Beothuk
Encyclopedia
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
. They lived on the island of Newfoundland at the time of European contact in the 15th and 16th centuries. With the 1829 death of Shanawdithit
Shanawdithit
Shanawdithit , also noted as Shawnadithititis, Shawnawdithit, Nancy April and Nancy Shanawdithit, was the last known living member of the Beothuk people of Newfoundland, Canada. Also remembered for drawings she made towards the end of her life, Shawnawdithit was in her late twenties when she died...
, a woman in her late twenties who was the last known living Beothuk, the people became officially extinct as a discrete ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
.
History and culture
Beothuk means "people" in the Beothuk languageBeothuk language
The Beothuk language , also called Beothukan, was spoken by the indigenous Beothuk people of Newfoundland. The Beothuk have been extinct since 1829 and there are few written accounts of their language, little is known about it. There have been claims of links with the neighbouring Algonquian...
. The origins of the Beothuk are uncertain. There are only limited records of their language, and theories about its origin are controversial. While some linguists believe it is a branch of Algonquian
Algonquian languages
The Algonquian languages also Algonkian) are a subfamily of Native American languages which includes most of the languages in the Algic language family. The name of the Algonquian language family is distinguished from the orthographically similar Algonquin dialect of the Ojibwe language, which is a...
, it is generally regarded as a language isolate
Language isolate
A language isolate, in the absolute sense, is a natural language with no demonstrable genealogical relationship with other languages; that is, one that has not been demonstrated to descend from an ancestor common with any other language. They are in effect language families consisting of a single...
, with information too fragmentary and unreliable to make any definite connections to other languages.
Beginning around AD 1500, the Beothuk culture formed. This appeared to be the most recent cultural manifestation of peoples who first migrated from Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
to Newfoundland around AD 1. The ancestors of this group had three earlier cultural phases, each lasting approximately 500 years.
In 2007 DNA testing was conducted on material from the teeth of Demasduit and her husband Nonosabasut, two Beothuk individuals who had died in the 1820s. The results suggest the Beothuk were linked to the same ancestral people as the Mi'kmaq, either through mixing of the populations or through a common ancestor. It also demonstrated they were solely of First Nation indigenous
Indigenous peoples
Indigenous peoples are ethnic groups that are defined as indigenous according to one of the various definitions of the term, there is no universally accepted definition but most of which carry connotations of being the "original inhabitants" of a territory....
ancestry, unlike some earlier studies that suggested European admixture.
The Beothuk lived throughout the island of Newfoundland, particularly in the Notre Dame
Notre Dame Bay
Notre Dame Bay is a large bay in Newfoundland, Canada. To the south it adjoins the Bay of Exploits.The name, French for Our Lady Bay, dates to at least 1550, and is possibly a French translation of an earlier Portuguese name....
and Bonavista bays
Bonavista Bay
Bonavista Bay is a large bay located on the northeast coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It opens directly onto the Atlantic Ocean....
areas. Estimates vary as to the number of Beothuk at the time of contact with Europeans. Scholars of the 19th and early 20th century estimated about 2,000 persons at the time of European contact in the 15th century. Recent scholarship suggests there were no more than 500 to 700 people. They lived in independent, self-sufficient, extended family groups of 30 to 55 people.
Like many other hunter-gathering peoples, they appear to have had band leaders but probably not more formal "chiefs". They lived in conical dwellings known as mamateeks, which were fortified for the winter season. These were constructed by arranging poles in a circle, tying them at the top, and covering them with birch bark. The floors were dug with hollows used for sleeping. A fireplace was created at the center.
During the spring, the Beothuk used red ochre to paint not only their bodies, but also their houses, canoes, weapons, household appliances and musical instruments. This led Europeans to refer to them as "Red Indians". The use of ochre had great cultural significance. The decorating was done during an annual multi-day spring celebration. It designated tribal identity; for example, decorating newborn children was a way to welcome them into the tribe. Forbidding a person to wear ochre was a form of punishment.
The main sources of food for the Beothuk were caribou, salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
, and seals
Pinniped
Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...
, augmented by harvesting other animal and plant species. The Beothuk followed the seasonal migratory habits of their principal quarry. In the fall, they set up deer fences, sometimes 30–40 miles long, used to drive migrating caribou and deer toward waiting hunters armed with bows and arrows.
The Beothuk are also known to have made a pudding out of tree sap and the dried yolk of the eggs of the Great Auk
Great Auk
The Great Auk, Pinguinus impennis, formerly of the genus Alca, was a large, flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus, a group of birds that formerly included one other species of flightless giant auk from the Atlantic Ocean...
