The Beothuk people

1. The Beothuk people Sarah and Jasmine.

2. How they came to be • Beginning around AD 1500, the Beothuk culture was formed. There is very limited information on how they actually formed their tribe. The Beothuk people were around before things were being recorded and the very last Beothuk member was a woman named Shawnadithit. She died in 1829 and she had no children. So, it was very hard to record information about the Beothuk tribe since there’s no one left. • The ancestors of this group had three earlier cultural phases, each lasting approximately 500 years Life-sized bronze statue of Shanawdithit stands at Boyd's Cove on Newfoundland's northeast coast.

3. population • The Beothuk population amounted to about 500 to 700 people. Beothuk bands had between 35-55 members. • The Beothuk’s were the original natives of Newfoundland, Canada. • There were bands living all around the edges of Newfoundland. There is also evidence to suggest that Beothuk people also lived on the other side of the Strait of Belle Isle, this is now known as southern Labrador and the Québec Lower North Shore Map showing Little Passage Campsites, Beothuk campsites and sightings and Beothuk burials.

5. The diet • Certain bands of Beothuk would have been able to gather shellfish, fish for inshore species, and hunt harbour seal and many migratory birds close to the village in the warmer months, and they would hunt harp seals in the late winter and early spring. • Other Beothuk bands would have needed to take salmon from nearby the larger rivers in the summer. A caribou hunt in the fall was also common since they would not only use the caribou for the meat but for the skins for clothing and the sinews (tendons) which would be used as thread for sewing. • Overall, their main food supply was: caribou, salmon, and seals.

6. languages • There are limited records of their language, and theories about its classification are controversial. While some linguists and historians believe it is a branch of Algonquian, it is generally regarded by specialists as a language isolate, with information too fragmentary and unreliable to make any definite connections to other languages.

7. Work • There’s very limited information on the work and how it was divided between the Beothuk people since many things were not documented at the time. • However, it is known that they were superb hunters and gatherers. The devoted most of their time to hunting animals to provide for the rest of their tribe. • It is believed that the women in the tribe made use of the fur that came from the animal to make clothing. • The men were the ones who spent their time hunting for seals and caribous.

8. Economy • Most of the population was scattered because of the land requirements of a hunter-and-gatherer economy. The Beothuk economy was mostly costal. • For the most part the Beothuk kept to themselves and avoided contact with Europeans, so very little is known about themand their economy.

9. Political structure • Organized in  many bands based off of groups that hunted together and had alliances. Each band had leaders who had the duty of making decisions about when and where to move to, who to trade with and what they traded. These leaders were skilled hunters or an exceptionally wise man or woman. A leader could also be appointed if they brought about a consensus about a subject. 

10. inventions/contributions The Beothuk invented: • Deer fences which are long, funnel-shaped lines of poles with fluttery scraps of skin on them. • Pudding made out of tree sap and the dried yolk of the eggs of the Great Auk. • A birch bark canoe. • A birch-bark container covered with red ochre.

11. Interesting facts • Everywhere else in North America, native people were usually eager to trade furs for metal cutting and piercing tools. The Beothuk, however, had the unusual opportunity to acquire such goods without having to exchange furs for them. This meant that they did not have to modify their traditional way of life by expending effort in the winter hunting fur-bearing animals such as lynx, marten, and the like--animals that provided little in the way of edible meat.

12. The tragedy • Their main population centre was at the head of the Exploits River. This location also became a major focal point of European settlement, which inevitably led to conflict. Europeans had two things that killed the Beothuk in large numbers: guns and disease. • Limited interaction with Europeans also contributed to the Beothuk's demise. European interest in Newfoundland was mostly confined to its marine resources, so neither the British nor French governments appointed agents to establish relations with the Beothuk. • With no fur traders, missionaries, or government agents to facilitate contact and promote peaceful relations, and with the Beothuk strategy of avoidance, the two groups remained largely isolated from one another. Thus, the Beothuk were cut off from any help that may have come from potentially friendly groups among the outsiders.

13. The tragedy • European diseases also became a problem for the Beothuk, particularly after permanent settlement of the island increased in the 18th century. While some Beothuk may have contracted the measles or smallpox, tuberculosis was likely the most devastating of the European diseases. • Although it is unknown exactly how many Beothuk died from tuberculosis, evidence from Shanawdithit's conversation and other sources suggests their population sharply declined during the late 18th and early 19thcenturies. They went from 350 members in 1768 to 72 in 1811.

14. Works cited • "Aboriginal Peoples: Distribution and Size of Population: Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage." Aboriginal Peoples: Distribution and Size of Population: Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. • "Beothuk People." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 May 2014. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. • "Canada A Country by Consent: Native Peoples: Beothuk." Canada A Country by Consent: Native Peoples: Beothuk. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. • Lewis, Orrin. "Beothuk Indian Facts." The Beothuk Indians (Skraeling, Red Indian, Beothuks). Laura Redish, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014. • Marshall, Ingeborg. "A History of the Beothuk." N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.