History and Ethnography of the Beothuk 9780773565890

Citation preview

A History and Ethnography of the Beothuk

The Beothuk, the aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland, were hunters, gatherers, and fishers who moved seasonally between the coast and the interior. With the influx of European settlements and fisheries in the I700s the Beothuk found their territory increasingly reduced and conflict between the two groups escalated. The Beothuk declined steadily in numbers and by the early I8oos they had ceased to exist as a viable cultural group. Shanawdithit, the last of her people, died in 1829. Following their extinction, the Beothuk came to be viewed as a people whose origins, history, and fate were shrouded in mystery. In recent years this view has been widely questioned and a new interest in this native group has emerged. On a quest to sort fact from fiction, Ingeborg Marshall, a leading expert on the Beothuk, has produced an elegant, comprehensive, and scholarly review of the history and culture of the Beothuk that incorporates an unmatched amount of new archival material with up-to-date archaeological data. Part I documents the history of the Beothuk from the first European encounter in the 15008 to their demise. Marshall focuses on relations between Beothuk and English through the centuries and the reasons for change in Beothuk distribution and population size. She provides a highly readable and lucid account of the increasing competition between Beothuk and English for resources on the coast, the interferences of English trappers with Beothuk hunting activities, and the hostilities that resulted. She examines the conciliatory attempts of private citizens and naval officers to meet with the Beothuk, the taking of Beothuk captives, and factors, such as disease and starvation, that contributed to the decline of the population. Relations with Inuit, Montagnais, and Micmac are also discussed. Part II is a comprehensive review of Beothuk culture. Each chapter focuses on an ethnographic theme, such as size and distribution of the Beothuk population, aspects of social organization, food consumption and subsistence economies, tools and ustensils, hunting and fishing techniques, appearance and clothing, dwellings, canoes and other means of transportation, burial practices, and fighting methods, as well as the Beothuk world view and language. INGEBORG MARSHALL is an honorary research associate with the Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Miniature portrait of "A female Red Indian of Nfld. 'Mary March' painted by W. Gosse at St John's Nfld. July '41 fm an original by Lady Hamilton May 1821 [1819]," which probably portrays Shanawdithit.

A History and Ethnography of the Beothuk INGEBORG

MARSHALL

McGill-Queen's University Press Montreal & Kingston • London • Buffalo

© McGill-Queen's University Press 1996 ISBN 0-7735-1390-6 No portion of this book may be photocopied or otherwise reproduced without the written permission of the publisher Legal deposit second quarter 1996 Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec Printed in Canada on acid-free paper Reprinted 1997 This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Social Science Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. McGill-Queen's University Press is grateful to the Canada Council for support of its publishing program. Publication of this project was assisted jointly by the Government of Canada and the Province of Newfoundland through the Canada/Newfoundland Cooperation Agreement on Cultural Industries, and by the Association for Canadian Studies through funds made available by the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Marshall, Ingeborg, 1929A history and ethnography of the Beothuk Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-7735-1390-6 I. Beothuk Indians - History. 2. Ethnology - Newfoundland. I. Title E99.B4M37 1996 971I.8'oo4979 c96-900349-8

This book was typeset by Typo Litho Composition Inc. in 10/12 Times.

Contents

Tables, Maps, Graphs, and Sketches Plates

xi

xiv

Acknowledgments xvii Introduction

3

PART ONE

HISTORY

1 The Sixteenth Century: First Contact 13 Introduction: Before Contact/The Historic Period: Early Records of Native People in Newfoundland/ The Cabots and CÔrte Real/Other Early SixteenthCentury Sources/Jacques Cartier at Blanc Sablon/ Accounts by Hoare, Crignon, and Alphonse/ Descriptions by Jehan Mallart and Andre Thevet/ Meetings and Trade between Sixteenth-Century Fishing Crews and Newfoundland Indians/Sir Humphrey Gilbert's Expedition and an Eyewitness Account from 1594 2 The Seventeenth Century: Colonization, Trade, and Encroachment 25 English Plans to Colonize/John Guy Meets with Beothuk/Henry Crout Returns to Trinity Bay/ Colonies Founded by Other English Promoters/ Failure to Convert the Beothuk/Interaction with Seasonal Fishing Crews/Beothuk Contact with the Dutch and French 3 Relations between the Beothuk and Their Native Neighbours 42

vi Contents Micmac Hunting and Trapping/The Beothuk in Micmac Tradition/Micmac in Beothuk Tradition/ The Effect of Micmac Hostilities on the Beothuk/ Conflict between Inuit and Fishing Crews/ Beothuk/InuitConflict/Beothuk/Montagnais Relations/Information on Montagnais from Shanawdithit 4 Competition for Resources on the Coast 61 Redistribution of Beothuk in the Early I7OOS/ The Growth of the English Salmon Fishery/ The Beothuk's Exclusion from Salmon Rivers/ Sea Travel to Bird Colonies Becomes Hazardous 5 Hostilities over Hunting and Trapping 69 The English Fur Business/Beothuk and Furriers Clash/Intermittent Small Trade with Beothuk/ Factors That Prevented a Regular Fur Trade/The Growth of the English Fur Business/The Effect of English Sealing on the Beothuk 6 Lieutenant John Cartwright Explores Beothuk Country 84 Preparation and Exploration/Information on the Beothuk/A Beothuk Captive/A Proclamation Is Issued 7 Intensified Conflict between Beothuk and Settlers 95 Records of Hostile Acts by Beothuk/Traditions Recorded by J.P. Howley/Hostile Acts by the English/Failure to Control Persisting Persecution/ Why the Beothuk Continued to Take and Damage Equipment 8 Plans to Conciliate the Beothuk 113 George Cartwright's Plan for an Indian Reserve/ A Proposal by George Christopher Pulling, RN/ Chief Justice John Reeves's Endeavour/Governor Waldegrave's Attempts at Improving Relations with Beothuk 9 The Capture of Beothuk to Make Peace 122 Seeking Friendly Relations through Exchanges/ The Capture of Beothuk/Captives as Conciliators/ William Cull Captures a Beothuk Woman/Luring the Beothuk with a Painting/Instructions to Con-

