The Extermination of the Beothucks of Newfoundland

L.F.S. Upton

The Canadian Historical Review, Volume 58, Number 2, June 1977, pp.
133-153 (Article)

Published by University of Toronto Press

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L.F.S. UPTON

TheExtermination
ofthe
Beothucks
ofNewfoundland

THEEXTERMINATION of nativepeopleas the result of white contactwasa

recurrent feature of Europeanexpansion.Certain well-definedcausesare
offered to explain the process:the first informal contactsspreaddisease;
missionaries arrive to challengetribalcustomsand disrupttraditionallines
of authority;settlerscometo farm on the landsof peoplealreadydecimated
by epidemics, and kill thosewhoresist;the survivingnativesmoveon to be
absorbedby other indigenousgroupson the fringes of white settlement.
Where there isno hinterlandto serveasa refuge, asin the CaribbeanIslands
or Tasmania,the aboriginesare destroyedcompletely.
The natives of Newfoundland were exterminated, but events there do not
followthispattern.The whiteswhomadethe firstcontactwerefishermen,as
wasusualfor the area,but no missionaries followedto challengeand disrupt
tribal society.No farmerssettledin Newfoundland,sothe usualreasonfor
dispossessing the nativesdid not operate; nor, consequently,did the cus-
tomaryrationalefor warsof extermination.The insularsituationof New-
foundland meant that there wasno retreat for the natives,yet, while they
werebeingannihilated,anotherAmerindianpeople,the Micmacs,success-
fully establishedthemselves therein the faceof the whitepresence.
The natives of Newfoundland were the first North Americans to come
into contactwith Europeans,who calledthem Red Indians becauseof their
liberaluseof ochreon bodies,clothing,food, and weapons.The Beothucks
wereequippedfor life in a taigaeconomy,in commonwith the other peoples
of the northeasternborealforest.They usedthe full rangeof equipmentto
be found in the region:bark canoes,snowshoes, mocassins; they wore skin
clothing,lived in bark or skincoveredshelters,ate out of bark dishesand
containers.Their diet wasalmostentirely animal, caribou from late fall to
earlyspring,fish,shellfish,waterfowl,and berriesin the relaxedmonthsof
Vol. i•viii No 2June •977
134 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

