Nova Scotia Archives

Mi'kmaw Teaching and Learning Resources

Letter from James Dawson of Pictou to Howe regarding the state of the Mi'kmaq on Merigomish Island. Includes Howe's response, agreeing to send seeds to Merigomish.
view page 1 2 3 4 view transcript 1 2 3 4

close

note: transcription publicly contributed - please contact us with comments, errors or omisions

great care of them and return them in good order
Yours truly
Jos Howe
---


From, James Dawson Esqr, Pictou
Pictou 25th May 1843.
Honble J Howe
Dr. Dir
I rec'd your letter a few days ago,
regarding a supply of Nails and Boards to an Indian
but as the planting season was so close at hand he
has postponed his intended Building till after that
is over _ In the meantime a new class of [wants - underlined]
have come up They were unfortunate enough last
Year to have the most of their Crops at Merigomish
Island destroyed by peoples Cattle which came
from the neighbouring Island, and what
remained has been all used up in the long
Winter to keep in their Lives _ they have therefore
no seed to put in the ground, and I have been
Lively beset to get them both Wheat and Potatoes
of the former I got them 2 Bushel altho they
wanted much more, and also grass seed
to sow with it. I have done this without


Date: 1843

Retrieval no.: Commissioner of Public Records — Mi'kmaq and Government Relations series Nova Scotia Archives RG 1 volume 432 pp. 194-196

Questions to Consider

  • When do you think the document was written?



  • Who do you think wrote the document?



  • Why do you think the document was written



  • Who do you think received the document?



  • Who do you think this document was written for?



  • What information do you think this document provides? What do you think it tells us about the past?



  • How do you think the document reflects the attitudes and values of the time period in which it was written?



  • What impact do you think the document had at the time it was written?



    • Do you think those were different impacts for different people?



               

Nova Scotia Archives — https://archives.novascotia.ca/teaching-learning/mikmaq/archives/?ID=454

Crown copyright © 2025, Province of Nova Scotia.