vii Contents vert Beothuk/Records of White People Captured by Beothuk 10 Lieutenant Buchan's Efforts to Make Contact 137 The Distribution of Beothuk in the Early 1800s/ Preparations for a Mission to the Beothuk/ Buchan's Expeditions/Shanawdithit's Version of the Events/Buchan's Concluding Remarks and Map of the Country/Buchan's Subsequent Searches/Meetings with Beothuk Remain Unattainable 11 Micmac and Montagnais versus Beothuk: The Final Phase 154 Micmac Encroachment into Beothuk Territory/ Records of Kidnapping and Intermarriage/ Beothuk Response to Micmac Encroachment/ Micmac Views on the Demise of the Beothuk 12 The Captive Demasduit 160 Beothuk Transgressions Precipitate a Confrontation/The Taking of Demasduit/Demasduit/Captain Buchan's Final Attempt to Meet Beothuk/ The Search for Beothuk Is Suspended 13 1822-27: The Boeothick Institution 181 William E. Cormack Searches for Beothuk/ The Killing of Two Beothuk/The Capture of Shanawdithit, Her Mother, and Her Sister/The Founding of the Boeothick Institution/Cormack and the Boeothick Institution Conduct Searches 14 Shanawdithit 201 A Protege of the Boeothick Institution/Shanawdithit in St John's/Shanawdithit's Story of Her People/Shanawdithit's Sketches/Information on Beothuk Culture/Cormack's View of the Beothuk/ Shanawdithit's Death 15 Epilogue 224 Sightings in Newfoundland and Labrador/Newfoundlanders and Britons Begin to Acknowledge Responsibility APPENDICES 1 Transcript of Letter from Henry Crout to Sir Percival Willoughby, August 1613 235 2 Biographies of Major Informants

238

viii Contents PART T W O

ETHNOGRAPHY

Introduction 249 Chronology of Major Events 16 Position of Beothuk in Newfoundland Prehistory 254 Maritime Archaic Indians/Early and Late PalaeoEskimo/Thule Eskimo/Recent Indians/Little Passage Indians/The Norse/The Beothuk 17 Distribution and Size of the Beothuk Population 272 Introduction/Geographical Distribution/Approximate Size of the Beothuk Population 18 Aspects of Social Organization 285 Tribal Structure and Cooperation among Bands/ Ceremonies and Celebrations/Band Leadership/ Differences in Social Status/Presence of Shamans 19 Food Consumption and Subsistence Economies 294 Food Consumption/Subsistence Economies 20 Tools and Utensils, Hunting and Fishing Techniques Tools/Utensils/Hunting Techniques 311 21 Appearance and Clothing 336 Personal Appearance/The Manufacture of Clothing 22 Mamateeks and Other Structures 350 Conical Mamateeks/Six-Sided (Hexagonal) Mamateeks/Square and Rectangular Mamateeks/ Oval Mamateeks/Eight-Sided (Octagonal) Mamateeks/Five-Sided (Pentagonal) Mamateeks/ Unspecified House Types/Changes in the Use of Conical Mamateeks and Developments in Beothuk House Building/Vapour Baths, Storage Facilities, and Other Structures 23 Birchbark Canoes and Other Means of Transportation 364 Birchbark Canoes/Other Means of Transportation 24 Beothuk World View and Belief-Related Practices 377 The Spirit World/Rituals and Taboos/Personal Guardian Spirits/Origin Myth and Belief in an

ix Contents Afterlife/Application of Red Ochre/Mythological Emblems/Carved Bone Pieces/Games/Different Types of Beads 25 Burial Places and Mortuary Practices 398 A Burial Hut and the Burial of a Child/Preparation of the Dead for Burial/Types of Burials/ Grave Furnishings 26 Fighting Methods and Peace Tokens 421 Weapons and Shields/Fighting Methods with Other Native Groups/Strategies in Conflicts with Europeans/Signals of Peace/Head Trophies 27 The Beothuk Language 428 The Oubee Wordlist/A Vocabulary Obtained from Demasduit/Words and Phrases Supplied by Shanawdithit/Beothuk Songs/The Term Beothuk/ Is Beothuk an Algonquian Language? 28 Concluding Discussion

438

LISTS IA

Authenticated Beothuk Burials

412

IB Recorded Burials Whose Beothuk Origin Has Not Been Authenticated 414 APPENDICES 3 Beothuk Namefile 447 4 Beothuk Artifact Collections

451

5 Institutions Contacted in Search of Beothuk Artifacts and Documentary Source Material Notes

457

Bibliography Index

621

581

453

This page intentionally left blank

Tables, Maps, Graphs, and Sketches

TABLES 5.1 Quantities of Furs Sold by the English, 16771827 80 15.1 Beothuk Sites or Encounters Recorded in Documents 229 16. 1 Prehistoric and Historic Archaeological Sites with Cow Head, Beaches, Little Passage Indian, and/or Beothuk Remains 265 25. 1 Beothuk Graves and Grave Goods

416

MAPS, GRAPHS, AND SKETCHES

1. 1 Map of Newfoundland

12

3. 1 Map of Newfoundland showing places to which Micmac resorted 43 3.2 Map of Newfoundland showing places to which Inuit and Montagnais resorted 52 6.1 "A map of the Island of Newfoundland," by Lieut. John Cartwright, 1773 88 6.2 "A Sketch of the Exploits River and the East End of Lieutenant's Lake in Newfoundland," by Lieut. John Cartwright, 1773 89 7.1 Map of northeastern Newfoundland showing places to which Beothuk resorted 96 10.1 Sketch of the River Exploits, 1811, by Lieut. David Buchan 148

xii Tables, Maps, Graphs, and Sketches 12. 1 Capt. David Buchan's track into the interior of Newfoundland, 1820, Part 1 175 12.2 Capt. David Buchan's track into the interior of Newfoundland, 1820, Part II 176 13.1 W.E. Cormack's routes across Newfoundland in 1822 and 1827 184 13.2 Cormack's route in 1827 and location of summer residence and hunting grounds of Red Indians 198 14.1 Shanawdithit's sketch 4: Beothuk camps 182227 209 14.2 a) Shanawdithit's sketch 10: "The House in St John's" 211 b) Shanawdithit's sketch of two small figures 212 14.3 Shanawdithit's sketch 11: profile of a person 14.4 Sketch 12: interior of a room

213

213

14.5 a) Braid of Shanawdithit's hair 218 b) Paper cuttings (watch glasses) made by Shanawdithit 219 14.6 Tentative family tree for Shanawdithit and Demasduit 222 16.1 Map of Prehistoric Indian and Eskimo archaeological sites in Newfoundland 255 19.1 Shanawdithit's sketch 7: "Different kinds of animal food" 297 19.2 Diagram of Beothuk's seasonal exploitation of resources 300 20. 1 John Cartwright's sketch of bow, arrows, quivers, and canoe with paddle 315 20.2 Shanawdithit's sketch 8: black man or Red Indian's devil, sealing harpoon, spear, a dancer, storehouse for dried venison, drinking cups and water buckets 318 20.3 Map of Lloyd's River with lookout and caribou trap, by J.P. Howley, 188os 330 20.4 Map of caribou fences recorded between 1768 and the 188os 331

xiii Tables, Maps, Graphs, and Sketches 21.1 Adult pants used as burial shroud in child's burial 345 21.2 (a and b) Two moccasins from child's burial on Big Island 348 22.1 Hexagonal housepit at the Indian Point site

