People have lived in Newfoundland for at least 9,000 years, but it is unlikely the first residents were Beothuk. Ice age hunters followed the retreating glaciers into the area and remained as the Maritime Archaic Culture until about 3,200 years ago. They were replaced by paleo-eskimos - the Groswater and then later the Dorset Cultures. The Beothuk are believed to have first occupied the coastal areas of Newfoundland sometime around AD 200 and shared the area with the Dorset Eskimo during the next 400 years. After AD 600 there were only Beothuk living in Newfoundland. Towards the end of the 10th century, the Vikings (Norse) reached North America and established one of their settlements at L'Anse aux Meadows National Historic Park at Epaves Bay (near Cape Bauld on the northern end of Newfoundland). Exactly how far south the Vikings explored along the coast is unknown, but it is certain the people they encountered there, who they called Skraelings, were Beothuk. During the time they remained on Newfoundland, the Vikings traded with the Beothuk and occasionally fought with them, the most notable incident being a battle over a Viking cow.

This contact occurred during a period of unusually warm weather. The climate turned much colder during the 11th century, and the Vikings abandoned their North American settlements never to return. The next known contact between Beothuk and Europeans came 500 years later with the voyage of Giovanni Cabato (John Cabot), a Venetian navigator sailing for Henry VII of England. Cabot visited both Labrador and Newfoundland in 1497 and returned to England with tales of the seas in the area teaming with fish. Unlike some stories about the New World, this one was true. Instantly, European fishing boats (Portuguese, Basque, Spanish) began making trips to the Grand Banks every summer. If the fishermen had stuck to catching fish, perhaps things would have been different. Instead, some took to catching Beothuk . In 1501 the Portuguese explorer Gaspar Corte-Real returned from Newfoundland with 50 Beothuk "man slaves" captured during his expedition, and in 1507 Norman fisherman brought another seven Beothuk prisoners to France.

By the time the Portuguese and English fisherman started coming ashore in 1519 to dry their catch, the Beothuk had learned from painful experience to avoid these strange pale-skinned people. The fishing was phenomenal, and the number of ship grew every year. By 1578 over 400 European fishing boats were gathering every summer off the coast of Newfoundland and at least 50 rudimentary houses had been built as summer residences for the fishermen. No one was willing to stay over for the winter, so these were abandoned in the fall when the fishing fleet returned to Europe. What developed was a pattern where the Beothuk would avoid Europeans while they were there in the summer and then pilfer their abandoned dwellings when they left. Eventually, familiarity, curiosity, and a touch of greed led to constant theft while the Europeans were actually there. Within a few years, contact with the Beothuk became commonplace but it was not the kind that builds friendship and trust. Beothuk stole anything the Europeans didn't have nailed down, and the fishermen treated the Beothuk with contempt, distrust, and even hatred.

Meanwhile, the British decided, based on Cabot's voyage in 1497, that Newfoundland belonged to them. In 1583 Sir Humphrey Gilbert, with a grant from Queen Elizabeth I, attempted to establish a colony in North America. This effort was a failure, but in the process, he laid formal claim to Newfoundland and the Canadian Maritimes. This takeover met surprisingly little protest from the other Europeans, probably because they hoped the British would provide order and protection for the fishing fleet from Turkish pirates (yes, Turkish is correct). In addition, the British at first did not attempt any settlement to support their claim. In fact, settlement in Newfoundland was officially discouraged by the British Crown in the interest of the Merchant Adventurers of southwest England who wanted exclusive rights to the offshore fishing. The only objection (and it proved to be important) came from France, who also claimed Newfoundland as a result of Jacques Cartier's explorations in 1535.

While other Europeans continued to fish the area as before, the British made their first attempt at permanent settlement in 1610 when John Guy established himself at Conception Bay on the island's southeast corner. Guy actually managed to meet some Beothuk and, after overcoming their initial suspicions (which were considerable), started trading with them. Their reaction to getting European goods by trade rather than theft seems to have been absolute joy, and Guy was able to arrange a spot for a future meeting and trade to begin when the next British ship arrived. Unfortunately, Guy failed to inform the ship's captain of his arrangement, and when the ship finally arrived, it was surrounded by hundreds of Beothuk eager to trade. The captain fired his cannon at them, and the Beothuk disappeared. Guy was never able to regain their trust, and his settlement gradually died. However, St. John's was founded in 1613, followed by an abortive attempt by John Calvert (Lord Baltimore) to start a colony for English Catholics in 1623.

Actually, the first permanent newcomers to seriously affect the Beothuk were Native American, not European. For as long as they can remember, the Micmac from Cape Breton had been visiting Newfoundland during the summer to take advantage of the fishing. Their relations with the "Red Indians" had almost always been friendly, but in 1613 a French fisherman shot at an Beothuk who was trying to rob him. The Beothuk responded with an uprising which killed 37 French fishermen, and to protect themselves, the French began to encourage their Micmac allies to settle permanently in southern Newfoundland. As Micmac settlement spread along the southern coast of Newfoundland, competition with the Beothuk for resources led to fighting. The French provided the Micmac with firearms to defend both themselves and French fishermen, and it was no contest. The Beothuk were driven inland away from their usual food sources on the coast. Although the French during this period have been accused of paying bounties to the Micmac for Beothuk heads and scalps, no solid evidence has yet been found proving they actually did this. The Micmac also deny they were paid to kill Beothuk. Whatever the cause, the Beothuk were displaced into the interior.