summer.Their abilityto preservefood wassuperiorto that of the mainlanai

Indians,for theyhad storehouses fifty feetlong,coveredwith deerskinsand
birch bark, with a ridge pole and gableends.These storesmay havebeen a
late development,inspired by the shedsof the white fishermen;and the
elaboratedeer fencesthat stretchedfor milesto controlthe caribouduring
the hunt mayalsobe of post-contact origin.•
It is impossibleto knowwhatthe populationof any part of northeastern
America may havebeen at the time of first contact;before the first written
estimateswere made, in the seventeenthcentury,there had alreadybeen a
hundred years of exposure to new European diseases.Estimatesof the
Beothuckpopulationin •5oo range anywherefrom 5oo to 2o,ooo.The
abilityof the northeasternforestto supporthuntersand gatherershasbeen
calculatedby Egganas beingone personper hundred squarekilometers.
Koerber suggests that the resourcesof one mile of coastline,in association
with interior land, could support the same number of personsas one
hundred squarekilometers.2 These criteria would give Newfoundlanda
pre-contactpopulationsomewherebetween• • 23 and 3o5ø persons.Given
that the abilityof the northeasternforestto supportlife decreasedasman
movednorth, the lower figure would seemmore reasonable;but as New-
foundlandhad a climatemild by comparisonwith the mainlandin the same
latitude,I wouldplacethe pre-contactpopulationat 2ODD.
The relationshipbetweenwhites and Beothuckspassedthrough three
For the generalconditionsof life in the area seeJohn M. Hooper, 'The Culture of the
NortheasternIndian Hunters:A Reconstructive Interpretation,'in FrederickJohnson,ed.,
Man in Northeastern NorthAmerica(Andover,Mass.•946), 272-3o5. The standardwork on
the Beothucks isJamesP. Howley,ed.,TheBeothucks orRedlndians (Cambridge,Mass.•9 •5),
reprintedColesCanadianaCollection(Toronto • 974).This bookisa compilationof forty
years'searchfor materialconcerning theBeothucks andhasbeenthesourcefor everything
writtenaboutthem since•9 • 5. The bestbrief reviewof the subjectisto be found in W.H.
Oswalt,ThisLandWasTheirs,•st ed. (NewYork •966),65-8o. A 'Bibliographyof the
BeothuckCultureof Newfoundland'hasbeenpreparedby FrancoyRaynauldand pub-
lishedin typescriptby the EthnologyDivision,NationalMuseumof Man, Ottawa, •974.
DiamondJenness, TheIndiansofCanada,3rd ed. (Ottawa•955), 266,asserts without
explanationthat they 'couldhardly havenumberedmuch more than five hundred'when
Cabotarrived.Muchhigherestimates, equallywithoutfoundation,aremorecommon-for
example,LeoF. English,'SomeAspects of BeothukCulture,'Newfoundland Quarterly,St
John's(Dec. •959, summer•96o), whoplacesthemin the •5-2o,ooo range.Seealso
BarbaraWhitby,'The Beothucks,' ibid.(summer• 963);JamesMooney,TheAboriginal
Population ofAmerica NorthofMexico(Washington•928), placesthe Beothuckpopulationin
• 6ooas'5DO(?).' Thisfigure•srepeatedwithoutquestionandtransposed totheyear•5ooin
A.L. Kroeber,CulturalandNaturalAreasofNativeNorthAmerica (BerkeleyandLosAngeles
1939), •7 •. Fred Egganputsthe land supportcapacityof the areaat one personper •oo
sq.kmsin 'Indians,North America,'International EncyclopediaoftheSocialSciences,vii,
• 8o-2oo. Kroebersuggests the relationshipbetweencapacityand coastline(• 69). Ar-
chaeology isno helpin determiningnumbers,asno 'pureBeothuckoccupation sitehasbeen
excavated'and the burialsfound are post-contact, containingEuropeanitems;seeElmer
Harp, Jr, TheCulturalAffinitiesof theNewfoundland Dorset
Eskimo(Ottawa •964), •53.
 THE EXTERMINATION OF THE BEOTHUCKS 135

LABRADOR

Poht Riche •

Cape St. John

Twillingate
OoFunk
Island
IFogo
Island

Bay

INorrisArm

River Bo•avista

Red Indian

Paul's
Brook

Johlf*s

['lacentla

•Ferryland

Miquelon•
•St.Pierre

well-definedstages.The first lastedfrom • 5oo to • 6 • 2 and wasmarked by

occasional kidnapping,casualtrade, sporadicpillage,and mutual retalia-
tion. This periodsawthe introductionof Europeangoodsand, presumably,
Europeandisease.The secondstagebeganwhen the Beothuckswithdrew
into the interior to live beyondthe restrictedrange of the Europeanfisher-
men who visited the coast.This strategyof withdrawal has no parallel
elsewherein the region,and its causecannotbe known:epidemicdisease
may havebeenthe catalystthat promptedthe decision.The third and final
stagebeganin the middleof the eighteenthcenturywhenwhitesmovedin
from the north coastto usethe resourcesof the interior alongthe line of the
ExploitsRiver, the very area to whichthe Beothuckshad withdrawn.The
resultingcompetitionsawthe exterminationof the Beothucksdespiteat-
136 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

temptsby British officialsand a few belated humanitariansto stop the

process.
The first descriptionof the Beothuckswas written in 15oo by Alberto
Cantino;fifty-seven
of themhadbeenbroughtto Lisbonfor display:

I haveseen,touched,and examinedthesepeople ... they are somewhattaller than

our average,with memberscorrespondingand well-formed.The hair of the men is
long,justaswewearours,andtheywearit in curls,andhavetheir facesmarkedwith
greatsigns... Their eyesare greenishandwhentheylookat one,thisgivesan air of
greatboldnessto their wholecountenance. Their speechisunintelligible,but
neverthelessis not harshbut rather human.Their mannersand gesturesare most
gentle;theylaughconsiderably and manifestthe greatestpleasure.Somuchfor the
men. The womenhavesmallbreastsand mostbeautifulbodiesand rather pleasant
faces.The colourof thesewomenmaybe saidto be more whitethan otherwise,but
the men are considerablydarker?