353

22.2 Preliminary plan of excavated hexagonal house at Indian Point site 354 22.3 Shanawdithit's sketch 6: winter and summer mamateek, smoking or drying house for venison, two small racks, and several unidentified items 357 22.4 Plan of excavated pentagonal house at the Wigwam Brook site 359 23.1 John Guy's sketch of a Beothuk canoe, 1612 23.2 End profile of canoe replica

365

370

23.3 John Cartwright's sketch of a Beothuk camp, 1768 372 24.1 Shanawdithit's sketch 9: "Emblems of Mythology" 386 24.2 Grave goods from burial on Rencontre Island

397

25. 1 Sketch of burial on Hangman's Island, Placentia Bay 407 25.2 a) Sketch of burial on Tilt Island, Placentia Bay 408 b) Birchbark shield for covering remains in a burial 408

Plates

Frontispiece: Miniature portrait no. I of "a female Red Indian" by W. Gosse, 1841, which probably portrays Shanawdithit 2.1 Beothuk site at Russel Point, Dildo Pond, Trinity Bay xxii 9.1 Painting of Beothuk and English trading

xxiii

10. 1 Shanawdithit's sketch I: "Captain Buchan's visit to the Red Indians," 1811 145 10.2 Shanawdithit's sketch 2: "The Taking of Mary March" and "Captain Buchan's visit in 1810u" 146 10.3 Shanawdithit's sketch 5: "Accompanied with others old Mr Peyton killed Woman at A" 152 12.1 Miniature portrait of Mary March [Demasduit], painted by Lady Hamilton facing page 168 12.2 Shanawdithit's sketch 3: "Captain Buchan carries up the body of Mary March," 1820 170 14. 1 Miniature portrait no. 2 of "a female Red Indian" by W. Gosse, 1841 206 14.2 Portrait of "Shanawdithit" in the Mission Field, 1856 207 14.3 Monument in memory of Shanawdithit's grave 220 16.1 The Beaches, a multicomponent site in Bonavista Bay 258

xv Plates 16.2 Prehistoric native stone quarry in Bonavista Bay 259 16.3 Little Passage Indian tools from Inspector Island 261 16.4 Brighton Tickle Island, a multicomponent site 16.5 Boyd's Cove site

262

264

20.1 a) Harpoon head without blade 313 b) Netting needle 313 c) Bone needle from burial at Musgrave Harbour 313 20.2 Metal projectiles and harpoon head with metal blade 314 20.3 Wooden bowl taken from Beothuk mamateek 20.4 Four bark dishes from the burial of a child

320

322

20.5 a) Folded birchbark dish 323 b) Oval birchbark dish 323 20.6 Birchbark meat dish

324

20.7 a) Birchbark dish 325 b) Mug-shaped birchbark container

325

20.8 Combs carved from bone and antler

327

21.1 Coat fringe

343

21.2 Two moccasins from child's burial 23.1 Birchbark canoe replica

347

365

23.2 Two birchbark canoe replicas

366

23.3 Shanawdithit's replica of a birchbark canoe

367

23.4 Shanawdithit's canoe replica, inside view 368 23.5 Beothuk-type full-sized birchbark canoe 24.1 Carved bone pendants

389

24.2 Carved bone pendants

390

373

24.3 Necklace of six carved pendants and an animal tooth 392 24.4 Gaming pieces

393

24.5 Two strings of discoidal beads

395

xvi Plates 25.1 Wooden male figurine from child's burial 25.2 Cobble beach burial at Spirit Cove 25.3 Burial under rock overhang, Fox Bar 25.4 Burial cave, Swan Island

400

401 402

403

25.5 Pendant burial cave on Long Island

403

25.6 Disturbed burial on a small island off Western Indian Island 404

Acknowledgments

The research for this book has been supported by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Urgent Ethnology Division, National Museum of Civilization, Ottawa; also by grants from the Dean of Graduate Studies Fund, the Vice-President's Fund, and the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER), Memorial University of Newfoundland. Financial assistance for the writing and publication has been granted by the Association for Canadian Studies through funds made available by the Department of Canadian Heritage, by the Social Science Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and by the Government of Canada and the Province of Newfoundland through the Canada/Newfoundland Cooperation Agreement on Cultural Industries. I am grateful to these agencies for their financial contributions. A comprehensive study of this nature inevitably draws on the work of many scholars and writers from a variety of disciplines, and I wish to acknowledge my debt to all those who have, over the years, created the extensive knowledge base on which I have built. I have also benefited from the assistance and expertise of a large number of colleagues and friends without whose support this study could not have been completed. More than any other people Marianne P. Stopp and W.H. Marshall deserve credit and sincere gratitude. Marianne Stopp has been an invaluable source of inspiration and encouragement and has reviewed, commented on, and edited several drafts of each chapter. W.H. Marshall has made himself available for discussions and has edited every section of the book. I am also much indebted to Philip J. Cercone, executive director and chief editor at McGill-Queen's University Press, for taking on the publication of this work and for his support, to Joan McGilvray for orchestrating the publication process, and to Claire Gigantes for her skilful and sensitive editing, to Heather Ebbs for her extensive index, and to the typesetters for their excellent work. I also wish to thank the readers of McGill-Queen's University Press and of the

