Are the Beothuk people truly extinct?

First of all, allow me to apologize if this post doesn't belong in this forum - as the European conflict with the Beothuk of Newfoundland didn't start until the Vikings arrived a little more than a thousand years ago, and even then didn't begin in earnest until around the early 16th century when European fisherman and whalers began to establish their early seasonal fishing villages here.

For those of you unaware of the Beothuk and their tragic fate at the hands, regrettably, of my ancestors, allow me to provide a wiki link:

en.wikipedia.org...

To summarize, the Beothuk people were a distinct culture of Natives with their own language and customs who were wiped out by the the early 19th century, the last distinctly Beothuk individual was a woman named Shanawdithit, better known here on the island by the name the locals took to calling her, Nancy April.

In April of 1823, she, her mother and her sister emerged from the wilderness, emaciated, to seek help from a trapper. They were transferred to the capital, St. John's, where Shanawdithit's mother and sister died of tuberculosis shortly after. Shanawdithit herself survived for several years, first working in the home of a wealthy St.John's man as a servant, until she herself became ill with tuberculosis, and then was taken in by a doctor in the small town of Botwood (my father's home town) where she died in 1829.

At the time, very little was known by the English Newfoundlanders about the Beothuk and their customs, only that there had been hostilities between the two groups for many years.

Interestingly, the Beothuk refused trade with European populations, and refused to engage in the fur trade that many other (surviving) First Nations groups engaged in. This attitude perhaps dated back to interactions with the Vikings, with the Beothuk learning early on that little good could come of their association with white people, or perhaps from the early hostilities with fisherman even before permanent year-round European settlements began on the island around the mid-sixteen hundreds.

And it's the Vikings that bring be to my main point. First, let me state that I'm not claiming that there are any Beothuk living, hidden in the island's vast forests. The island is fairly heavily forested, but it is, after all, an island. In terms of being a distinct culture, with their own language, there's no question that they're extinct in that sense.

Recently, there's been a lot of buzz about the discovery of people in Iceland who carry Native markers in their blood - indeed, in the saga relating to Vinland (L'anse aux Meadows) they state that they brought a number of Native women back with them. One of those markers has been particularly associated with the Beothuk people, so there's intriguing evidence that at least some of their genetic material lives on.

blogs.canoe.ca/parker/general/descendants-of-newfoundlands-extinct-beothuk-live-on-in-iceland/

Additionally, there's been rampant speculation that the Beothuk interbred with the M'ikmak people, but funding to support a genetic study to determine the validity of that is woefully unavailable. Seems that the people who run the joint don't much care to know.

The M'ikmak migrated to the island from neighbouring Nova Scotia while the Beothuk numbers were dwindling, but there had long been trade between the two cultures and relatively friendly relations, giving ample opportunity for some good old fashioned.. old fashioned.

The M'ikmak angle is particularly exciting to me - my paternal grandmother was a M'ikmak woman, so there's a chance, however remote, that I have some tiny fraction of Beothuk blood in my veins.

But the sad truth is, for anybody carrying Beothuk genes, the percentage would only conceivably be 1-2%, meaning that in all likelyhood any individual of predominately European descent carries more Neanderthal blood than Beothuk blood.

The fate of the Beothuk at the hands of our not-so-distant ancestors is a shame that many Newfoundlanders carry with us. Yes, there were atrocities committed by both groups against one another. But only one of those groups committed a systematic and organized genocide against the other - there were actually bounties on the heads of any Beothuk, with people making decent money off of massacring Beothuk settlements and claiming the bounties on their heads.

I'll end this thread with the story of a young woman named Demasduit, who was taken captive years before
Shanawdithit willingly emerged from the wilderness. The English called her Mary March, and she was taken captive in March of 1819. Her journey to the European Newfoundlander's world was not at all like Shanawdithit's, she was taken by force in a raid on her village - her husband and many other individuals were killed in that raid, she was only spared because she bared her chest to show the white raiders that she was a nursing mother. This raid, I'll add, was led - shamefully - by a distant relative of mine, John Peyton JR. Her baby died in captivity.

There's a portrait of this striking young woman, one that's haunted me ever since I learned about the fate of the Beothuk in my fourth grade Social Studies class what seems like a lifetime ago.



That is, to my knowledge, the one and only portrait that exists of a living, breathing Beothuk individual, which I think is a testament to just how thorough the genocide of the Beothuk was. Her expression has long puzzled me, and her very expressive eyes have long haunted me. I can vividly imagine the fear in those eyes as my distant ancestor prepared to murder her to claim a bounty - I wonder if it wasn't those same big eyes that stayed his hand.

You correlated a bunch of great information! Little is known of the Beothuk People, however the comment section of the blog you cited was equally as fascinating. The potential Twillingate oral history was surprising, but a welcome read. S&F

Thanks for posting.

I don't know much about the Beothuks, except what most Maritimers know, that they lived in Newfoundland and were wiped out. It is interesting to hear more details of their story.

I hope the following is not derailing.

I grew up near Saint John, New Brunswick and so was more used to hearing the names of the Mi'kmaq and Maliseet people and particularly of their hero Glooscap.

I am an English speaking person but the way our education system worked in my day everybody's heros were our heros. Radisson, Count Frontenac, Dollard des Ormeaux and Glooscap all entered my imagination as a child.

Much later in life after I got into meditation and spirituality, I was amazed to discover that the spiritual heros of the aboriginal people still operate in the world. I believe in Glooscap.

He's a powerful spirit. In Saint John they believe he created Partridge Island.

en.wikipedia.org...

