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Mi'kmaq Holdings Resource Guide

Letter from William Chearnley to Joseph Howe in response to Bobie petition defending relief efforts in the four counties of Queens, Kings, Lunenburg and Shelburne.
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80
Halifax January 19th 1854

Sir

In answer to a communication received from P. [?S or I.] Office.

I beg leave to state that some time since I
requested Mr. P. [Joseph OR Gough?] of Liverpool to forward me a
list of the Indians, men, women, & children residing
in Queens County. He favored me with a list about
which it appears to me he had considerable trouble
According to that List I sent by the Liverpool [Packet]
to direction of P. Gough Thirty four Great Coats and
Forty blankets, one coat for each man
and one blanket for each woman seven extra
for children.

To the Petitioner Bobie and other Indians I
would say that the Blankets and Coats are such
as have been issued to all the Indians in my
district and have been received with thankfulness.
The Coats Cost three shilling and nine pence
each The Blankets cost ten shillings and six
pence P[er] Pair and were new from Messrs Hennys
Store. The Complaint about wants is almost
altogether the Indians own fault. In Queens County
he has the finest hunting ground left in the Province
and there is a reserve for Indians at Shelburn fitted
to keep from want some of the families whose names
I see on my Queen's County List, [illegible] they only payed
attention to it and worked as other Indians do on
[illegible] [?Subenacaddie] & other reserves. The Gifts of the
Kind White people are not real Charity, it is
encouraging such idle men as I fancy
Mr Bobie must be.

To Mr Morse I would say I am surprised
that he did not inspect the articles sent and
he then could not have written to the Honble


See also RG 1 vol. 431 nos. 78, 79.

Date: 1854

Retrieval no.: Commissioner of Public Records — Mi'kmaq and Government Relations series Nova Scotia Archives RG 1 volume 431 number 80

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