Mi'kmaw Teaching and Learning Resources

Peleg Wiswall

Digby County lawyer, legislator and judge, Peleg Wiswall (1763-1836), worked actively with the Abbé Jean-Mandé Sigogne during the 1820 and 30s, to establish an experimental Mi’kmaq settlement at Bear River; letters between Wiswall and Sigogne, correspondence with government officials in Halifax and financial accounts for the project, all provide significant information on development of the community.

Document regarding Mi'kmaq, perhaps a draft for a letter or a speech. Begins "I speak to all Indians as to Brothers.." Incomplete.

Date: 1821

Reference: Peleg Wiswall Nova Scotia Archives MG 15 volume 17 number 1

Letter from H.H. Cogswell to Mr. Sigogne regarding Pierre Bernard's application for land

Date: 1813

Reference: Peleg Wiswall Nova Scotia Archives MG 15 volume 17 number 2

Letter from Abbe Sigogne to Judge Peleg Wiswall

Date: 1831

Reference: Peleg Wiswall Nova Scotia Archives MG 15 volume 17 number 3

Letter from Abbe Sigogne to P. Wiswall

Date: 30 December 1833

Reference: Peleg Wiswall Nova Scotia Archives MG 15 volume 17 number 4

Letter from Thomas C. Haliburton to Abbe Sigogne regarding the Mi'kmaq and schools

Date: 1827

Reference: Peleg Wiswall Nova Scotia Archives MG 15 volume 17 number 5

Letter from Thomas C. Haliburton to Abbe Sigogne regarding the roads, the application to remove all test oaths from Roman Catholics, and the Mi'kmaq

Date: 1827

Reference: Peleg Wiswall Nova Scotia Archives MG 15 volume 17 number 6

Letter from P. Wiswall and Abbe Sigogne regarding the account of the expenditures and a brief report on the construction of the chapel at the Mi'kmaq settlement on Bear River

Reference: Peleg Wiswall Nova Scotia Archives MG 15 volume 17 number 7