Your interest in the Beothuks is another way of showing that in reality "they" are "us".

Jolly interesting and thanks for posting - i'll have to read and digest later as i'm having too much fun being rude to people posting rubbish that could only ever wish to be this worthwhile... but just as a heads up, you should check out the Blog "Elfshot" by Tim Rast if you dont know it already - he's a crafter/archaeologist/historian who has a strong interest in the Beothuk and i reckon you may find more info there, or at least really enjoy following him

reply to post by skalla


Thanks a ton for letting me know about that remarkable site. I had not visited it before, but now I'm sure that I'll be checking back regularly. It has a great deal of info on the flint tools made by the cultures that inhabited my area, such as the Paleoeskimo and Maritime Archaic peoples. Very interesting.

I'll provide a link for anybody else who'd like to check the site out:

elfshotgallery.blogspot.ca...

A good resource for anybody interested in knapping and the manufacture of ancient flint tools.

I once tried knapping with the bottom of a broken beer bottle when I was a teenager. I cut myself to the bone, and have been apprehensive about trying again,but I'm having a rather dull summer, and I'm looking into getting the proper kit and giving it another go.

I fail to see what the big deal is. It's all evolution/ survival of the fittest, right? That's what makes us, as a species, stronger. We should be celebrating our species growing stronger and more fit for survival, rather than bemoan the loss of an inferior gene pool. History is full of cultures coming together and when they do the weaker either assimilates into the stronger, or goes extinct. Heck, the Beothuk probably displaced another culture when they settled the area themselves. And one day a group will come and displace us. And on and on it goes.

Sorry to sound harsh, but I didn't make the rules of evolution and natural selection. I just live by them.

reply to post by chrome413


Living in that time took skills and endurance, more I reckon than you have. If your post is all you have to add to the conversation you should have kept it to yourself.

I've been checking out the Elfshot site for many years. Since Harper cut the sciences I was glad of Tim posting the new archeological work going on in his area. It's not like the CBC was going too. I've had great respect for his work.

reply to post by chrome413


We get into very muddy waters when we try to apply the cold mantra of natural selection/survival of the fittest to our fellow human beings. It works well in nature, it's part of the reason we as human beings have gotten to the point we have evolutionarily, but there's something frankly inhuman about applying it to human cultures.

I like to think that, at least today, most humans are better than that. It seems like frankly a very juvenile worldview.

If you can rationalize and dismiss a full on genocide as simply survival of the fittest, then I shudder to think what else you're cool with.

Originally posted by Caver78
reply to post by chrome413

 

Living in that time took skills and endurance, more I reckon than you have. If your post is all you have to add to the conversation you should have kept it to yourself.

I wouldn't be so sure about my lack of survival skills. However, the post was intended to get people to think. The fact I have to explain that to you though tells me that you probably should have just kept your opinion to yourself.

Originally posted by chrome413
I fail to see what the big deal is. It's all evolution/ survival of the fittest, right?

I don't think so. If that were the case, there would be a lot more murder in the neighborhood.

That's what makes us, as a species, stronger. We should be celebrating our species growing stronger and more fit for survival, rather than bemoan the loss of an inferior gene pool.

I disagree with this. Where did you get the idea that our species was growing stronger and more fit for survival? Isn't there, in fact, abundant evidence for the contrary. We have increased in population only because of abundant food supplies. In other words we live, think and act like rodents. The big die off could happen at any time.

History is full of cultures coming together and when they do the weaker either assimilates into the stronger, or goes extinct.

That's not always the case. When the Mongolians conquered China, China assimilated them.

Heck, the Beothuk probably displaced another culture when they settled the area themselves. And one day a group will come and displace us. And on and on it goes.

You are probably right, but the idea that it is "onward and upward" every time this happens is a stretch. When the Greeks and their culture were conquered by Rome and then Rome was conquered by tribes from northern Europe, the Classical learning of the ancients was lost in all but a few monastic outposts in places like Ireland, which were off the beaten track of conquest.

It took hundreds of years to recover lost learning. Humanity was set back many generations by barbarian conquests in several parts of the world.

Sorry to sound harsh, but I didn't make the rules of evolution and natural selection. I just live by them.

Sorry to chuckle, but you don't know what you are talking about.

You seem to be confusing "Social Darwinism" with evolution. Social Darwinism's most prominent exponent in the 20th century was Adolf Hitler, who saw society and history in just the terms which are implied by your views.

Newfoundlanders could hardly be called more highly evolved than other Maritimers, who didn't kill every last man woman and child among the aboriginals in their provinces.

Chrome believe it or not no one here needs your help to begin thinking. Your post was both callus and off topic.

Back ON TOPIC-
More information can be found here, just click to preview to read.


The Beothucks Or Red Indians: The Aboriginal Inhabitants of Newfoundland
By James P. Howley
books.google.com...=onepage&q&f=false

reply to post by Caver78
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Regarding the use of the term 'red indian' to describe a native person or group, my understanding is that rather than the term refering to their supposed skin colour, many cultures, specifically the Beothuk, were known for painting their bodies with red ocre, a mineral.

reply to post by Monger


Check out the knapping thread in my sig, info on getting a basic and inexpensive kit together plus a vid on bottle bottom knapping. u2u me if you want pointers and links, it's bloody addictive and a great way to start. John C Whittaker's "Making and Understanding Stone Tools" is an invaluable book on knapping and has awesome diagrams clearly explaining techniques that started me getting things right in a way that youtube vids failed too. Awesome thread btw