Our language Mi'kmaw Language is called L'nui'sin but since we are known as the Mi'kmaq, a slang on the phrase "my friends" that was a misunderstanding when the French came ...we mostly call our language - Mikmawisimk - "Language of the Mi'kmaq". The Mi'kmaq Language is Algonquian, distinct from the Abenaki to the South and with some traits associated with the languages of the Montagnais and Cree in Quebec. Throughout the Mikmaq territories the Mi'kmaq language is still spoken at home in most communities and use either English or French as their second language. On the Port au Port Peninsula, in Newfoundland (Ktaqmkuk ) french was often the first language- while our native language was not.