xviii Acknowledgments Grant in Aid of Publication Programme of the Canadian Federation for the Humanities for their helpful comments. I wish to express profound gratitude to the late David Howley and to Consie Howley, St John's, for having graciously encouraged my work, and to the Howley family for having granted access to the papers of James Patrick Howley, author of The Beothucks or Red Indians (1915), and permission to publish selected items. I wish to thank John Cartwright, Johannesburg, South Africa, and his mother, the late Patricia Cartwright, for their generous hospitality and for allowing me to examine and copy some of the Cartwright family papers. My thanks are extended to Mrs L.H. Baxter, Westbury, UK, a member of the David Buchan family, for information on the Buchans, to Bodil Larsen for putting me in touch with Mrs Baxter, and to Regina O'Keefe, Manuels, for information on Shanawdidth.it and W.E. Cormack. Special thanks are due to Don Locke, Grand Falls, who made his collection available to me and took me to Beothuk sites on the Exploits River, and to Marg Locke, who kindly provided hospitality. I extend sincere thanks to the late F.A. Aldrich, Kirsten Alnaes, Selma Barkham, the late Hedi Brueckner, Elaine Harp, and Elmer Harp, Jr, and to Leslie Harris, for their assistance and support; to Richard E. Buehler for checking the bibliography, Gillian Cell for providing me with her transcript of Henry Grout's letter and permission to publish, Maxine Frecker for checking out Shanawdithit's family tree, John Hewson for reviewing the chapter on Beothuk language, Scott James for sharing his experience of building Beothuk-type canoes, William J. Kirwin for drawing my attention to the article "Sketches of savage life" by John McGregor, Charles A. Martijn for reviewing the chapters on relations between Beothuk and Micmac, Inuit, and Montagnais, Thomas Nemec for his advice and continued support, Ralph Pastore and James A. Tuck for giving me access to unpublished archaeological information and for reviewing the chapter on prehistory; to Helen Peters for her editorial work on the manuscript, Fran?oy Raynauld for generously making his research material available, K.B. Roberts for his advice, Peter Scott for information on flora and fauna, Lloyd Seaward for information on the performance of the Beothuk-type bark canoe he built, Adrian Tanner for reviewing the chapter on the Beothuk world view, Edward Thompkins for sharing his research material with me, and Ruth Holmes Whitehead for reviewing and commenting on specific chapters and supplying me with comparative material. I am also grateful to Robin Bartlett, Richard H. Ellis, Olaf Janzen, Peggy Hogan, Sonja Jerkic, Alan Macpherson, Alfred, Christopher, and Mary-Anne Marshall, Thomas Price, Hans Rollmann, the late Senator Frederick Rowe, D.W.S. Ryan, Cathy and John Sheldon, and other colleagues and friends for their assistance; and to Shane Mahoney and E. Mercer for information on caribou behaviour and on terrestial mammals, Bruce Atkinson on groundfish, John Chardine on seabirds, Gerry Ennis on shellfish, Gary Stenson on seals, Rex Porter on salmonids, John Lien on whales, and Oscar Forsay for figures on furs obtained between 1975 and 1984.

xix Acknowledgments Archaeological work that I have drawn on is credited in the notes and in the bibliography. I appreciate that I was able to use the surveys and field notes of Helen Devereux, University of Toronto. Discussions and correspondence with graduates from Memorial University whose research has contributed to our knowledge of the prehistory and history of the Beothuk were also helpful: among them, Reginald Auger, Shaun Austin, Paul Carignan, Janet E. Chute, William Gilbert, Raymond J. LeBlanc, Laurie MacLean, Gerald Penney, Ken Reynolds, Doug Robbins, and Anna Sawicki. I am also indebted to the curators, librarians, and archivists in institutions in St John's and elsewhere whose assistance has been invaluable. Particular thanks are due to the following: Memorial University of Newfoundland, Queen Elizabeth II Library, the Centre for Newfoundland Studies (CNS): Anne Hart, head, Joan Ritcey, librarian; CNS Archive: the late Nancy Grenville and Bert Riggs, archivists; Maritime History Archive (MHA): Heather Wareham and Roberta Thomas, archivists; Historic Resources Division of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation: Martha Drake, provincial archaeologist; Newfoundland Museum: Kevin McAleese, curator of archaeology and ethnography, Susan Maunder, registrar, and John Maunder, curator of natural history; Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador (PANL): David Davis, provincial archivist, and archivists John Murphy, Photograph and Map Division, Howard Brown, Manuscript Division, Shelley Smith, Government Records, R. Calvin Best, Reference and Researcher Services; Provincial Reference and Resource Library (PRRL): Charles Cameron, division head, Joan Grandy, archivist; Methodist Archive, St John's: Burnham Gill, archivist; Mary March Museum, Grand Falls: Clifford Evans, director; National Archives of Canada, Ottawa (NAC): Patricia Kennedy, senior specialist in the State and Military Archive Program, Manuscript Division; Edward Dahl, early cartography specialist; Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull: David L. Keenlyside, Atlantic Provinces archaeologist, and J. Garth Taylor, Central Algonkian ethnologist; also Kitty Bishop-Glover, Annette Clark, Louise Eastabrooks, Genevieve Eustache, Helen Montminy, and Rachel Perkins; McCord Museum, Montreal: Conrad Graham, curator; National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, UK: N.E. Upham, curator of models; National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK: Dale Idiens, curator of ethnography, and Maureen Barrie, curator; Museum of Mankind, London, UK: J.C.H. King, keeper; Volkerkundliches Museum, Vienna: Christian Feest, director. I also gratefully acknowledge assistance from countless unnamed staff members in institutions in Canada, the us, Britain, Germany, and Norway. Credit is due to John Bourne and Patricia Adams, Photographic Service, and Eugene Ryan and John Crowell, Health Science Information Media Service, both at Memorial University of Newfoundland, for excellent photographic work; to Gary McManus, Cartographic Laboratory, Memorial University, for producing maps; and to Brian Pay ton and Cliff George for creating graphics.

xx Acknowledgments Finally, I gratefully acknowledge the following for permission to publish maps, drawings, photographs, and paintings. Public Record Office, Kew, UK: Lieut. David Buchan, "Sketch of the River Exploits as explor'd in Jan. and March 1811 Newfoundland," MPG.589, co 1947 50; Shanawdithit's drawing of a profile of a person, co 194/68 £250. The British Library, London, UK: "Capt. David Buchan's Track into the Interior of Newfoundland undertaken in the month of January 1820 to open a communication with the Native Indians," 2 maps, MSS 51222, Add. 57703 f.i and f.2, The British Museum, London, UK: Photographs of birchbark meat dish, neg. 006975; mug-shaped birchbark container, neg. 006976; coat fringe, no.2583, neg.K 50762; netting tool from Beasley collection, neg.mm 028323. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the Trustees of Lambeth Palace Library, London, UK: John Guy's sketch "The picture of the Savages canoa," MS NO. 250, f.4i2. United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, London, UK: Portrait of "Shanawdithit," engraving by W. Dickes, from The Mission Field, 1856. Trustees of the National Museums of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK: Photographs of birchbark dish, uc 305, neg. 10241; oval bark dish, uc 306, neg. 10242; folded bark dish, uc 307, neg. 10243; birchbark canoe replica, neg.O4i8. National Maritime Museum, London, UK: Photographs of a birchbark canoe replica made by Shanawdithit, negs. 0-5514 A, 8-6075. Ethnographic Museum of the University of Oslo, Norway: Photograph by Anne Christine Eek, Beothuk harpoon head, neg. EM 462. The Honourable Michael Willoughby and the Department of Manuscripts, University of Nottingham, UK: [Transcript of] a letter from Henry Crout to Sir Percival Willoughby, 1613, MS Mi x 24. Newfoundland Museum, St John's: Photographs of projectiles made from iron and harpoon head with metal blade; a wooden bowl; gaming pieces; combs; strings of discoidal beads; carved bone pendants; necklace of bone pendants and an animal tooth; four bark dishes; wooden figurine; two moccasins; two birchbark canoe replicas; Shanawdithit's sketch 6; figures on back of Shanawdithit's sketch 10; William Gosse's miniature portrait of "a female Red Indian," 1841. Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador, Cartographic Section: John Cartwright, "A Sketch of the River Exploits the East End of Lieutenants Lake ... 1768," MG 100, Cartwright Collection.

