COLONIAL REPORTS--MISCELLANEOUS. No. 54. NEWFOUNDLAND. REPORT BY THE GOVERNOR ON A VISIT TOTHE MICMAC INDIANS AT BAY D'ESPOIR. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty. _September, 1908. _ [Illustration] LONDON:PRINTED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE, BY DARLING & SON, LTD. , 34-40, BACON STREET, E. And to be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, fromWYMAN AND SONS, LTD. , FETTER LANE, E. C. , and32, ABINGDON STREET, WESTMINSTER, S. W. ; orOLIVER & BOYD, TWEEDDALE COURT, EDINBURGH; orE. PONSONBY, 116, GRAFTON STREET, DUBLIN. 1908. [Cd. 4197. ] _Price 2d. _ No. 54. NEWFOUNDLAND. REPORT BY THE GOVERNOR ON A VISIT TO THE MICMAC INDIANS AT BAYD'ESPOIR. THE GOVERNOR TO THE SECRETARY OF STATE. Government House, St. John's, 8th July, 1908. MY LORD, I have the honour to inform you that I left St. John's on the 28th Mayto visit the settlement of the Micmac Indians at Bay d'Espoir, on thesouth coast of this Island. Bay d'Espoir is a long inlet of the sea, extending up country over ascore of miles. The district is hilly, and is covered by a forest ofrather small trees, spruce and birch, but further inland the hills aregenerally bare. There are comparatively few European residents in thisbay. 2. The Micmac settlement is on a reservation situated on the easternside of the Conne arm of the bay, with a frontage to the water of 230chains, with an average depth of about 30 chains. It is on the slopeof a wooded hill which is generally steep down to the sea, and at mostplaces hard and rocky, covered by spruce forest. Most of the Micmachouses are on an area of about a quarter of a mile, where the groundis least steep and most suitable for building and gardening. InAppendix I. Hereto is given a list of the 23 families, consisting of131 persons, now living on or near the Reservation; and of the 7persons that have left it for Glenwood in this Colony. Two years agothree families left the Reservation to settle at Lewisport, and havenot returned. 3. The Reservation, it appears, was laid off for the Micmacs about1872, by Mr. Murray, Geological Surveyor of the Colony. It contained24 blocks of about 30 acres each, with a water frontage of 10 chains. From the copy of the plan of the Reservation enclosed herewith it willbe noticed that each parcel was to form the subject of a personalgrant to the individual whose name is on the allotment. The right thenconferred was in each case a "licence to occupy, " of which I enclosea copy in blank form. The licence, it will be observed, would, on thefulfilment of certain conditions, have been replaced by a grant infee, after five years. In few cases, if in any, have the terms of thelicence been complied with, and no grant in fee or other title hasbeen issued to any of the occupants on this Reservation. [Illustration: PLAN OF INDIAN SETTLEMENT CONNE RIVER BAY D'ESPOIR] 4. These Micmacs are hunters and trappers, and are ignorant alike ofagriculture, of seamanship, and of fishing. There are not more thanthree or four acres of cultivated land in the whole settlement. Thegreatest cultivator would not grow in one year more than three or fourbarrels of potatoes and a few heads of cabbage. There are twomiserable cows in the place, and some of the least poor Micmacspossess three or four extremely wretched sheep. They have practicallyno fowls, but I saw one fowl and a tame wild goose. Their houses aresmall and inferior, of sawn timber, but have windows of glass. A fewhundred yards of road, constructed at the expense of the Government, traverses the end of the settlement where most of the people reside. 5. The community is Roman Catholic, and they have a small church, decently well built and kept, on the best site on the Reservation. Itis built of sawn timber and would contain nearly one hundred people, which is too small for the festival of St. Anne, the patroness of thecongregation. Over the entrance to the church there is printed inlarge characters, in the Micmac language, a total prohibition againstspitting in church. The cemetery immediately adjoins the church, and there they bury theirdead as members of a single family. They have had a small school open since the 17th January last. It is awooden room, about 12 feet by 15 feet, by no means new, with a smallstove and two little windows. The teacher is a woman of partly Micmac origin. She receives some verysmall allowance from the parish priest, and a few of the children, shesays, pay some small fees. There are 34 children on the roll, and thewinter attendance was from 25 to 30. They are divided into threeclasses, the highest of which could read slowly, in English, words ofthree or four letters. About half of them could write a little, a fewof them surprisingly well on such brief tuition. The teacher says theyare very amenable to discipline. Seldom has a school been startedunder greater difficulties than this Micmac institution. I was ablesincerely to congratulate the teacher on what she has been able toaccomplish under such unfavourable circumstances. It is manifest thatthe children are bright and clever, and that they would become usefuland intelligent citizens if they had ordinary educational advantages. In this probably lies the best hope of a future prospect for thiscommunity. The settlement is visited now once a month by the parishpriest; and in his absence, one of themselves, Stephen Jeddore, readsthe service on Sunday. Last year they were visited by the RightReverend Bishop McNeil. 