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III (Upper left corner) 6-25-42

INDIAN MATERIAL in the Bureau of Health and Welfare, compiled by Margaret and Dorothy Snow in 1934 and 1935 from sources in the Maine State Library with funds provided by (1) the Civil Works Administration and (2) the Federal Emergency Relief Adminitsration. The work was begun by Miss Margaret Snow in January 1934. Her part of the compiling took about nine months. It was she who went through the records of the Governor’s Council with great thoroughness and investigated various departments in the State House for original source material on the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy Indians. From this material gathered by Miss Margaret Snow, the enclosed copy was made by Miss Dorothy Snow several months later. Miss Dorothy Snow worked seven weeks on the project.

It is evident on examination of this manuscript that a great deal of the material used and compiled by Miss Snow in the early stages of the work was discarded. The Intent of the project was to discover exactly what the state’s policy in Indian affairs had been when by Act of the Legislature, March 28, 1933, the conduct of Indian affairs was turned over to the Bureau of Health and Welfare. Much of the information gathered by Miss Margaret Snow could not be of very great value to the Bureau who employed her. It was, however, of great value to the Indian historian and should have been preserved. The accidental death in 1942 of the two young women who worked on the project leaves doubt as to what actually became the typed material from which the followed report was made.

The most valuable research done by Miss Margaret Snow was on the manuscript records of the Governor’s Council to about 1852. In condensing the report this was integrated for the most part, and while the citation is made, e.g. Council Records, the exact reference, drawer and year, is not given. The organization of the material in the manuscript is by subject, such subjects as would be useful to the Department of Health and Welfare. All the material culled from the Council Records on poaching, lumbering, prices and cost of lumbering on Indian lands, and so forth, was not included finally by the compilers.

Particularly helpful to the Reference Librarian will be found the following subjects:

(1) An explanation of the Agency system from Acts and Resolves, Revised Statutes and Council Reports.

(2) Census by tribes, 1834-1895, and many individual lists of members of both tribes.

(3) Committees on the Indian, called [begin underscore]Indian Affairs[end underscore]. in Council, and of the House and Senate, 1830-1900.