xxi Acknowledgments Government of Newfoundland, Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, and Helen Devereux, University of Toronto: Two drawings of the Beothuk site at Indian Point, Red Indian Lake, from Devereux MS 743, 1970:!!, and Fig. 5. National Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Cartographic and Architectural Archives Division: John Cartwright, "A Sketch of the River Exploits and the East End of Lieutenants Lake in Newfoundland," NMC 27; John Cartwright, "A Map of the Island of Newfoundland," NMC 14033; Picture Division: Miniature portrait of Mary March [Demasduit], painted by Lady Hamilton in 1819, neg.C 87698. Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull: Photograph of carved bone pendants, sketch of end profile of canoe replica from Marshall, 1985. Gillian Cell, Williamsburg, Virginia: Transcript of a letter from Henry Crout to Sir Percival Willoughby, 1613. The late David Howley, St John's: Sketch of the interior of a room, presumed to have been drawn by Shanawdithit; J.P. Howley's map (i88os) of Beothuk caribou enclosures on Lloyd's River; J.P. Howley's photograph of a Beothuk figurine. Raymond J. LeBlanc: "Plan of pentagonal house at the Wigwam Brook site," from 1973 Fig. 10. Dennis Minty, St John's: Photograph of a full-sized Beothuk-type birchbark canoe. Regina O'Keefe, Manuels: Photograph of braid of Shanawdithit's hair and of paper cuttings ("watch glasses") made by Shanawdithit. Ralph Pastore, St John's: Photographs of the Boyd's Cove site and of Little Passage Indian tools from Inspector Island. Gerald Penney, St John's: Photographs of the Brighton Tickle Island site, Triton Island, and of cave burial, Launch I, Long Island. Ned Pratt, St John's: Photograph of native stone quarry in Bonavista Bay. Anna Sawicki, Charlottetown: Photograph of bone needle from a beach burial near Musgrave Harbour. Marianne Stopp, St John's: Photograph of burial site on Phillip's Island off Western Indian Island. Ruth Holmes Whitehead, Halifax: Drawings of legging used as burial shroud and of two moccasins from child's burial, Big Island, Pilley's Tickle.

Plate 2.1 Excavation by William Gilbert and Ken Reynolds at Russel Point site, Dildo Pond, where John Guy found Beothuk dwellings.

Plate 9.1 John W. Hay ward's Reproduction from Description of the painting of Beothuk and English trading, original painted by Miss Cuoran, 1808 (Howley 1915)

Plate 12. i Miniature portrait of Mary March (Demasduit), painted by Lady Hamilton in 1819. (National Archives of Canada, neg.c8v698)

A History and Ethnography of the Beothuk

This page intentionally left blank

Introduction

The Beothuk were the aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland at the time of the island's discovery by Europeans in 1497. They were hunters, gatherers, and fishers who moved seasonally in order to harvest coastal and inland resources. In spring and summer they lived on the coast, pursued marine mammals and seabirds, and caught salmon and other seafood; in fall and winter they moved to small camps or to settlements in the wooded interior, where they hunted caribou and other fur-bearing animals. As an island population the Beothuk lived on the periphery of conflicts among continental native groups, and there is no evidence that they were involved in intertribal strife in Labrador or in the St Lawrence region. From the mid-sixteenth century onwards Beothuk became the target of attacks by Inuit parties from Labrador who crossed the Strait of Belle Isle to trade with the French. The Inuit fought from their watercraft and were said to have been formidable enemies. By the 17605 interaction had ceased. Early in the sixteenth century, fishing fleets from England, Portugal, France, and Spain began to frequent the Newfoundland coast for the summer season to fish for cod. Their contacts with the native population were rarely recorded; the few meetings that have been described were hostile. In the seventeenth century, fishermen and planters from England settled on the Avalon Peninsula in southeastern Newfoundland, while French fishermen built stations along the south coast and up the Northern Peninsula. In the wake of the French, Micmac from Cape Breton Island, who may already have been visiting Newfoundland for the purpose of hunting and trapping, relocated to southern Newfoundland. Large groups of Montagnais from Labrador came to hunt and trap on the north and west coasts. Although the English and French occasionally encountered Beothuk, trade contacts were rare and no formalized exchange of goods or ideas took place. Throughout their coexistence with Europeans and other native populations in Newfoundland, the Beothuk remained relatively isolated and continued with many of their aboriginal traditions. Archaeological evidence has shown that, before the arrival of Europeans, the prehistoric ancestors of the Beothuk ranged throughout the island. By the mid-

4 Introduction 17005, due to encroachment into their territory from all sides, the majority of Beothuk retreated to secluded harbours and islands in Notre Dame Bay, and to the watershed of the Exploits River and Red Indian Lake. The continued expansion of hunting and trapping activities into this region by the English and their opening of salmon stations in river mouths led to strife and acts of violence by Beothuk and English alike. Isolated incidents developed into an increasingly vicious cycle of retaliation. In these conflicts the Beothuk were outnumbered and, without guns, were unable to defend important food resources. Starvation, harassment by Europeans and by other native groups, and diseases brought from Europe contributed to a steady population decline. At the end of the eighteenth century several private citizens, naval officers, and governors submitted proposals to British authorities to improve the situation of the Beothuk and to put an end to hostilities by English settlers. Decades passed before such plans were considered. Eventually, in the early 18oos, naval parties were sent to make contact with the Beothuk, but to no avail. Although captives were taken to be used as mediators, plans to return them to their people with messages of goodwill never materialized. Measures taken to appease the Beothuk were either ineffective or came too late to prevent the extinction of the tribe. Stragglers may have led a sequestered existence for a few more years, but the Beothuk as a viable cultural unit had ceased to exist by the late 18205. It is the demise of the Beothuk - at once the most distressing aspect of their history and the most complex - that has rooted itself most deeply in public consciousness. Oral traditions of violent interaction between Beothuk and English settlers that formerly flourished in the northern bays were later replaced by stories in which the Beothuk were characterised as mild and inoffensive forest dwellers who had been cruelly extirpated by Newfoundlanders. But the facts were elusive and lack of information led to the idea that the Beothuk were a people whose origin, history, and fate were shrouded in mystery.l In the last few decades the basis for these traditions has been widely questioned and a new interest in the Beothuk has emerged, inspiring scholarly investigations as well a poetry and fiction, the latter frequently centring around questions of blame and guilt.2 In order to sort fact from fiction I began a search for reliable documentation. This started in a small way but gradually became more engrossing and wider in scope, until I decided to make it as comprehensive as possible, not only reviewing known material but also searching museums, archives, and libraries in North America and Europe to discover new information (see Appendix 5). Collections in private hands and private papers in possession of families whose forebears had been closely connected with the Beothuk were also targeted. Although I often found myself at a dead end, the search nevertheless brought to light a substantial amount of new information. Studies for a master's degree in Anthropology/Archaeology at Memorial University offered ample opportunity for examining Beothuk artifacts and for assessing reports and theses on Beothuk culture and on archaeological investigations. I also made a point of

