Mi'kmaw Community Gatherings

Indian Commissioner Joseph Howe's first "Report on Indian Affairs" [see Journals of the House of Assembly, 25 January 1843, Appendix 1, p. 3] states that Howe had received plans of Mi'kmaq Reserves in Nova Scotia from the Surveyor General and copied them into his note book [RG 1 v. 432]. The original map comprises nine individual plans on one sheet, each signed by John Spry Morris, Surveyor General, 20 May 1842. Howe's copies are embedded in narrative descriptions of his thoughts and encounters as he visited each reservation. An earlier and similar version of the original surveyor General's map may be viewed on microfilm 14011. Sydney County, created in 1784, encompassed basically what is now Antigonish and Guysborough Counties. In 1836, Guysborough County was created out of the southern portion of the original Sydney County, reducing its size. In 1863, the name of the northern portion of Sydney County was changed to Antigonish County.

Date: 1842

Reference: Commissioner of Public Records — Indians series Nova Scotia Archives RG 1 Vol. 432 page 45