. They preserved
Food preservation
Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food to stop or slow down spoilage and thus allow for longer storage....
surplus food for use during winter. They trapped various fur-bearing animals, and worked their skins for warm clothing. The fur side was worn next to the skin, to trap air against a person's body.
Beothuk canoes were made of bark. They were curved upward at the ends, with steep sides that rose to a point, and a V-shaped bottom.
The Beothuk followed elaborate burial practices. After wrapping the bodies in birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
bark, they buried the dead in isolated locations. In one form, a shallow grave was covered with a rock pile. At other times they lay the body on a scaffold
Burial tree
A burial tree or burial scaffold is a tree or simple structure used for supporting corpses or coffins. They were once common among the Balinese, the Naga people, certain Australian Aborigines, and some North American Indian groups....
, or placed it in a burial box, with the knees folded. The survivors placed offerings at burial sites to accompany the dead, such as figurines, pendants, and replicas of tools.
European contact
About 1000 C.E., the NorseNorsemen
Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
encountered natives in northern Newfoundland who may have been ancestors of the later Beothuk or Dorset
Dorset culture
The Dorset culture was a Paleo-Eskimo culture that preceded the Inuit culture in Arctic North America. It has been defined as having four phases, with distinct technology related to the people's hunting and tool making...
inhabitants of Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
and Newfoundland. The Norse called them skræling
Skræling
Skræling is the name the Norse Greenlanders used for the indigenous peoples they encountered in North America and Greenland. In surviving sources it is first applied to the Thule people, the Eskimo group with whom the Norse coexisted in Greenland after about the 13th century...
jar ("skraelings" or barbarians). Beginning in 1497 with the Italian John Cabot
John Cabot
John Cabot was an Italian navigator and explorer whose 1497 discovery of parts of North America is commonly held to have been the first European encounter with the continent of North America since the Norse Vikings in the eleventh century...
, sailing under the auspices of the English crown, later waves of European explorers and settlers had more continued contact.
In contrast with some other native groups, the Beothuk strove to avoid contact with Europeans, and moved inland as European settlements grew. They only visited their former camps to pick up metals, and would take tools, shelters and building materials left by European fishermen who dried and cured their catch before transporting it back to Europe at the end of the season. Contact between Europeans and the Beothuk was generally negative for one side or the other, with a few exceptions, such as that of John Guy's party in 1612. Settlers and Beothuk competed for important natural resources, such as salmon, seals and birds. In the interior, fur trappers established traplines, disrupted the caribou hunts and pillaged Beothuk stores, camps and supplies, while the Beothuk would in turn steal traps to repurpose the metals, steal from the homes and shelters of Europeans and sometimes ambush them. These encounters led to enmity and mutual violence. With superior arms technology, the settlers generally had the upper hand in hunting and warfare. (Unlike other indigenous peoples, the Beothuk appeared to have had no interest in adopting firearms.) The European frontiersmen exhibited callous behavior toward the natives, but the Beothuk seemed to have had an equally strong cultural imperative toward revenge that caused them to carry out attacks.
Intermittently, Europeans attempted to improve relations with the Beothuk. Examples included expeditions by naval lieutenants George Cartwright (trader)
George Cartwright (trader)
George Cartwright , trader, explorer, born in Marnham, England, died unmarried in nearby Mansfield, England....
in 1768 and David Buchan
David Buchan
David Buchan was a Scottish naval officer and Arctic explorer.-Exploration:In 1806, Buchan was appointed as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and from about 1808 to 1817 he operated in and around Newfoundland...
in 1811. Cartwright's expedition was commissioned by Governor Hugh Palliser; he found no Beothuk but brought back important cultural information.
Governor John Duckworth commissioned Buchan's expedition. Though undertaken for information gathering, this expedition ended in violence. Buchan's party encountered several Beothuk near Red Indian Lake. After an initially friendly reception, Buchan left two of his men behind with the Beothuk. The next day, he found them murdered and mutilated. According to the Beothuk Shanawdithit's later account, the marines were killed when one refused to give up his jacket and both ran away.
In 2010, a team of European researchers announced the discovery of a previously unknown mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA is the DNA located in organelles called mitochondria, structures within eukaryotic cells that convert the chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, adenosine triphosphate...
sequence in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
, which they further suggest may have New World origins. If the latter is true, one possible explanation for its appearance in modern Iceland would be from the capture and removal of a Native American woman, possibly a Beothuk.
