Many are the personal experiences told by older residents regarding these “First Settlers". ~

One former resident remembers taking a white dress to an Indian camp near her home for a little girl that had died. The Indian mother had already laid the child out in a pink dress, but rather than disappoint her kind neighbor, she put the white dress on the dead girl over the pink one.

Another told us that the Indians would be visited by an ”Indian Doc- tor” from time to time. One day she visited this certain Indian family and saw a pot of stones heating on the little round stove. She was told that the old Indian lying on the floor had a sore chest and the heated stones were being used as a plaster.

Another resident remembers an Indian family who did not like their surname and went through the legal action of having it changed. Honorable Mr. Peters who was premier at this time, told them to take his name. So this Indian family was known afterwards as “Peters".

Another resident told us that when he was young, he could remember seeing an Indian carve his initials in the bark of a certain tree. To this day these initials can be seen but not very clearly.

Many of our pe0ple tell of the enjOyabIe times cr0uched on the floor of an Indian camp listening to the Indians making music on such instruments as the jews-harp, violin, comb and paper and mouth organ. Someone might bring along a cylindrical gramophone. These enjoyable times often lasted until the small hours of the morning.

Space does not allow us to write any more of these personal exper- iences, but one can see how the Indians and our grandparents and parents lived side by side, attending the same school and church, and having the same joys and sorrows.

We were able to obtain a picture of‘a well-known Indian who lived in our district. He carries a gun and a pair of boots over his shoulder. He was never known to leave a question unanswered. The story is told that some- one tried to stump him by asking this question: “Why are there so many fiddlers in hell?” The Indian thought a moment and scratched his head and said, “Because the Lord doesn’t like music”.

“The Indian and his birch bark camp That stood in days gone by,

Along the winding river's bank

No more does greet the eye.”

Our Island proved to be the goal of many pioneers who crossed the stormy Atlantic and made it their new home. In the next pages we have written an account of these hardy pioneers who came to our community.

Jacques Cartier, a French explorer, visited the Island in 1534 and from then on until the British Conquest, missionaries, fishermen, and colon- ists came to the Island. About the year 1632'the Island was known as the Isle of St. Jean. We do not have any written records of French settlers in our community. However, we believe that many of them lived here and later moved to French settlements such as Miscouche.

Captain Holland made a study of the Island for the British Govern- ment from 1764 to 1766.. In 1767 it was divided into sixty-seven lots or town- ships of about 20,000 acred each. Our district is included in Lot Number 18.

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