New Brunswick" Apr.4/1842
These circumstances are mentioned to show the long continued possession of the
Indians at this place—a possession—maintained by the blood of their Fathers, and of
which it is hoped the Tribe will never be deprived.
From this place I next proceeded to the River Tobique, where the Indians have a
reserve of 16,000 acres, extending eight miles in front on the River Saint John, and
running back the same breadth four miles.
On the right bank of the Tobique, at its confluence with the Saint John, stands an
Indian Village consisting of thirty families, comprising 123 souls.
There are here eleven framed houses and twelve large standing wigwams, They
have some land under crop (chiefly potatoes) but much cleared land which appears
to have been formerly cultivated has been neglected; bushes have grown up upon
it, and it is fast relapsing into a state of wilderness.
Fronting on the Saint John, and the left bank of the Tobique, there is a very fine
piece of alluvial land called the Tobique Flat, on which a considerable quantity of hay
is cut annually. The grass this year has been sold for thirty pounds to a person in
the neighbourhood, who agreed to pay in cash, but subsequently told the Indians
that money was not to be had and they must take provisions. This it appeared was a
customary mode of dealing with the Indians; first to bargain with them for cash at a
very inadequate price, and then taking advantage of their necessities, to palm off
inferior articles of provision at an exorbitant rate in payment. I endeavoured to
prevent it in this instance, by sending a written notice to the purchaser, that he must
pay in cash according to his agreement, and also giving the Captain at Tobique an
order in writing not to deliver an portion of the grass or hay until he received
payment in money, for which he would hereafter account.
They have no Chapel here but are exceedingly anxious to get one up, for which
purpose they have collected nearly sufficient scantling, with about two thousand
feet of boards and twenty three thousand shingles. The Treasurer has Ten pounds
in hand collected by subscription for the Chapel. The Rev. Antoine Gosselin comes
to this place twice in each year for a short time from Madawaska. He informed me
subsequently that he would visit the Tobique much oftener and remain monger it
there were a place built for Public Worship.
There has never been a School here or the slightest attempt made to educate the
rising generation; they are growing up much as they might be supposed to do if
there were no civilized people in this Province.
In passing up the River, I found the front of the Indian Reserve, for about three miles
above the Tobique Rock, cleared and cultivated by squatters, who have built houses
and barns, and appear to make themselves quite at ease. They pay no rent,
acknowledge no title, and from long impunity have become very insolent and
overbearing. Besides occupying the land, they openly plunder the forest in the
vicinity o f the most valuable Timber, and dispose of it in the face of the Indians,
whom they will scarcely allow to set foot upon the land, and invariably hunt off like
wild beasts, if they attempt to look after or prevent the trespasses which are
constantly committed.
As soon as the purpose for which I came was known, they drew themselves up in
hostile array, and would not communicate. One of the Squatters, in answer to an
enquiry, told me that he had lived on the land twenty years; that he had been several
times sued, sometimes taken to Fredericton and sometimes to Woodstock, but
beyond that, nothing had ever come of the suits; and, he supposed, could not. That
he would never take a lease of the land, or pay rent, and if driven off, he would burn
the buildings and devastate the land.
He told me that he came on the land in May, 1840; this year he has put up a house,
and got in a crop. He has taken possession of a clay bank, for the purpose of
commencing the manufacture of brick, and also of a Mill Privilege, intending to set
up a Mill forthwith. I gave him a notice to desist and quit the property, when he
admitted that he came there without any authority, merely because he saw many
others do so with impunity, and he thought he also might as well have some benefit
form the Indian Land.
While ranging the front of the Reserve I discovered a quantity of Scantling, (in all
twenty one pieces,) cut and hauled to the bank of the Saint John, ready to be taken
away. This I seized, and directed the Indians to remove to the Village for security. I
then went on to seize some Birch Timber, and while absent, the Indians proceeded
to get away the Scantling. The trespasser who had cut it came with a party of men
and attempted the rescue. I returned immediately with the party of Indians who
accompanied me, when the other party withdrew, and the Scantling was brought off
and deposited at the Village.
Mr. ____ admitted to me had cut the Scantling without leave; that a Crown Officer had
seized it, but told him that he might take it away on settling with the Indians, which he
had not done. Much angry feeling was displayed by Mr. ____ and his party on this
occasion, and in the mere wantonness they destroyed the canoe of a poor Indian
who landed at a store on the opposite side of the River to purchase goods.
