Mi'kmaw Teaching and Learning Resources

In 1927 Gabriel Sylliboy was arrested near Port Hastings for hunting muskrat and possessing pelts out of season – offences under the Lands and Forests Act. He was subsequently convicted in a Magistrate's Court. He appealed his conviction to the County Court, arguing that as a Mi'kmaq the Treaty of 1752 recognized the right of his people to freely hunt and fish. The appeal was heard in July of 1928 and the documents presented here constitute the case file for the appeal.

The documents include the testimony of Gabriel Sylliboy and fellow Mi’kmaq Joe Christmas, Andrew Alec, Andrew Barnard, Francis Gould and Ben Christmas in relation to the hunting rights and practices of the Mi'kmaq; and the decision of acting County Court judge, George Patterson, who explored many aspects of the Treaty rights before ruling that the conviction stood. — archival description