5 Introduction visiting every known Beothuk campsite and burial place and went on field surveys with the purpose of discovering Beothuk remains. The collection of data has taken close to twenty years but all avenues of enquiry have borne fruit. In the course of my research and writing I integrated the new documentation with previously known material and analyzed, sorted, and interpreted all accumulated data. The source material that I have collected can be divided into four major categories, each contributing specific information while at the same time presenting its own problems: i) Beothuk artifacts; 2) information solicited from Beothuk captives; 3) archaeological data from site reports, carbon-date files, theses, and published papers; and 4) unpublished and published contemporary reports, notes, correspondence, log books, maps, and newspaper accounts. 1) Artifacts that were produced by the Beothuk are an important component of the source material. However, few items made of perishable raw materials such as skin, bone, and bark still exist; known collections contain mostly stone and iron tools that represent only a fraction of the Beothuk's material culture. To compensate for this limitation, every effort has been made to locate and examine all existing artifacts and to extract additional information on Beothuk material culture from contemporary records. Since the artifacts that have been preserved were almost exclusively found on excavated campsites or in burial places, and since their usage has not been observed, the purpose of some of them had to be deduced. Such deductions, often done in comparison with the usage of similar objects by other native groups, give clues but may fall short of providing an understanding of the full significance the objects held for the Beothuk. 2) Another category of first-hand evidence is information obtained from Beothuk captives. The chief informant was the Beothuk woman Shanawdithit, captured in 1823, who was questioned by William E. Cormack, founder of the "Boeothick Institution." In his enquiries Cormack appears to have focused on the decline of the Beothuk tribe and on Beothuk interactions with the English; in a series of drawings, Shanawdithit has depicted several encounters of this sort. However, since they were done at Cormack's request it is possible that Shanawdithit presented an expurgated version of what she knew. She also produced drawings of Beothuk artifacts that Cormack annotated; some of the items are not adequately explained. Cormack never published this information, though some of his notes were published anonymously in an 1836 article in Britain. Certain clues indicate that the author was Cormack's friend John McGregor, with whom Cormack stayed after he left Newfoundland in 1829. For example, the authors refers in a footnote to his book British America (1832), in which he had discussed a specific topic at length.3 The section "Shaa-naandithit... the last of the Boeothics" in the 1836 article contains information on Shanawdithit's personal history and on belief-related practices of her people; it also makes reference to Mr Cormack, who "gleaned whatever she recollected relative to her tribe." Cormack seems to have left these notes with McGregor;

6 Introduction hence their absence from the Cormack material that found its way back to Newfoundland, probably through the efforts of the Honourable Joseph Noad, Surveyor General of Newfoundland. In a lecture he gave on the Beothuk in the early 18505, Noad included information that could only have come from Cormack's notes. These notes later became available to J.P. Howley, who published all information that was directly relevant to Beothuk history and culture as well as ten of Shanawdithit's drawings in his classic work The Beothucks or Red Indians (1915). The drawings are now in the collection of the Newfoundland Museum; the Cormack papers are in private hands; some of the notes published by Howley are missing. The information gathered by Cormack and published by McGregor and Howley is considered to be as reliable as one can hope for under the circumstances and is accepted in this book as an authentic primary source. There are also some lists of Beothuk words obtained from the Beothuk women Shanawdithit and Demasduit, and from the child Oubee. The words appear to have been solicited by pointing to an object or activity and then writing down the Beothuk term. Since the recorders were unfamiliar with the Beothuk sound system and since the captives could easily have misunderstood which word was sought, these vocabularies contain many inconsistencies. They also lack verb forms and grammatical and structural information; even the most skilful linguistic analysis cannot fully compensate for the limitations of the material and for the inadequate recording. 3) Archaeological surveys and excavations, largely undertaken in the last three decades, have provided information on Beothuk origin and an approximate time frame for their presence in many areas of Newfoundland. They have also disclosed some tangible evidence for the size of the Beothuk population as a whole, and for the size and distribution of bands. In addition, artifacts and site investigations have enabled archaeologists to infer details of subsistence economies and burial practices, and to obtain insights into techniques used in the manufacture of tools and the construction of houses. However, many archaeological data are unpublished and hard to gain access to, and it is sometimes difficult to draw conclusions from raw data such as field notes on archaeological investigations. 4) Contemporary reports, correspondence, maps, notes, and newspaper accounts constitute the bulk of the source material. The most important publication of source material and an indispensible tool for the Beothuk scholar is J.P. Howley's The Beothucks or Red Indians. The book was first published in 1915 by Cambridge University Press and was reprinted in facsimile editions in 1974 and 1980; it is currently out of print. Howley not only assembled contemporary accounts but also collected Beothuk artifacts, which he preserved in the Geological Museum in St John's, recorded traditional stories about the Beothuk that circulated among residents in northern Newfoundland, and corresponded with linguists and other scholars to bring Beothuk material to their attention. Howley found and published some of William E. Cormack's papers, which included information obtained from the Beothuk Shanawdithit and eleven of her

7 Introduction drawings. Rowley's work will remain a classic in the field. Indeed, his compilation has often been thought to represent all the information there is, which has discouraged researchers from looking for further documentation. However, Howley made no attempt to interpret the material or place it within an historical context; nor did he piece together the ethnographic information that is buried in the documents to elucidate Beothuk culture. In addition, he was unable to confirm the written evidence with archaeological data, since most investigations of this nature did not begin until the 19605. One comprehensive source of information that Howley tapped is the correspondence between Newfoundland governors and the Board of Trade, the secretary of state, and other officials in the Colonial Office in Britain. The private papers of some of these high-ranking British officials also contain pertinent material, as do the papers of naval officers or private persons who were particularly interested in the Beothuk, such as the earl of Liverpool, president of the Council for Trade and Plantations (1786-1804) and later secretary of state for the colonies, and those of Lieut. John Cartwright, an officer in the Royal Navy. Admiralty papers and ships' logs are apt to provide only small details; contemporary manuscript maps, while inaccurate geographically, include instructive features. Some nineteenth-century newspaper articles have also been informative. The majority of archival documents used in this study were consulted in the original, even if they had been published. This verification covered the texts of most of the records reproduced in J.P. Howley's work. Among a host of familiar problems with documentary evidence, particularly in the case of sixteenth-century accounts, is the difficulty of locating an event geographically since few of the early records include geographic information or maps. Similarly, it is not always possible to identify a specific native group when a generalized term such as "savages" or "naturells of the country" is used; these terms could refer to Beothuk as well as to Inuit or other native people. Also, the time lag between the occurrence of an event and its subsequent recording often results in inaccuracy. A number of records are incomplete, selective, or distorted and allowances have to be made for these defects. For this reason every attempt has been made to obtain confirmatory evidence for important points and to take into consideration the context in which a report was written and the reliability of the writer. In theory, after establishing the validity of a set of documents, the historian proceeds to develop an interpretation of the past that is logical and consistent with all evidence.4 However, a major problem with the interpretation of Beothuk history is that most of the available material consists of records kept by Europeans who not only consistently presented a one-sided picture but tended to be ethnocentric because they considered the value system and way of life of native populations to be inferior to their own. With rare exceptions, not even the more enlightened and well meaning perceived native people as their equals. Europeans also rarely acknowledged that the Beothuk had been deprived of territory and resources without justification or compensation and therefore had