6. They appear to be a comparatively healthy people. So far as known, no one is at present affected by tuberculosis in any form. I saw onewoman of ninety years of age, Sarah Aseleka, perhaps the only Micmacof pure blood in the settlement. She was born at Bay St. George, andcame to Bay d'Espoir some three score of years ago when the Micmacsfirst settled in this bay. The next oldest person is John Bernard, whois about eighty. Few of them were even fairly well clothed; themajority were in rags. A few wore home-made deer-skin boots, but mostof them had purchased ready-made boots or shoes. They make deer-skinboots by scraping caribou skin, and tanning it in a decoction ofspruce bark. Such boots are, they state, worn through in a few days. The women can spin wool, and knit stockings. Their food consistschiefly of flour, a few potatoes, some cabbage, and perhaps about halfa score of caribou a year for each family, hung up on trees and thusfrozen during the winter. They also smoke fish, principally freshwaterfish, and obtain a few grouse and hares, but this small game hasalmost disappeared from the district. They have to go inland a scoreof miles to obtain caribou for food. The men are of good size, and strongly built, but clearly of mixeddescent, many being nearly like Europeans. The children have all, without exception, very dark, soft eyes, straight black hair, and thenose much more prominent than in the Esquimaux of Labrador. 7. The principal Chief is Olibia, but I unfortunately did not meethim. He had gone out in March to his trapping ground near MountSylvester, but could not then reach his traps on account of theunusually great quantity of snow, and he had returned thither at thetime of my visit. I was informed that he was selected as Chief by the Micmacs of theReservation, and was appointed by the principal Micmac Chief at St. Anne's, Nova Scotia, and by the priest. I was shown the insignia ofoffice worn on ceremonial occasions by the Chief. It consists of agold medallion with a chain attached, the whole in a case covered byred velvet. The medallion is inscribed "Presented to the Chief of theMicmacs Indians of Newfoundland, " but with neither name nor date. Thecommunity paid for this badge of office forty-eight dollars. The second chief is Geodol--called in English Noel Jeddore--whorepresented Olibia in his absence. Geodol is the owner of one of thetwo cows on the Reservation, and his brother possesses the second one. The Chieftainship is not hereditary, but is conferred, when a vacancyoccurs, on the man the people prefer. They are easy to govern andseldom quarrel. They have no intoxicating liquor and seldom obtainany. They pay 60 to 70 cents a pound for their tobacco, 20 to 30cents for gunpowder, and 10 cents for shot. They sell their furlocally where they make their small family purchases. 8. The head of each family has his own special trapping ground in theinterior, over which others may travel, fish, or shoot, but not trap. For example Geodol, the second chief, traps about Gulp Lake; Olibia, the chief, about Mount Sylvester; Nicholas Jeddore about Burnt Hill;George Jeddore at Bare Hill and Middle Ridge; Stephen Jeddore atScaffold Hill; Noel Matthews at Great Burnt Lake; &c. None go as far north as the railway, but Meiklejohn goes as far asJohn's Pond. Europeans are encroaching on their trapping lands, but donot go far inland. This pushes the Micmacs further inland to get awayfrom the Europeans. They claim no fishing rights at sea, and sayfrankly they are only trappers and guides. They go inland in September, when their first care is to shoot a deerand smoke the flesh as food. They return home from the 20th to the25th November to prepare their traps for fox, lynx, otter, and bear. In December they shoot, as winter food for the family, does and youngstags, but not old stags. They say the arctic hare is now very rare ontheir trapping lands; and snipe, geese, and ducks are far fewer thanthey were a few years ago. They appear to be very careful not to wastevenison, never killing any deer they do not actually require and useas food. 9. It is not possible to regard the present condition and theprospects of this settlement of Micmacs as being bright. Game, theirprincipal food, is manifestly becoming more difficult to procure;their trapping lands are being encroached upon by Europeans; they arenot seamen; they are not fishermen; and they do not understandagriculture. In the middle of their Reservation a saw-mill has been inoperation some years, apparently on the allotment of Bernard John, butwithout his sanction or permission, and, it seems, in spite of theprotests of the community. None of the Micmacs work at this mill. Formerly they cut logs for it, but the trees that grew near the waterhave, they say, all been used up and there are none left within theirreach that they could bring to the water. The saw-mill is thus aneyesore to them, as it is on what they regard as their land, and indefiance of them. Although they have not complied with the conditions set forth on theform of licence, which would have entitled them to a grant in fee, yettheir occupation has extended over so many years that there is noprobability whatever that the Government of Newfoundland wouldwithhold from them grants, as a matter of grace, if they only appliedfor them and could show how they could use the land. It would not bedifficult to find a location for