Maritimes, parts of Maine, Newfoundland and the Gaspé Peninsula. The Mi'kmaq lived in an annual cycle of seasonal movement between living in dispersed interior winter camps and larger coastal communities during the summer. The climate was unfavourable for agriculture, and small semi-nomadic bands of a few matrilineality related families subsisted on fishing and hunting. The Mi'kmaq were governed by the Santé Mawiómi (Grand Council), led by the Kji-saqmaw (Grand council leader) and composed of the seven Nikanus (District Chiefs), Kji-Keptin (Grand Captain, or war chief) as well a Putús (recorder/secretary). Mi'kma'ki was divided into seven largely sovereign districts, each governed by a Nikanus and council of Sagamaw (local band chiefs), Elders, and other worthy community leaders. The district council enacting laws, ensured justice, apportioning fishing and hunting grounds, made war and sued for peace. Local bands were led by a Sagamaw and council of Elders and consisted of several extended family units. The Mi'kmaq people inhabited region at the time the first European colonists arrived. Mi'kmaq territory was the first portion of North America that Europeans exploited at length for resource extraction. Early European fishermen salted their catch at sea and sailed directly home with it. But they set up camps ashore as early as 1520 for dry-curing cod. During the second half of the century, dry curing became the preferred preservation method. The local Mi'kmaq peoples began trading with European fishermen when the fishermen began landing in their territories as early as the 1520s. In about 1521–22, the Portuguese under João Álvares Fagundes established a fishing colony, believed to be on the island of Cape Breton. Though its fate is unknown, it is mentioned as late as 1570. By 1578 some 350 European ships were operating around the Saint Lawrence estuary. Most were independent fishermen, but increasing numbers were exploring the fur trade. On June 24, 1610, Grand Chief Membertou converted to Catholicism and was baptized. A Concordat, or treaty, was signed between the Grand Council and the Pope protecting French settlers and priests and affirmed the right of Mi'kmaq to choose either Catholicism or Mi'kmaq tradition. In signing the Concordat the Catholic church affirmed Mi’kmaq sovereignty as a Catholic nation. European explorers Venetian Italian explorer Zuan Chabotto (Italian: Giovanni Caboto) known in English as John Cabot, was the first European explorer of the North American continent. His voyage of exploration ushered in an irrevocable transformation of global social