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Mi'kmaq Holdings Resource Guide

Letter from William Ross to Joseph Howe regarding white encroachers on Mi'kmaq lands at Wagmatcook. Command of the Lt. Gov. that the provincial government guarentee payment for any quantity of second-hand soldiers' great coats required by Chearnley for the Mi'kmaq.
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wandering without [homes?] and still the land would
not be occupied. The Indians will never Settle on those
lands only as it suits their own wandering purposes
you might as well try to make them white as to think
you will get them to settle long in any place
It is not for me to dictate to the [Govt.] what [line] of conduct
to pursue in this matter [but] a great deal of caution is
required before you commit steps which will seriously
undermine your position in this county and of which our
opponents are already taking every advantage
To compel Squatters to take out grants of their land may be
quite proper but - these are dreadful hard times and many
very many can never command that amount of money
poor fisherman [?bring OR being] [under] [?mountains] are expected to pay
£11 for one hundred acres of land while they have not 20 acres
nor many instances [that] will even be [cultivated] or [that] any
man would even grant_ You should [?proceed] with
caution with those changes_ otherwise I [fear] that
you may regret it. As already stated I only write
to suggest some of the [?feeling] [that] will be [?exacted] here
and not with a desire to controll [the] [fact]_ [However]
I [fear] that [we] cannot defend those acts here

Yours Truly
William Ross

[Honble]
Joseph [Howe]
Provincial Secretary


Date: 1861

Retrieval no.: Commissioner of Public Records — Mi'kmaq and Government Relations series Nova Scotia Archives RG 1 volume 431 number 131

Nova Scotia Archives — https://archives.novascotia.ca/mikmaq/archives/?ID=367

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