the community that would be moresuitable for them so far as cultivation is concerned, and be equallygood for hunting and trapping. With some aid, such as supplies ofseed potatoes and a few animals, they could no doubt derive muchgreater resources than at present from agriculture, especially if tothat were added a good school for the young. The question of their trapping lands will have to be dealt with beforelong. Each man regards his rights to his trapping area asunimpeachable. They are recognised at present among themselves, butthey have no official sanction for their trapping lands either as acommunity or as individuals, just as they have no official title tothe Reservation. I was accompanied on this visit by the Honourable Eli Dawe, Ministerof Marine and Fisheries, who, as a member of the Government, willhimself take an interest in the settlement, and call the attention ofhis colleagues to the condition of the Micmacs. I was also assisted byMr. James Howley, who has been on friendly terms with these people formany years. I enclose photographs[A] of some of the Micmacs, taken byMr. Howley during this visit. 10. The Micmacs are held by ethnologists to be a branch of theAlgonquins, who inhabited Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia. Itwas from the last-named province that they extended to Newfoundland, apparently not much more than a century ago. The fact that they didnot effect a lodgment on Newfoundland sooner may be at least partlyaccounted for by supposing that the Beothuks, the aboriginal nativesof Newfoundland, were able to defend themselves and their country fromthe Micmacs so long as both sides were unprovided with firearms, anduntil the Beothuks were nearly destroyed by their French and Englishaggressors. A sufficiently accurate view of the arrival and early doings of theMicmacs in Newfoundland may be had from the brief extracts fromofficial records enclosed herewith. Governor Duckworth reports in 1809that the Micmacs were coming over, and that the Beothuks were keepingto the interior in dread of them. The Governor followed up this Reportnext year (1810) by a Proclamation to the Micmacs and other AmericanIndians frequenting Newfoundland, warning them that any person thatmurdered a native Indian (Beothuk) would be punished with death. Unfortunately this Proclamation it would appear had no restrainingeffect, as Governor Keats reports to the Secretary of State in 1815that the Micmacs had recently come over from Nova Scotia in greaternumbers, and had reached the eastern coast of Newfoundland; and heexpressed the fear that these newcomers would destroy the nativeIndians of the Island, whose arms were the bow and arrow. The Micmacs, it appears, have always possessed firearms since theyarrived in Newfoundland. On the other hand I have never heard of asingle instance in which the native Beothuks ever obtained such aweapon. The fears of Governor Keats were therefore only too wellfounded. The unfortunate Beothuk was thus crushed out of existence bythe white man and the invading Micmac. Between the white man and theBeothuk there was always hostility; and I have not heard of any familyor person in Newfoundland in whose veins flows Beothuk blood. On theother hand it may be doubted whether there is a single pure-bloodedMicmac on the Island to-day. As an ethnic unit the Micmac cantherefore hardly be said to exist here. At the same time the Micmac community, such as it is, will not, atleast for several generations, be absorbed into the Europeanpopulation of Newfoundland. It is at present a separate entity, and assuch clearly requires special attention and treatment at the hands ofthe Administration, for the Reservation families have claims onNewfoundland by right of a century of Micmac occupation, and by virtueof the European blood that probably each one of them has inherited. I have, &c. , WM. MACGREGOR. The Right Honourable The Earl of Crewe, K. G. , &c. , &c. , &c. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote A: Not reproduced. ] * * * * * APPENDIX I. MICMACS AT CONNE SETTLEMENT, 29th May, 1908. Head of Family. Family. Condition of Members of Family. Stephen Joe 5 Self, wife, 3 children. Stephen Bernard 5 Self, mother, 3 children. Noel Matthew 13 Self, wife, 11 children. Nicholas Jeddore 5 Self, wife, 3 children. Noel Jeddore 9 Self, wife, 7 children. Bernard John 2 Self, wife. John 5 Self, sister, 3 brothers. Joseph Jeddore 3 Self, wife, 1 brother. Stephen Jeddore 7 Self, wife, 5 children. John McDonald, Sr. 2 Self, wife. John D. Jeddore 2 Self, wife. John McDonald, Jr. 7 Self, wife, 5 children. William Drew 4 Self, wife, 2 children. Matthew Burke 4 Self, wife, 2 children. John Benoit 9 Self, wife, 7 children. Ben Benoit 12 Self, wife, 10 children. John Juks 7 Self, 6 children. Edward Pullett 4 Self, wife, 2 children. Reuben Louis 2 Self, sister. Thomas McDonald 8 Self, wife, 6 children. Peter Joe 5 Self, wife, 3 children. John Martin 3 Self, wife, 1 child. Total Micmacs on the Reservation, 123. _Living off the Reservation were--_ Head of Family. Family. Condition of Members of Family. William McDonald 8 Self, wife, 6 children. _Gone to Glenwood. _ Lewis John 5 Self, wife, 3 children. Peter John 1 Self. Louis John 1 Self. _Totals. _ Living on the Reservation 123Living near the Reservation 8Gone from the Reservation to Glenwood 7 ---- Total 138 ---- * * * * * APPENDIX II. NEWFOUNDLAND. _No. _ _To all to whom these Presents shall