Piktuk

Piktuk lies on the northern coast of Nova Scotia, where sheltered waters open toward the Northumberland Strait. It belongs to Mi'kma'ki, the homeland of the Mi'kmaq, whose seasonal movements connected coastal resources with rivers and inland hunting grounds. Fishing, shellfish gathering and the use of canoes made the harbour and its approaches part of a much wider inhabited maritime landscape. Social and political relationships extended across the region through kinship, exchange and gatherings.

Before European settlement, the harbour was the site of a Mi'kmaq summer coastal community. European colonial claims and settlement later increased pressure on the region. In 1773 the ship Hector arrived with Scottish immigrants, adding to families who had already settled nearby. Piktuk's history encompasses both the continuing Indigenous homeland and the growth of a colonial harbour.