Extinction
Population estimates of Beothuks remaining at the end of the first decade of the 19th century vary widely, from about 150 up to 3,000. Information about the Beothuk was based on accounts by the woman Shanawdithit, who told about the people who "wintered on the Exploits River or at Red Indian Lake and resorted to the coast in Notre Dame Bay." References in records also noted some survivors on the Northern Peninsula in the early 19th century.During the colonial period, the Beothuk people also endured territorial pressure from Native groups: Mi'kmaq migrants from Cape Breton Island, and Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
from Labrador. "The Beothuk were unable to procure sufficient subsistence within the areas left to them." They entered into a cycle of violence with some of the newcomers. Beothuk numbers dwindled rapidly due to a combination of factors, including:
- loss of access to important food sources, from competition with Inuit and Mi'kmaqs as well as European settlers;
- infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, such as smallpoxSmallpoxSmallpox was an infectious disease unique to humans, caused by either of two virus variants, Variola major and Variola minor. The disease is also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera, which is a derivative of the Latin varius, meaning "spotted", or varus, meaning "pimple"...
, introduced by European contact; - endemic tuberculosisTuberculosisTuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
(TB), which weakened tribal members; and - violent encounters with trappers, settlers and other natives.
By 1829, with the death of Shanawdithit, the people were officially declared extinct.
Oral histories asserted that a few Beothuk survived for some years around the region of the Exploits River
Exploits River
The Exploits River is a Canadian river in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It flows through the Exploits Valley in the central part of the island of Newfoundland....
, Twillingate
Twillingate
Twillingate is a town of 2,448 people located on the Twillingate Islands in Notre Dame Bay. It is located off the northeastern shore of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was incorporated on September 30, 1965. The town is about north of Lewisporte and...
, Newfoundland; and Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
; and formed unions with European-Canadians, Inuit and Mi'kmaq. Some families from Twillingate claim partial descent from Beothuks of the early 19th century.
In 1910 a 75-year old Native woman named Santu Toney, said to be the daughter of a Mi'kmaq mother and a Beothuk father, recorded a song in the Beothuk language
Beothuk language
The Beothuk language , also called Beothukan, was spoken by the indigenous Beothuk people of Newfoundland. The Beothuk have been extinct since 1829 and there are few written accounts of their language, little is known about it. There have been claims of links with the neighbouring Algonquian...
for the American anthropologist Frank Speck
Frank Speck
Frank Gouldsmith Speck was an American anthropologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in the Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples among the Eastern Woodland Native Americans of the United States and First Nations peoples of eastern boreal Canada.-Early life and...
who was doing field studies in the area. She said her father had taught her the song. Since Santu Toney was born about 1835, this may be evidence that some Beothuk people survived beyond the death of Shanawdithit in 1829. Contemporary researchers have tried to make a transcription of the song, as well as improve the recording by current methods. Native groups have learned the song to use in celebrations of tradition.
Genocide
Whether Europeans committed genocide against the Native peoples has been a controversial topic. There are questions about its definition, and differing political agendas by parties to such discussion. While some scholars believe that the Beothuk died out due to the elements noted above, another theory is that Europeans conducted a sustained campaign of genocide against them.Demasduit (Mary March)
Demasduit was a Beothuk woman who is thought to have been about 23 years old when she was captured near Red Indian Lake in March 1819 by a party led by John Peyton, Jr. He was the son of John Peyton, Sr., a salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
fisherman
Fisherman
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...
known for his hostility towards the small tribe. His son Peyton, Jr., however, made meaningful efforts to improve relations with the Beothuk. He and Captain David Buchan travelled through the interior of Newfoundland in search of the Beothuk. The younger Peyton was later appointed Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
at Twillingate
Twillingate
Twillingate is a town of 2,448 people located on the Twillingate Islands in Notre Dame Bay. It is located off the northeastern shore of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was incorporated on September 30, 1965. The town is about north of Lewisporte and...
, Newfoundland.
The governor of Newfoundland governor, seeking to encourage trade and end hostilities between the Beothuk and the English, approved Buchan's 1819 expedition on which they took Demasduit, killing her husband Nonosbawsut
Nonosbawsut
Nonosbawsut was a leader of the Beothuk people. Family head of and partner of Demasduwit, born Newfoundland, Canada. Sometimes referred to as Chief Nonosbawsut, his stature within the last remaining Beothuk would better be described as that of a headman or leader.Nonosbawsut was one of a group of...
and her brother. Peyton earned a bounty for bringing back Demasduit. Her baby was left behind and died.
The British called Demasduit Mary March, after the month when she was taken. She was brought to Twillingate and later St. John's, Newfoundland. The colonial government intended to give Desmaduit comfort and friendly treatment during her stay with the English, hoping that when Demasduit was returned to her people she could serve as a liaison between them and the Beothuk. She learned some English and taught the settlers about 200 words of Beothuk language
Beothuk language
The Beothuk language , also called Beothukan, was spoken by the indigenous Beothuk people of Newfoundland. The Beothuk have been extinct since 1829 and there are few written accounts of their language, little is known about it. There have been claims of links with the neighbouring Algonquian...
