century, qualified fully as awriting system or served as apictographicmnemonic device. In the 17th century, French Jesuit missionaryChrétien Le Clercq "formed" the Mi'kmaw characters as a logographic system forpedagogical purposes, in order to teach Catholic prayers, liturgy and doctrine to the Mi'kmaq.[3]
In 1978,Ives Goddard and William Fitzhugh of the Department ofAnthropology at theSmithsonian Institution, contended that the pre-missionary system was purely mnemonic.[citation needed] They said that it could not have been used to write new compositions.[citation needed]
By contrast, in a 1995 book, David L. Schmidt and Murdena Marshall published some of the post-missionary prayers, narratives, and liturgies, as represented by hieroglyphs—pictographic symbols, which the French missionaries had used 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] They said that it was the oldest writing system for anative language in North America north of Mexico.[2]
Michelle Sylliboy[4] indicates that "(a) French missionary stole our historical narrative with outlandish claims about our written language", and cites her Mi'kmaw grandmother (Lillian B. Marshall, 1934–2018) who stated in her "last conversation before she died, to make sure to tell “them” that we’ve always had our language," seemingly asserting that Le Clercq did not invent the script, and it had been in use by the people long before him. However, this seems to contradict the fact that after Le Clerq's return to France in 1687, the script had to be taught to other groups of Mi'kmaq by other missionaries, indicating it was not a script that the indigenous peoples already knew.[5]
Father Le Clercq, aCatholic missionary on theGaspé Peninsula inNew France from 1675, saw Mi'kmaw children writing "marks" onbirchbark and then counting them to help in the memorization of prayers.[6] Le Clercq then formed symbols to write prayers and liturgy.[6] Mi'kmak also used porcupine quills pressed directly into the bark in the shape of symbols.[6]
This adapted writing system proved popular among Mi'kmaq. They were still using it in the 19th century.[citation needed] 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 pre-missionary mnemonic glyphs was. The relationship of these symbols to Mi'kmaqpetroglyphs, which predated European encounter, is unclear.
TheKejimkujik 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. These are attributed to the Mi'kmaq, who have continuously inhabited the area since prehistoric times.[7]: 1 The petroglyphs date from the late prehistoric period through the nineteenth century.[7]: 32 A Mi'kmaq healer,Jerry Lonecloud, transcribed some of these petroglyphs in 1912, and donated his copies to the provincial museum.[7]: 6 [8]
Pierre Maillard, Catholic priest, during the winter of 1737–1738[9] created a system ofhieroglyphics to transcribe Mi'kmaq words. He used these symbols to write formulas for the principal prayers and the responses of the faithful, in thecatechism, so that his followers might learn them more readily. There is no direct evidence that Maillard was aware of Le Clercq's work in this same field. Maillard left numerous works in the language, which continued in use among the Mi'kmaq into the 20th century.
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