Other Beothucks werereportedto havebeenbroughtto Englandasearlyas

1502,but it is not alwayspossibleto tell at thisdistancewhothe marauding
Europeansactuallybroughthomewith them.In 15o9a Frenchshiplanded
six or sevennativesat Rouen, together with their clothes,weapons,and
canoes.Thesemenweredescribedasbeing'of the colourof soot...tattooed
on the face with a small blue vein from the ear to the middle of the chin,
acrossthejaws.'4By themiddleof thecenturyanuncomplimentary notehad
creptinto the scatteredreferencesaccordedthe Beothucks. 'The peopleare
large& somewhat dark.They haveno moreGodthanbeasts, & areevilfolk,'
notedJeanAlphonsede Saintongein 1559.Andrd Thevetheardthat they
were'extremelyinhumanand intractable:accordingto the experiences of
thosewhohavegonethere[Newfoundland]to fishfor cod.'5
The differencebetweenthe laughingcaptivesin Lisbonin 15ooand the
intractablenativesof mid-centurywaspreciselythe resultof their exposure
to thosewho cameto fish for cod. The explorer with his questfor human
souvenirswasan occasional
invader,but from 15ooon Europeanfishermen
werea permanentfeatureof thesummerlandscape. Their contacts
withthe
Beothuckshave goneunrecorded,but they must have includedthe occa-
sionaltradeand pillagethat tookplaceelsewhereon the northeastcoastof
America.But therewasanaggravating circumstancepeculiarto Newfound-
land: the cod-fisheryrequiredthat the catchbe dried and curedbefore
carryingit backacrossthe Atlantic,and thismeantthat somerudimentary
workshad to be erectedon the shorelinein the form of fish-flakes(drying

3 Quoted in Bernard G. Hoffman, CabottoCartier(Toronto •96•), 29

4 Howley,ed., Beothucks,
7-8; Hoffman, CabottoCartier,3 •-2
5 Hoffman, CabottoCartier,•68-9, • 77-8. Alphonsenotedthat the peoplewerenamed
Tabios,the only knownreferenceto thisterm.
 THE •XTERMINATION OF THE BEOTHUCKS 137

racks),cabins(tilts),sheds,and landingstages.Thesebuildingswere used

for onlya few weeksin the year,and it savedconsiderable
time,labour,and
expenseif theywereall to be found standingwhenthe next fishingseason
came around. These abandoned structures were a natural attraction to
nativeseagerto acquireEuropeangoodsby salvagingwhat had beenleft
behind;and suchsalvagewouldbe regardedastheft by the Europeanson
theirreturn.Fromsalvaging duringtheoff-season it wasa shortstepto theft
duringthefishingseason itself.6Thissituationdid notpreventthegrowthof
a casualfur trade, but it did not make for mutual trust. Cartier stoppedat
Quirpon in •534 and exchangedgoodswith someRed Indians, but two
yearslater camethe firstreport of the nativesfleeingat the sightof white
men. Fightingmust havetaken place,as implied in Thevet'scommentof
•557 that the Beothucks'are little prone to warfareif their enemiesdo not
searchthem out. Then they defendthemselves completelyin the fashion
and manner of the Canadians? It would seemthat the cycleof Indian
provocationand white revengebeganearly.
Whetherby trade or salvageor theft, the BeothucksacquiredEuropean
goodsin the sixteenthcentury.WhenJohn Guy established contactwith a
bandin •6•2 he notedthat they had a brasskettle,sailcloth,and a fishing
reel; the sailwasbeingusedas coveringfor a tepee.In the lastfriendly
contactever recorded,Guy sentone of his men aheadto meet two Indians
whowerewavinga whiteskinasa signthat theywishedto parley.Smallgifts
were exchanged,'a chaineof leatherfull of smallperiwinklessheIs[sic],a
splittingknife, and a feather,'a linen capand a knife; then, 'hand in hand
theyall three did singand dance.'The whitesmadefurther smallgifts,for
they did not carry a trading stockwith them: a shirt, two tablenapkins,a
handtowel,bread,butter,raisins,beerand brandy.Two dayslater, the Red
Indians left 'twelve furres of beauers most, a fox skin, a sable skin, a bird
skin, and an old mitten, seteuery one upon a seueralepole' in exchange.
Obviouslytheywerefamiliarwith tradeand the itemsmostfavouredby the
whites.
Guy'ssuccess wasnot to be repeated.In the followingyear anothership
arrived at the sameplace,and the captain,knowingnothing of the earlier
peacefultrade, openedfire on the Beothucksas they assembled?Never
againdid the Beothucksattemptto trade with the white man. They with-
6 Recallingthe situationin •582, CaptainRichardWhitbourne,A Discourse
andDiscovery
ofthe
Newe-found-lannde
(London•622),quotedin Howley,ed.,Beothucks, 2o,wrote:'manyof
themcomesecretlyeveryyeare,intoTrinity BayandHarbour,in thenighttime,purposely
to stealesailes,lines, hatchets, knives and such like.'
7 Howley,ed.,Beothucks,•o, • •; Hoffman,Cabotto Cartier,•77-8
8 JohnGuy'snarrativeisin Howley,ed.,Beothucks, •5- •8. GillianT. Cell,EnglishEnterprise
in
Newfoundland(Toronto•969),68,considers thattheofferof fursshows that'theBeothucks
weremoreaccustomed to the fur trade,presumablywith the French,than werethe English.'
138 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