. However, in January 1820 during the return trip to Notre Dame Bay, Demasduit died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
before reaching her people.
Shanawdithit (Nancy April)
Shanawdithit was the last known Beothuk and Demasduit's niece. Shanawdithit was in her early twenties in April 1823 when, starving along with her mother and sister, they sought help from a British trapper. The three were taken to St. John's, Newfoundland where her mother and sister soon died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. The English called her Nancy April and Shanawdithit lived for several years in the home of John Peyton, Jr. working as a servant.
William Cormack
William Cormack
William Epps Cormack was a Scottish explorer, philanthropist, agriculturalist and author, born St. John’s, Newfoundland. Cormack was the first European to journey across the interior of the island....
had founded the Beothuk Institute to foster friendly dealings with the Beothuk through the study and support their culture. His expeditions found Beothuk artifacts
Artifact (archaeology)
An artifact or artefact is "something made or given shape by man, such as a tool or a work of art, esp an object of archaeological interest"...
but he also learned that the group was dying out. In 1828 Cormack brought Shanawdithit to St. John's
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...
so he could learn from her. He drew funds from his institute to pay for her support.
Shanawdithit made drawings for Cormack. These showed Beothuk implements and dwellings along with tribal notions and myths. She also helped Cormack widen his knowledge of Beothuk words. Shanawdithit told him that there were far fewer Beothuk than there had been only twenty years before and that at the time she was taken from them, only dozen people were left. Despite medical care from William Carson
William Carson
Sir William Carson , often called "The Great Reformer", was an important doctor and businessman in Newfoundland. Carson's primary contribution to Newfoundland was the application of modern agricultural principles....
Shanawdithit died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
in Botwood on June 6, 1829.
Archaeology
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
missionaries and had extensive trade with Europeans.
Numerous historical references document Beothuk presence in this region, especially in the last half of the 18th and the early part of the 19th century. Previous archaeological surveys and amateur finds indicated that it was likely that the Beothuk had lived here even earlier. Eastern Notre Dame Bay has been known for its rich animal and fish life: seals, fish, and sea birds, and its hinterland supported large caribou herds.
Archaeologists found 16 Aboriginal sites, ranging in age from the Maritime Archaic
Maritime Archaic
The Maritime Archaic is a North American cultural complex of the Late Archaic along the coast of Newfoundland, the Canadian Martimes and northern New England. The Maritime Archaic began in approximately 7000 BC and lasted into the 18th century. The culture consisted of sea-mammal hunters in the...
Indian era (7000 BC – modern) through the Palaeo-Eskimo period, down to the Recent Indian (which includes the Beothuk) occupation. Two of the sites have been related to historic Beothuk. Boyd's Cove, the larger of the two, is 3000 sq. m. and is located on top of a 6-m glacial moraine
Moraine
A moraine is any glacially formed accumulation of unconsolidated glacial debris which can occur in currently glaciated and formerly glaciated regions, such as those areas acted upon by a past glacial maximum. This debris may have been plucked off a valley floor as a glacier advanced or it may have...
, coarse sand, gravel and boulders left behind by glaciers.
The artifacts have provided answers to an economic question: why the Beothuk did not engage in the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
with Europeans. The interiors of four houses and their environs produced some 1,157 nail
Nail
Nail may refer to:* Nail , toughened keratin at the end of an animal digit* Nail , a plate of hard horny tissue at the tip of some bird beaks* Nail , the pin-shaped fastener used in engineering, woodworking and construction...
s, the majority of which had been worked by the Beothuk. The site's occupants had manufactured some 67 iron projectile points (most made from nails). They had also modified nails to use as what are believed to be scrapers to remove fat from animal hides; straightened fish hooks and adapted them as awls; fashioned lead into ornaments, and so on. In summary, the Boyd's Cove Beothuk took debris from an early modern European fishery
Fishery
Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...
and refashioned materials for their own purposes.
External links
- "The Beothuk of Newfoundland", obituary of Shanawdithit
- James P. Howley, F.G.S., "Drawings by Shanawdithit", THE BEOTHUCKS OR RED INDIANS: THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF NEWFOUNDLAND, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1915, Memorial University of Newfoundland & Labrador Website
- The Beothuks, Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage.
- Beothuk, Native Languages.
- The Indigenous Maps and Mapping of North American Indians
- Ideas on CBC program about Demasduwit