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| Buy Here |
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| Newfoundland/Labrador, land of the Beothuks |
When
I began the process of studying Newfoundland/Labrador, I expected a plethora of
native peoples’ lore but found little to none. The Beothuks were a native
peoples who have supposedly become extinct after thriving in the north-eastern
province for over 2000 years.
Word
has drifted down they were tall. They colored their black hair and arms in red
ochre. Lighter skinned than expected, they were broad faced with flat noses. They also
tinted their clothes with red ochre. Nomadic, the land provided their food.
They were ingenious and lived well, with fences 30 miles long that penned in
deer. Their steam baths with hot stones were covered with skins.
They
were there when the Vikings landed on L’anse Aux Meadows. Sabastian Cabot either
briefly met them or saw them from a distance before being cast adrift by a
mutinous crew in Hudson Bay to never be seen again. Columbus never got that far
north so he never saw them.
By
the 17th century, they lived in the fringes of Newfoundland, away
from all the settlements. After the summer fishermen left the area, it was said
they would venture to the abandoned sites and take what they could, i.e.,
fishing lines, spoons and trinkets left behind but they were a shy people, never
mingling with the newcomers. Even as they stayed hidden, they were still
subjected to the European scourge of disease, which annihilated the majority of
their tribe by the beginning of the 19th century.
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| Beothuk Woman |
Another
source says their demise came from hostilities with another tribe, the Micmac,
that settled in NL in the 18th century. The French, tired of the
hostilities, offered a bounty on every Beothuk head brought to them. The Micmac
hunted the Beothuk to near extinction. By the first quarter of the 19th
century, they had died out. By 1827, not one Beothuk remained.
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Many
thanks to:
Chappell,
R.N., Edward, Lieut. Voyage of His
Majesty’s Ship Rosamond to Newfoundland and the Southern Coast of Labrador, London
1818
And
Wikicommons, public domain.
Very interesting. I always thought the French worked with the local people when they came to what eventually became Canada.
ReplyDeleteI guess not all French were amiable. At the end of the 17th century, the French attacked Newfoundland and destroyed all the buildings Sir David & Lady Sara had worked so hard to establish. They ended up killing Sir David's sons.
DeleteI hadn’t read about these people before, and found this quite interesting.
DeleteThanks so much. It always amazes me how research brings out the most intangible of facts.
DeleteVery interesting Kathy. Research can turn up some intriguing historical facts.
ReplyDeleteThanks Maggi.
Delete