Custodial History: These documents were originally part of a miscellaneous grouping of manuscripts related to early New Brunswick history which were purchased by Lord Beaverbrook. The documents were reviewed and described for Beaverbrook in 1956, and probably purchased shortly thereafter. The Indian Affairs documents were separated from the other documents on the basis of subject matter.
Scope and Content: This collection contains 90 original documents, dealing with issues concerning the Natives of New Brunswick during the 18th and 19th centuries. Included are a number of documents dealing with land disputes between the Natives and the settlers, appointing Native Chiefs and Captains, listing the names of Natives living in various regions, assuring the neutrality of the Natives during the War of 1812, and petitioning for relief for various Native families. There are also a series of French language documents which, in addition to dealing with Native issues, also focus on land disputes between Acadians and the Government. Documents are in the form of personal and official correspondence, reports, maps, certificates, petitions and lists. Of particular note is a Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the President of His Majestys Council and the Chief of the Jedaick Tribe of Natives at Halifax, in the Province of Nova Scotia or Acadia, June 25, 1761.
Arrangement is chronological.
Notes:
Title: Title based on contents of the collection.
Immediate Source of Acquisition: Based on existing correspondence, it is assumed that Lord Beaverbrook donated this collection to the University of New Brunswick Archives in the 1950s.
Language: Most documents are written in English, although a few are written in French.
Availability of Other Formats: These documents can be found on microfilm (no. E A1 No. 106), and as scanned images (http://www.lib.unb.ca/archives/ia/ia.html). Transcriptions have been prepared for a sampling of the documents. These transcriptions appears as attachments to the scanned images.
Access: No access to originals, which are are very fragile. However, there is unrestricted access on microfilm or via the internet (see above).
Finding Aids: Item level descriptions are available.
Other: Square brackets were used in the transcriptions for words which the archivist was either unable to decipher eg: [...], or when an educated guess was made for either the actual word or the spelling of a word eg: [the]. In the case of names, square brackets were also used to fill in the full name of an abbreviated signature eg: Jon[athan] Odell.
It should also be noted that
in the descriptions, the original spelling of the names of both people
and places has been kept. Consequently, there are many different
spellings of the same names. The spellings of Mikmaq and Maliseet,
however, have been standardised throughout the descriptions, and the word
Native has consistently been used in place of Indian or Savage.
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