1883- Excerpt from Annual Report for Department of Indian Affairs
AgricultureResourcesWage LabourEducationFishing
Excerpt from general introduction to the 1883 Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs discussing Indians in Pictou County. Mentions several key industries and also structures on the reserve at Fisher's Grant.
1883-00-00 1883-00-00
John A. MacDonald (Superintendent General of Indian Affairs) (Author)
Annual Report
In the County of Pictou, at Fisher's Grant. there is an Indian Reserve also occupied by Micmacs. Their principal employment is working on the coal wharves and at the tanneries and steel works, at Pictou. Some of them also engage in fishing coopering, & c. These Indians do not take much interest in tilling the soil. The Agent, however, reports that they farm more than was formerly the case. Bat the land is not very suitable for farming purposes. The majority of those Indians are temperate in their habits. It is to be regretted, however, that a few of them indulge freely in the use of intoxicants. There is a school in operation on the Reserve the attendance at which is stated to be somewhat irregular. The population is 188. They own 33 dwellings, and 1 barn and stable; they have under cultivation 17 acres. They raised 110 bushels of produce and cut one ton of hay; caught fish to the value of $855 and took furs to the value of $100. The value of other industries in which they engaged is estimated at $3,175" (xxxiii).
eng
Annual Report of the Department of Indian Affairs for the Year Ended 31st December 1883 (Ottawa: Dominion of Canada, 1884), xxxiii.
