The importance of Joe Cope’s 1943 letter cannot be overstated. So often misquoted, it proves that the Kjipuktuk Mi’kmaw played ice hockey alongside the settlers of Halifax and Dartmouth. It also affirms that Cope played with Byron Weston, who played with James Creighton, the father of Montreal ice hockey from the age of ten.
Joe Cope’s full letter is here: https://hockey-stars.ca/1860s-halifax-hockey-a-10-man-game/
Byron Weston’s description of Halifax hockey, which Cope’s letter responded to, is found here.
It should be emphasized that these documents have gone lost to the general public for over eighty years. That is why they are rarely mentioned, and so often misquoted when they are. In due course, they will correct many current myths about modern hockey’s true origins.
The Four Stars of Early Ice Hockey 