It was stated to me broadly by Mr. _____ that it had so long been the custom for
every person to cut as they pleased on Indian land, that they considered it right and
lawful to do so, and if any objection were made (that is, if detected in the act, or
before the removal of the Timber,) the payment of Stumpage made all right.
I learned at the Tobique that a number of persons had cut Timber on the Reserve
during the past winter, and that Mr.____ had been sent up to seize it, with
instructions to give it up to the several parties on their satisfying the Indians. Under
this arrangement the Indians received the trifling sum of eight pounds four shillings
and six pence, chiefly paid in provisions at enormous prices. Mr. ____ cut a quantity
of Birch Timber, which was seized; he then promised to pay the Indians at the rate of
half a dollar for each tree, but succeeded in getting it away before payment, and now
reuses to pay, as do others under like circumstances.
I found seven pieces of large Birch Timber just hauled out, which I seized, and I
desired him to let it remain there until further orders; he promised that it should not
be removed. On my return from Madawaska, I found that it had been carried off.
From all these circumstances His Excellency will at once perceive the impropriety of
allowing Timber willfully cut on the Indian Reserve, to be given up upon any terms.
The only mode of stopping these constant trespasses is to confiscate the Timber in
all cases, and when it is found that this course is adopted and rigidly adhered to, the
wholesale plunder now going on, will be brought to an end, and the morals of the
neighbourhood greatly improved.
The Timber seized from Mr. ____ was placed by the Indians with the Scantling
intended for their Chapel, and they beg to be allowed to use it in that building."
Moses H Perley first report respecting the Indians of St. John
1765, and is a British
response to a request by
the Natives living in the
valley.
Maliseet envoys—Pierre
Tomah and Ambroise St-
Aubin—complained in 1764 to
the Governor of Canada
(Quebec) about trespasses
on the Maliseet's territory,
and asked the British to
maintain the rights to their
territory that the French (who
had ruled until 1763) had
recognized.
Explicitly mentioned as their
territory is the Upper St.John
River valley from Grand Falls
all the way to Lake
Témiscouata, including
Rivière du Loup and the
Madawaska River:
"Your Petitioner has also the
honour to represent to your
Excellency, that his brethren
Indians find themselves
reduced to the lowest ebb of
misery, by the unwarrantable
encroachments of the
Canadian inhabitants hunting
beaver on the lands
belonging to the nation, by
which your Petitioner has
been deputed; which tract
begins at the great falls of the
St.John's, and runs as far as
Temisquata, including the
Wolf River, (or Rivière du
Loup) and the River
Madawaska, which rivers
discharge themselves into the
River St. John's, making a
space of about twenty
leagues, on which the nation,
whose grievances your
Petitioner has the honour to
lay before your Excellency,
always had an exclusive
privilege of hunting beaver in
the time of the French
Government; therefore your
Petitioner humbly requests, in
the name of his nation, that
your Excellency will be
pleased to continue their
privilege, by forbidding the
inhabitants of this Province to
hunt beaver on the said
grounds."
In response, in a letter dated
19th January 1765, the
Governor of Canada
confirmed their rights:
Quebec
Secretary's Office, 19th Jan.
1765
Whereas the Nation of
Maricitte Indians, by the
following paragraph of a
petition to his Excellency the
Governor of this Province
have represented that they
are encroached upon by the
Canadian inhabitants hunting
beaver on the lands therein
mentioned, which have ever
belonged to, and are the
property of the said Nation :
this, therefore, is to give
notice, that the privilege
prayed for by the said Indians
will be allowed and confirmed
to them, unless any person or
persons can show just cause
to the contrary, by memorial
to his Excellency the
Governor and Council,
directed to the Secretary of
this Province, on or before
the first day of May next.
By command of his Excellency.
J. Goldfrap, D.Sec. [Source:
Appendix No.28, "Extracts
from the Quebec Gazette, 2d.
--24th January, 1765...," in
First Statement on the part of
Great Britain, according to
the Provisions of The
Convention Concluded
Between Great Britain and
the United States, on the 29th
September, 1827 for
Regulating the Reference to
Arbitration of the Disputed
Points of Boundary under the
Fifth Article of the Treaty of
Ghent (1829), p.225. The
names of the Maliseet envoys
are from Acadian Genealogy
Homepage, "Indians of
Madawaska, part 2"]
Clearly by 1765 the Maliseet
had already had much
contact with white settlers:
armies, missionaries,
trappers, hunters, and
couriers. They were also no
longer in control of their fate;
the fact that they were
petitioning the British
authorities for protection
made that clear.