Nova Scotia Archives

Mi'kmaq Holdings Resource Guide

Letter from H.W. Crawley of Sydney to Joseph Howe, Prov. Sec., regarding the Mi'kmaq request for seeds for the 1848 growing season and encouragement of agriculture among the Mi'kmaq.
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avert or to shorten the continuance of the present dearth, which there is too much reason to [apprehend?] will be prolonged, however favorable the approaching summer may prove, [thro'?] the impossibility of providing seed in sufficient quantity. From such information as I have been able to collect, the scarcity is universal throughout the Island, and hundreds of families among the settlers must from that cause, relinquish the hope of harvest_ Still there are to be found individuals, scattered over the country, holding small supplies, which they sell at extravagant prices- 4/ or 5/ per bushel for potatos, for instance- and if funds were in my possession, I could materially assist the Indians, by giving them orders , for a small sum to each family, to purchase wherever they know that seed can be had - especially potatos. With respect to wheat, barley, and oats, supplies could be probably obtained cheaper at Halifax; altho' they would scarcely arrive in time for sowing, unless forwarded hither with the utmost expedition. The wheat especially would be very late.

It is of course , known to the Government that for some time past the Indians have been encouraged to exertion in agricultural occupations.
They


Date: 1848

Retrieval no.: Commissioner of Public Records — Mi'kmaq and Government Relations series Nova Scotia Archives RG 1 volume 431 number 48

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