Report by the Governor on a Visit to the Micmac Indians at Bay d'Espoir by William MacGregor (rooftoppers txt) 📕

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 my hopes of coming at the Native Indians (Beothuks); they still keep in the interior of the Island (it is reported) from a dread of the Micmacs, who come over from Cape Breton. The articles that were purchased 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 of meeting with them.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


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THE GOVERNOR'S ADDRESS TO THE MICMACS, &C.

His Excellency, Sir John Thomas Duckworth, K.B., Vice-Admiral of the Red, Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over the Island of Newfoundland, &c.

To the Micmacs, the Esquimaux, and other American Indians frequenting the said Island, Greeting:

WHEREAS it is the gracious pleasure of His Majesty the King, my master, that all kindness should be shewn to you in his Island of Newfoundland, and that all persons of all nations at friendship with him should be considered in this respect as his own subjects, and equally claiming his protection while they are within his Dominions: This is to greet you in His Majesty's name and to entreat you to live in harmony with each other, and to consider all his subjects and all persons inhabiting in his Dominions as your brothers, always ready to do you service, to redress your grievances, and to relieve you in your distress. In the same light also are you to consider the native Indians of this Island; they too are, equally with ourselves, under the protection of our King, and therefore equally entitled to your friendship. You are entreated to behave to them on all occasions as you would do to ourselves. You know that we are your friends, and as they 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 is so 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 as certainly and as severely as if the injury had been done to the greatest among his own people, and he who dared to murder any one of them would be severely punished with death; your own safety is in the same manner provided for; see therefore that you do no injury to them. If an Englishman were known to murder the poorest and the meanest of your Indians, his death would be the punishment of his crime. Do you not therefore deprive any one of our friends, the native Indians, of his life, or it will be answered with the life of him who has been guilty of murder.

Fort Townshend, St. John's, Newfoundland,
1st August, 1810.

J.T. DUCKWORTH.


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Extract from Despatch from Governor Sir R.G. Keats to the Secretary of State, 10th November, 1815.

Some years ago the Micmac Indians formed a settlement in St. George's Bay on the West Coast of Newfoundland, which is thriving and industrious. The success of this settlement has probably induced others to follow them, and latterly they have come over in more considerable numbers, penetrated into the country and shewn themselves the present season on the eastern coast of Newfoundland. It is to be feared the arrival of these new comers will prove fatal to the native Indians of the Island, whose arms are the bow, with whom their tribe as well as the Esquimaux are at war, and whose number it is believed has for some years past not exceeded a few hundred.

10th November, 1815.

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Publication Date: 05-21-2008

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