come, I, _ ANTHONY MUSGRAVE, _Esquire, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the island of Newfoundland and its Dependencies, &c. , &c. _ SEND GREETING: WHEREAS ______________________ of __________________________ desirous of permanently settling on the Land hereinafter mentioned: KNOW YE, that in pursuance of the power and authority vested in me by the Act of the Legislature of this Colony, passed in the 23rd year of the Reign of Her present Majesty, entitled "An Act to amend an Act passed in the Seventh year of Her Majesty's Reign, entitled 'An Act to make provision for the Disposal and Sale of ungranted and unoccupied Crown Lands, within the Island of Newfoundland and its Dependencies, and for other purposes';" I, the said Governor, do hereby give to the said ________________________ a License to Occupy all that Piece or Parcel of Land situate and being __________________________________________________________________ To Have and to Hold the same, with all rights and all privileges thereto belonging, to the said ________________________________ Executors, Administrators and Assigns, for the term of Five Years from the date of these Presents: Provided always that if the said _____________________ shall have settled on and occupied the said Land for the said term of Five Years, and have cultivated _____ acres thereof, within the said term, and have conformed to the provisions of said Act, _____ shall be entitled to a Grant in fee, under the Great Seal, for the said Land: but should he fail to comply with the conditions of this License and conform to the said Act, he shall forfeit all claim to the said Land and Grant aforesaid. Given under my Hand and Seal at St. John's in Our Island of Newfoundland, this ___________ day of ______________ Anno Domini One Thousand Eight Hundred and _________________ By His Excellency's Command, _Colonial Secretary. _ APPENDIX III. "Antelope" at Spithead. 25th November, 1809. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . I am sorry to inform Your Lordship that I am again disappointed in myhopes of coming at the Native Indians (Beothuks); they still keep inthe interior of the Island (it is reported) from a dread of theMicmacs, who come over from Cape Breton. The articles that werepurchased for them are deposited in the Naval Store House at St. John's, where I have directed them to be kept for some future trial ofmeeting with them. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * * * * * THE GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS TO THE MICMACS, &C. His Excellency, Sir John Thomas Duckworth, K. B. , Vice-Admiral of theRed, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Island ofNewfoundland, &c. To the Micmacs, the Esquimaux, and other American Indians frequentingthe said Island, Greeting: WHEREAS it is the gracious pleasure of His Majesty the King, mymaster, that all kindness should be shewn to you in his Island ofNewfoundland, and that all persons of all nations at friendship withhim should be considered in this respect as his own subjects, andequally claiming his protection while they are within his Dominions:This is to greet you in His Majesty's name and to entreat you to livein harmony with each other, and to consider all his subjects and allpersons inhabiting in his Dominions as your brothers, always ready todo you service, to redress your grievances, and to relieve you in yourdistress. In the same light also are you to consider the nativeIndians of this Island; they too are, equally with ourselves, underthe protection of our King, and therefore equally entitled to yourfriendship. You are entreated to behave to them on all occasions asyou would do to ourselves. You know that we are your friends, and asthey too are our friends, we beg you to be at peace with each other. And withal, you are hereby warned that the safety of these Indians isso precious to His Majesty, who is always the support of the feeble, that if one of ourselves were to do them wrong he would be punished ascertainly and as severely as if the injury had been done to thegreatest among his own people, and he who dared to murder any one ofthem would be severely punished with death; your own safety is in thesame manner provided for; see therefore that you do no injury to them. If an Englishman were known to murder the poorest and the meanest ofyour Indians, his death would be the punishment of his crime. Do younot therefore deprive any one of our friends, the native Indians, ofhis life, or it will be answered with the life of him who has beenguilty of murder. Fort Townshend, St. John's, Newfoundland, 1st August, 1810. J. T. DUCKWORTH. * * * * * _Extract from Despatch from Governor Sir R. G. Keats to the Secretaryof State, 10th November, 1815. _ Some years ago the Micmac Indians formed a settlement in St. George'sBay on the West Coast of Newfoundland, which is thriving andindustrious. The success of this settlement has probably inducedothers to follow them, and latterly they have come over in moreconsiderable numbers, penetrated into the country and shewn themselvesthe present season on the eastern coast of Newfoundland. It is to befeared the arrival of these new comers will prove fatal to the nativeIndians of the Island, whose arms are the bow, with whom their tribeas well as the Esquimaux are at war, and whose number it is believedhas for some years past not exceeded a few hundred. 10th November, 1815. * * * * *