New Brunswick was created in 1784 and the bulk of government and private records located at the PANB dealing with the administration of Mi'gmaq and Maliseet First Nations date from that year. 

At the PANB there are copies of First Nation records prior to 1784 in the following collections:

For additional information on the years before 1784, contact the Nova Scotia Archives and Records Management (NSARM).

To aid researchers, staff at the PANB have gone through various collections at that institution and have located, organized and microfilmed many letters, reports and other material dealing with the Mi'gmaq and Maliseet First Nations and have created an Indian Documentation Collection Inventory (RS965).  A copy can be viewed in the Reference Area at the PANB and a duplicate is available on microfilm F16196 that can be borrowed on interlibrary loan.

Indian Documentation Collection Inventory (RS965)

Contains interesting data on a wide variety of topics.  Community life, population size, the state of health of First Nation people and the appointment and removal of chiefs were discussed.  Other matters dealt with were the planning and surveying of designated land parcels, the leasing and sale of designated land parcels, timber berths and mill sites.  There were complaints about non-First Nation people illegally squatting on First Nation land parcels, cutting timber, grass and hay or damaging First Nation fishing grounds.  Many letters involve the Indian Commissioners and deal with financial matters such as accounts, annual grants, gifts to chiefs, aid for sick, aged and destitute individuals, money for seeds, potatoes and other farming supplies.  There are letters pertaining to the effects of the Indian Act of 1844 and the creation of an Indian Reserve Fund.  Information is available on the payment of Roman Catholic missionaries and the construction of chapels and schools.

The materials in this collection are grouped according to the Record Series (RS) where they are filed.  The titles of the RS are included to give the researcher some indication of provenance.  The documents grouped under the various RS have been ordered chronologically and microfilm reel numbers noted.  A description of each document is provided to assist the researcher.  The permanent archival reference is also noted:
The inventory lists the following collections:

RS9 Executive Council: Cabinet Meeting Records. 

This collection includes material that was formerly in RS7 and RS8 Records of the Executive Council: Indian Records listed in the Subject index to government records.  One can find a copy of RS7 on microfilm reel F1701 and RS8 is on reels F7893-F7897.

RS24 Sessional Records of the House of Assembly. 

RS1 Journals of the House of Assembly

RS76 Minister of Justice and Attorney General. 

RS108 Land Petitions: Original Series. 

RS272 Land Petitions: Current Series.

RS557 Provincial Secretary: Indian Administration Records. 

Contain copies of documents from RS336, RS343, RS345, RS346, RS347, RS348, RS350 and RS352.

RS336, RS343, RS345, RS346, RS347, RS348, RS350 and RS352 contain copies of documents for the various lieutenant governors listed in the Subject index to government records.

RS416 Records of the Office of Premier Louis J. Robichaud

RS637/29 Surveyor General Records.

RS663 Timber and Sawmill Records

RS656 Crown Lands maps and plans

Indian  Reserves Flat Book, 1840-1920 Contains maps and plans prepared by the Department of Crown Lands (Natural Resources and Energy).  These show many details concerning the location and topography of designated land parcels.  A copy of this book is on microfilm reel F8911.  Researchers should also check microfilm reel F11886 for a copy of the subject card index of the cartographic collections section at the PANB under the heading Indian   lands .

RS106 Records of the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Energy

RS310 Historic Sites Branch Records, 1968-1984

RS134 Government House Restoration Project Records

RS136 Records of the Deputy Minister of Department of Health

RS720 York County Board of Health Records

RS184 New Brunswick Museum Records

RS419 Records of the City of Fredericton

RS231 Task Force on Social Development Records. 

This collection holds at least three references to First Nation matters:

In addition to government documents, there are a number of private sector records that may contain information of interest to researchers.  One should check the Title index to private sector records and the Subject guide to microfilm under the headings aboriginal peoples, Maliseets and Micmacs .  A list of several interesting collections follows:

MC2344 Maillard Collection: Micmac Indians 

The work of a Jesuit priest, these are some of the earliest documents held by PANB, and provide insight to the Mi'gmaq language with translations of scriptures into Mi'gmaq and portions of a Mi'gmaq dictionary.

MC659 Joshua Winslow Diary

March-December 1750 is an account of an expedition against the Acadians and their encounters with the First Nations during the war.

MC705 Alvah Good Collection in MS2B/12

A report titled John Tyler, Englishman and Prisoner that refers to 'Indian raids; in MS5D is data on Passamaquoddy place names.

MC411 Robert Reid Letter. 

This is a four-page letter describing a journey from Chaleur Bay in New Brunswick to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1785 in company of First Nation people.

MC61 John Julian Indian Documents, 1805 to 1867

Copies of documents loaned to the PANB for microfilming.  The papers include John Julian's appointment as chief, grant maps, license of occupation and a letter recognizing Chief Julian's loyalty to the British monarch.  See microfilm reel F9351.

MC40 Chipman Family Papers. 