At the same time the Micmac were blocking the Beothuk access to the southern coast, a string of new British settlements was beginning to extend the eastern coast from St. John's forcing the Beothuk inland in that area. About the only advantage in what was happening to the Beothuk was, because of their avoidance of Europeans, they apparently were able to avoid many of the epidemics which were decimating the other tribes in the region. Meanwhile, competition between France and Great Britain over the Beothuk homeland with its rich fishing grounds was becoming intense. The French attacked several British settlements during 1627 and 1628, but the British rebuilt. During the 1650s the French countered the British presence with a permanent settlement of Basque fishermen at Placentia. The Basque rebelled in 1660 and murdered the French governor, but the French regained control and in 1662 stationed its first soldiers to Newfoundland. The British held on to St. John's despite the growing French threat and its capture by the Dutch in 1665. After peace with Holland, the British strengthened their forts and in 1673 repulsed another Dutch attack and a raid by four pirate ships.

After the outbreak of the King William's War (1687-1696) between them, both the French and British tried to expel each other from Newfoundland. The Beothuk, by this time, had moved mostly into the interior and may not have even been aware of the struggle going on for their homeland. Although they were hostile to all intruders, French, British, or Micmac, they were not a factor in the war. During the first years of the war, the French made assaults almost every year against the small. isolated British settlements. The British countered with a major naval attack on Placentia but failed to destroy the French forts defending it. The fighting continued until the fall of 1696 when Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville brought 120 French regulars, 40 Abenaki warriors, and some French Canadians to Newfoundland. Combined with the Placentia garrison, his force totaled more than 400, and he was able to destroy all of the British settlements along the south shore and capture St. John's. The British settlers were deported, but the Treaty of Ryswick (1697) restored St. John's to Britain. 1,500 British troops reoccupied St. John's that summer and began construction of Fort William which was completed by 1700.

Queen Anne's War (1701-1713) began the following year, and France and Britain renewed their attacks on each other's settlements, but this time on a greater scale than during the previous conflict. Reinforced by Abenaki and Micmac warriors, the French succeeded in destroying most of the British settlements during 1704 and 1705 but failed to capture Fort William during a five-week siege. A second effort to take the fort in 1709 was successful, but their success was short-lived. British troops arrived in Newfoundland a year later and rebuilt Fort William. A British naval attack on Placentia failed in 1712, but the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) gave Great Britain control of Newfoundland and the Canadian Maritimes. The French population and garrison at Placentia left Newfoundland and moved across the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Cape Breton (Nova Scotia) where they began construction of an enormous new fortress at Louisbourgh. Fighting during King George's War (1744-1748) and the French and Indian War (1755-1763) centered around the fortification at Louisbourgh. Little happened in Newfoundland during these conflicts except for a brief invasion by 800 French troops in 1762. The British, however, reacted immediately and recaptured the island.

Other than than the brief mention of John Guy's encounter with the Beothuk in 1612, there was almost no mention of the Beothuk during the next 150 years. Actually, this is not really surprising there was very little European settlement in Newfoundland during this time. Fighting between the French and British, coupled with restrictive settlement policies of the British government, served to keep this to a minimum. What little there was was restricted to the coastline, and few Europeans dared to venture into the interior because of Beothuk hostility. Contacts were few and usually limited to the Beothuk on occasion slipping silently into European settlements to steal metal or other goods. After the period of wars between France and Britain for North America ended, British settlement spread north along the eastern coast cutting off what remained of Beothuk access to the sea. The worst enemy of the Beothuk was starvation. By 1768 they were fewer than 400 and mostly confined to the Exploits River Valley on the north side of Newfoundland. The Beothuk pattern of avoiding contact and theft continued. In reaction, many British settlers began shooting Beothuk on sight like they were some kind of wolf or other dangerous predator. There was no actual warfare, but several punitive expeditions were made into the interior to punish thefts.

During 1810 the British government issued an official proclamation of protection for the Beothuk and began attempts to make contact with them. After centuries of distrust and mistreatment, some of these efforts were more like war than communication. British settlers at Twillingate were still shooting Beothuk on site in 1817, when an expedition led by Lt Buchan finally made contact. To gain their trust, Buchan detailed two of his men to stay overnight at the Beothuk camp while two Beothuk warriors slept with his party. In the morning, his Beothuk departed suddenly. Later, Buchan found the bodies of his two men, beheaded and mutilated. Between 1819 and 1823, there were several other encounters with Beothuk with better results, but often fighting. In the process, several prisoners were taken of whom the better-known ones were Demasduit (Mary March) and Nancy Shanawdithit. A careful search of Newfoundland during 1827 was unable to locate a single Beothuk, but it is likely the last remnants crossed over to the mainland in Labrador and were absorbed by the Montagnais or Naskapi. Otherwise the Beothuk are extinct. The last known Beothuk, Nancy Shanawhdit, died of tuberculosis in 1829.

Want to know more about the Beothuk?
- General Overview
- Beothuk History
- Beothuk Culture

Bilbliography

  • A History and Ethnography of the Beothuk; Ingeborg Marshall; Montreal and Kingston: McGill – Queen’s University Press; 1996
  • An Ahistory of Hunter-Gatherers: The Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland and the Anthropological Imagination; Paper presented at the 98th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association; November 17-21, 1999; Chicago; Donald H. Holly Jr.
  • The Beothuks or Red Indians; J. P. Howley; Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Reprinted by Coles Publishing Co., Ltd.; 1974
  • The Beothuk of Newfoundland: A Vanished People; Ingeborg Marshall; St. John's; 1989
  • The Collapse of the Beothuk World; Ralph T. Pastore; Acadiensis, 19, 1; Fall 1989
  • Extinction: The Beothuks of Newfoundland; Frederick W. Rowe; Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Ltd.; 1977
  • Newfoundland and Labrador Prehistory; James A. Tuck; Ottawa: National Museum of Man; 1976
  • The Extermination of the Beothuks of Newfoundland; Leslie Upton; Canadian Historical Review, LVIII; 1977

information from various sources compiled in my own words. any direct quotes are used with permission from the author(s)