8 Introduction good reason to be suspicious, hostile, and revengeful. Although some observers deplored the atrocities that were perpetrated against the native population, they generally ignored the fact that hunting expeditions and the setting up of salmon stations by the English amounted to "stealing the Beothuk's livelihood." The Beothuk's appropriation of settlers' tools or gear has consistently been labelled pilfering or stealing; yet to the Beothuk it may have been a courageous act of retaliation. Not until 1828 was a Beothuk, the captive Shanawdithit, questioned about her people in the context of European encroachment and about guiding principles and values within her culture. As a result the Beothuk voice is nearly absent from the records. This substantial imbalance in the documentation has prevented a proper evaluation of the majority of the (English) records against evidence from the Beothuk. To compensate, quotation marks and other devides have been used to remind the reader of the ethnocentricity inherent in accounts by the English and of the need to see these accounts in the context of attitudes about native people that were prevalent at that time. But such devices can do little more than reduce bias in the interpretation; they cannot replace the missing Beothuk voice. Despite the limitations and shortcomings of the available information, the history and ethnography of the Beothuk as presented here is an authentic record of events involving the Beothuk and an up-to-date review of their cultural traits and practices. Part of the value of the work lies in the incorporation of a hitherto unmatched amount of archival material with the lastest archaeological data. Part One of the book presents a history of the Beothuk from the time they were first encountered by Europeqans in the 15005 to their demise in the late 18205. The focus of this chronological account is the relation between Beothuk and English through the centuries and causes of change in Beothuk distribution and population size. The narrative covers the increasing competition between Beothuk and English for resources on the coast, the interference of English trappers with Beothuk hunting activities in the interior, and the resulting hostilities, particularly in the late eighteenth century. Also discussed are conciliatory attempts by private citizens and naval officers to meet with Beothuk, the taking of Beothuk captives, attitudes of the clergy towards the native people, and the various factors touched upon here that contributed to the decline of the Beothuk population. The Micmac's parallel encroachment on Beothuk territory and the increasingly hostile relations between the two are also addressed, as are Beothuk relations with Inuit and Montagnais. Although the records from different disciplines have been integrated chronologically, specific topics are discussed separately to present a comprehensive picture of each theme; this has inevitably resulted in some overlap. Because of the meagre documentation, reconstruction of events between the sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries is sketchier and more speculative than the account of events in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, where the records are more extensive. A certain amount of commentary and interpretation is included in the text, but there is much room for further analysis. However, since

9 Introduction the aim of this study was to bring together and present as much basic data as could be gathered, such elaborations are left to future studies. After positioning the Beothuk among the prehistoric inhabitants of, and visitors to, Newfoundland, Part Two presents a review of Beothuk practices and cultural traits. Each chapter focuses on an ethnographic theme such as distribution, subsistence economies, transportation, and language. The advantage of this approach is that each chapter constitutes a complete survey of what is known about a particular aspect of Beothuk culture and can therefore be consulted independently. Since direct input from Beothuk is limited, the topics in this section are confined to those for which reasonably reliable information is available. In discussing cultural traits I have drawn on comparable practices of other native groups so as to place the Beothuk in the North American aboriginal context. Comparisons were also made to identify cultural traits that may have been unique to the Beothuk. It has been my aim to collect as much ethnographic material as possible from primary sources, artifacts, and archaeological investigations, and to integrate and present this material in a systematic and focused manner. Analysis of cultural dynamics and theoretical discussions are considered to be beyond the scope of this work. The two parts of the book, although independent, complement each other. In order to obtain the most complete information possible on any given topic a reader may need to refer to both. The book is illustrated with modern and contemporary maps, portraits of Beothuk women, and photographs of Beothuk artifacts, burial places, and campsites. The latter not only show the different types of location that Beothuk chose for camps and for the disposal of their dead but also convey an impression of the environment in which they lived. Illustrations of Beothuk artifacts such as a coat fringe, canoe replicas, bone tools, and decorated birchbark containers demonstrate the type of objects that have been preserved. From the collections of stone and iron tools and of carved bone pendants - altogether more than four hundred bone carvings in various stages of preservation have been collected - only representative samples are included. Of particular importance and interest is the set of maps and drawings by the captive Shanawdithit, which is reproduced in toto (nine of them are copies from Howley's monograph); it is the only record of its kind.

This page intentionally left blank

PART ONE

History

Fig i.i Map of Newfoundland

CHAPTER ONE

The Sixteenth Century. First Contact

INTRODUCTION: BEFORE CONTACT Native occupation of Newfoundland goes back approximately five thousand years. The earliest inhabitants, referred to as the Maritime Archaic Indians, came to the island from the Labrador coast, where they had lived for several millenia, around 3000 BC and either died out or left the island around 1050 BC. They were followed by the Early and Late Palaeo-Eskimo populations, whose occupation lasted from roughly 850 BC to AD 950, though the evidence suggests that they were in decline from about AD 550 on. It is generally accepted that around 50 BC, a second Indian population migrated across the Strait of Belle Isle to western Newfoundland. Called Recent Indians to distinguish them from the Maritime Archaic tradition, they are grouped archaeologically into three complexes according to the distinctive tools and other remains of these populations: the "Cow Head," "Beaches," and "Little Passage" complexes. They are named after the sites where a specific type of material characterizing the particular group was first found. The typology of tools and other indicators places the emergence from the Beaches complex of the Little Passage complex, the most recent of the three, at ca. AD 1100-1200. The Beothuk were the direct cultural and genetic descendants of the Little Passage Indians. Indeed, they were the same population; for purposes of classification, however, Beothuk denotes the historic phase of this people - that is, the period coinciding with the written history, beginning around AD 1500, of Newfoundland and its inhabitants. There is no sharp ethnohistorical line between the prehistoric Little Passage Indians and their historic descendants. While we are not certain of their geographic distribution (see chapter 16), Beothuk congregated at campsites established by the Little Passage Indians, whose remains have been excavated in all major bays and along the Exploits River and at Red Indian Lake. Their subsistence economy was marine based, supplemented by inland hunting, though some Beothuk bands developed an interior orientation in pursuit of migrating caribou. The stone tools used by Beothuk and Little Passage Indians