In the Lawrence Collection, under the following headings:

Political and Official,
Volume 7, a report on an 'Indian Council at Menaguashe on 24 Sep 1778, pages 1 to 8.

Missionary Societies,
Volume 13, is Fitch and Nehemiah Rogers and Company, Commissions of the Indian Account, 1789, page 713-714. 

Boundary Commission Records, Series I, 1784-1821,
Volume 54 are maps of the Bay of Fundy, 1796, and a First Nation sketch of the Schudiac, 1792, pages 65-76. 

Boundary Commission Records, In Series II,
Volumes 55 to 58 is data on Champlain's voyages, accounts of early settlement, extracts of the Proclamation of 1763, reports on meetings with aboriginals in 1794 and related documents.

Assembly and Legislative Council:
Executive Council: Minutes of Council: Agreement with 'Indian , 10 Jul 1812, pages 170-171.

MC416 Colonial Office Records, 1784-1920

There are 166 microfilm reels that contain correspondence between British officials in Fredericton and in London on a wide range of topics including administration of Native affairs.  The most useful sub-divisions are as follows:

 # 188 New Brunswick, original correspondence; 
 # 189 New Brunswick's entry books; 
 # 190 New Brunswick, Acts; 
 # 191 New Brunswick, Sessional Papers; 
 # 193 New Brunswick, Miscellanea.

MC1262 Department of Indian Affairs Records, 1870-1970. 

This collection holds some twenty-two reels of microfilm (F11650-F11671) from the National Archives of Canada.  There are records on: 1935-1971 the Saint John River Agency

 1840-1883, 1929-1931 the New Brunswick North East Agency
 1923-1970 the Miramichi Agency

MC745 J. Ludger Bernard Papers 1930-1988

MS3.A.9 1939-1943 League of Nations of North American Indians

MC300 York Sunbury Historical Society Collection

MS2/80 research information on First Nation People
MS2/81  Indian graveyard

MC216 Williston Collection

MS1 Research notes and writing, data on early First Nation settlement in Northumberland County.

MC3 Research Papers and Notes. 

This collection of essays, research papers, newspaper articles and so on has as been acquired by the PANB to complement research and to preserve useful unpublished works.  For a list of items pertaining to First Nation research, check under Aboriginal peoples.  There is data on historic sites, agents, First Nation bibliography, appointment of chiefs, reports, reservations, and treaties.

MC995 Project Preservation Collection

James Vroom Papers

Reel F743 aboriginal archaeology, legends, and conflicts with settlers in the Passamaquoddy, Charlotte County region. 

W.W. Brown Scrapbook

Reel F750  First Nation people in Passamaquoddy:

item 38, legends;
item 124, Peol Toma;
item 125, Indians;
item 142 treaties with the Penobscot Indians;
item 155, Mohawks invade NB;
item 182, land;
item 188 pictures of Passamaquoddy Indians;
item 190 politics and Natives.

Reel F769 Charlotte County Historical Society contributions.

In Vol. II, item 24 is a history of Indian Island;
in vol. IV, item 38 are replies to a questionnaire on the Indians of Charlotte County;

Reel F774 in Vol. VI, item 33 I archaeology in the St. George area;

in Vol VII, item 2 is data on archaeology on St. Croix Island. 

Reel F792   Collections of the New Brunswick Historical Society. 

In Vol. 9, page 301, there is data on the destruction of Burnt Church;
in Vol. 18, pgs 9-26 data on Indian raids, Massachusetts 1690-1704;
in Vol. 19, pages 60-65 is data on the excavations at Meductic.

MC1259 The Carleton County Collection. 

Reel F11098, MS12 Parish of Woodstock:

item 3, Indian heritage village;
item 4, Peter Paul;
item 5, John Gyles;
item 7, Meductic Indian village;
item 85, Frederick Dibblee and the Indians, 1787-1800.

MC1307 Louise Manny Collection

MS1C3.4B1  Indian Island in Charlotte County
MS1C13  various research articles that might be of assistance.

MC1330  Aboriginal Oral History: Peter Paul (1902-1989). 

This collection holds fifteen cassettes and transcriptions dealing with First Nation language, folklore and customs.

MC967 Maliseet Folklore: Sound Collection. 

This collection contains four cassettes of interviews.

MC1795 Union of New Brunswick Indians Records, 1970-1990

There is information pertaining to community development and conferences; there are also newspaper clippings.

Ward Scrapbooks. 

There is a considerable amount of data pertaining to the Maliseet and Mi'gmaq First Nations:

F115, Vol 13, page 102 canoes
F117, Vol 18, page 106 Indian relics
F115, Vol 12, page 350 legends
F115, Vol 13, page 105 Louis Sapier
F115, Vol 13, page 86 Micmacs
F120, Vol 2.  New Brunswick Indians in 1892
F113, Vol 9, page 116  place names
F115, Vol 12, page 351  place names
F120, Vol 3, page 130 place names