Fort Folly and its members have a long history in the Maritimes. Although the actual reserve, Fort Folly, didn’t come into existence until 1840, the Mi’kmaq people who came to reside on this reserve were habitating the area for many thousands of years.
It is thought that the people followed the melt of the glaciers up to this land about 12,000 years ago.
7,000 years ago, the people in the what is now considered the Maritimes began identifying themselves as the Ni’kmaq (my kin/friends.) This group included what are now referred to as Mi’kmaq, Beothuk, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Eastern Abenaki, Montagnais, and Inuit. These People followed the Nikmanen Law.The Mi’kmaq organized themselves as a distinct group about 1,000 years ago.