14 History are almost identical, though they were modified in size and shape over time. With the introduction of iron, the Beothuk produced fewer stone tools and by the mid-eighteenth century were making most of their tools from iron implements. A fuller account of the prehistoric habitation of Newfoundland, from Maritime Archaic Indians to the Beothuk, can be found in Part Two (chapter 16). But at the time Newfoundland was discovered by Europeans around AD 1500, the Beothuk are believed to have been the only permanent residents on the island. Other native groups may have travelled now and then to certain areas in Newfoundland to exploit resources. Micmac, for example, may have visited the south coast to trap or fish, and Montagnais may intermittently have hunted on the Northern Peninsula. To date, however, there is no evidence of persistent prehistoric residence in Newfoundland of Micmac or Montagnais. Thus, when the Europeans made their first approaches in the sixteenth century, the Beothuk would have had the island more or less to themselves. THE HISTORIC PERIOD: EARLY RECORDS OF NATIVE PEOPLE IN NEWFOUNDLAND Information on encounters between Europeans and native people in Newfoundland in the sixteenth century is exceedingly sparse and what data are available may not be reliable. Either there was little contact or the relevant records are no longer extant. Most references to native populations are found in printed accounts of explorations, but because these accounts were often published long after the event, they are liable to contain errors or to incorporate extraneous information from unidentified sources. When reviewed critically, few provide more than a general idea of the appearance and subsistence of northeastern Indians. European observers were often biased towards their own cultural concepts and tended to describe the natives' appearance rather than cultural features by which one ethnic group could be differentiated from another. In addition, even careful navigators were not always able to state the precise location at which they met native people so that places named in documents are rarely fully authenticated. Sixteenth-century information on the distribution of native people on the island does suggest, however, that they occupied the south coast west of Cape Race, the east and north-east coast between Cape Race and the Strait of Belle Isle, and the west coast of the country, particularly St Georges Bay. In this chapter the documents that claim to pertain to Newfoundland Indians are scrutinized with regard to their content as well as their authenticity, so as to establish how far they can be considered valid observations of Beothuk. THE CABOTS AND CORTE REAL

On his first exploratory trip to the New World in 1497, John Cabot is believed to have reached Newfoundland.l Though Cabot did not make contact with native

15 The Sixteenth Century people he found signs of human habitation close to the shore: snares, a needle for making nets, and felled trees.2 His second voyage in 1498 is poorly documented. While some records suggest that he brought native people back to England and presented them to King Henry vn, the natives who were introduced at court may actually have been captured in 1501 by Bristol merchants.3 Cabot's son, Sebastian, returned to the New World in 1508-09 and brought home with him "sundry people" and many other things from the country called "Bacallaos."4 Yet descriptions of these people by Peter Martyr (1530) and in the inscription on Cabot's World Map (1544), being of such a late date, may incorporate information collected by other explorers in different locations, particularly by Corte Real. According to the accounts the captured natives resembled their European captors, although their complexion was generally darker. They used body paint, their language was unintelligible to the Europeans, and their demeanour was that of "brute beasts."5 However, it has also been said that when the three Indians who were brought to England exchanged their fur robes for the apparel of Englishmen they could no longer be recognized as "savages." In their home environment, the native people were said to hunt and fish, using bows and arrows, spears, darts, slings, and wooden clubs. They also gathered plant foods. Their houses were made of timber and covered with the skins of fish (seal) and beasts.6 They were said to go naked in summer and to clothe themselves in winter with furs. They prayed to the sun, moon, and other idols, had silver and copper bracelets, and a store of "latten" (a metal of yellow colour).7 Some of them were said to have consumed human flesh but to have concealed this activity from their chief. While the appearance and practices of these people are consistent with what we know about Beothuk, the recorded information is equally applicable to other northeastern Indians and is simply too general to identify a specific ethnic group. Three years after John Cabot had returned from his second voyage, the Portuguese explorer Caspar de Corte Real passed through the Strait of Belle Isle from south to north. He landed, in 1501, on either the Newfoundland or the Labrador side of the strait and found the land well populated. Though the native people had neither gold nor precious stones, commodities that he had hoped to find, they were healthy and strong and considered to be fit for every kind of labour. Rather than leaving the land empty handed, Corte Real captured fifty men and women and brought them back to Portugal. Information on these captives has been preserved in letters written by Alberto Cantino and Pietro Pasqualigo, who were present when one of Corte Real's ships returned. Cantino actually went to see them though he was not able to communicate with them.8 Additional information is given in the chronicle of Corte Real's voyage by Damiano Gois, published in 1566.9 Both Cantino and Pasqualigo thought that the captives looked tanned and resembled Gypsies but otherwise did not substantially differ from the Portuguese. They were tall or of

16 History middle stature, they had long black hair and well-proportioned limbs and bodies, and their faces were "punctured" - possibly tattooed. They were of a gentle disposition and given to laughter. The garments of the natives consisted of loincloths and furs that were draped over their shoulders. The hairy side was worn outward in summer and reversed in winter. Lacking iron, they had knives and arrow points of stone and spears made of burnt pieces of wood. A piece of metal from a broken sword and two silver rings in their possession were thought to indicate that they had traded with other Europeans. Beyond the practice of divination and a close heterosexual association resembling European marriage, their social organization and religious beliefs were thought to be "poorly developed" or nonexistent. The native people described in these letters would have been northeastern Indians rather than Inuit, who wore tailored clothing and did not drape furs over their shoulders as the Indians did. However, lack of reference to other specific traits prevents further identification of their ethnic origin. OTHER EARLY SIXTEENTH-CENTURY SOURCES

Of the many English fishing vessels that spent a summer in Newfoundland waters, one is recorded to have brought back from "Terra Nova" a bow made of red wood (or of wood painted red) and two red arrows. This record is dated I503.10 In 1508-09, a French fishing crew captured seven native people in a birchbark canoe on the ocean east of Newfoundland and took them to Rouen. Three accounts of natives captured at sea may refer to this one incident, or they may refer to two different events. The accounts were published by Eusebius in 1518, Bembo in 1551, and Crignon in 1556." According to the first two, the natives had coarse black hair and facial markings but no facial hair. Their loincloths and garments were made of bear, deer (caribou), or seal skins, and their hunting tools consisted of bows strung with roots or sinews, and of arrows fitted with stone or bone points. They ate broiled meat and drank water. Their captors were unable to communicate with them and were of the opinion that they had neither money nor religion. Since these seven individuals were travelling in a birchba