drew from all voluntarycontactand remainedhidden to the end. Presum-

ablythe firstphaseof contacthad hadthe sameresultsin Newfoundlandas
elsewherein the northeasterncoastalregion. Europeandiseasehad been
introducedthereby casualtrade,and thereisno reasonwhythe Beothucks
shouldhavebeen exempt.Estimatesof the impactof thesediseases have
beenmadefor seventeenth-century New England,where somepopulation
figuresare available.Cook statesthat the effect of new endemicdiseases,
quiteapartfrom epidemicor warfare,wasto reducea northeasternpopula-
tion by 8o per centin onehundredyears?If the Beothuckssufferedlosson
thisscale,their numberswouldhavebeenabout4oowhen Guy madecontact
with them, even lessif epidemicor warfare had ravaged them to any
significantextent.
The Beothucksdo not re-emergeinto the written recorduntil SirJoseph
Banksmadea fewnoteson themin hisjournal for • 766.1øThe obscuritythat
surroundsthemis part of the greaterobscuritythat surroundsNewfound-
land itself.Developmentwasstifledby a deliberateBritishpolicyto keepthe
islandan unpopulatedfishingstation;settlementwasofficiallyforbidden
and the bulk of the white populationwere summertransients.From ten to
twelvethousandmen madethe return crossingof the Atlanticeveryyear.
Not until •785 did the residentpopulationovertakethe transient,growing
quicklyto 2o,oooby • 8o4and6o,oooby • 832.The exercise
of authoritywas
proportionedto the needsof thefishery.Ordinaryfishermen,styledfishing
admirals,maintained a seasonalcontrol harbour by harbour. In •729 the
British governmentappointedthe naval officer commandingthe North
Atlanticsquadronas governor,with the powerto appointjusticesof the
peacethroughoutthe island.Hisjurisdictionwasseasonal, ebbingwhenthe
year'sfishingand the needfor a navalpresenceended.Between•764 and
• 83othereweretwenty-onesuchgovernors, fewof whomstayedmorethan
oneseason. They choseto livefor a fewweeksat StJohn's,but their choice
did not make the town into a capitalcity. There wasno personor placeof
authorityin Newfoundland.11
As longasthe residentpopulationremainedsmalland totallyoriented
towardstheneedsof theAtlanticfisherythewhitesmadenodemandsonthe
nativepeoplesexceptto beleft alone.However,asthe numberof residents
increased,somebeganto seekprofitwithinNewfoundlanditself,andat that
point it becameobviousthat the lackof governmentcreatedan anarchic

9 SherburnF. Cook,'The Significance

of Disease
in the Extinctionof the New England
Indians,'HumanBiology,•973,485-5 ø8
lO A.M. Lysaght,ed.,Joseph Banksin Newfoundland
andLabrador,• 766 (Berkeleyand Los
Angeles•97•), •32-3
• • SeeKeithMatthews,Lectures ontheHistory
ofNewfoundland
(StJohn's•973), for a reviewof
the situationin the eighteenthcentury.
 THE EXTERMINATION OF THE BEOTHUCKS 139

vacuum.Englishsettlersfirstappearedin the north at FogoIslandin •729

and Twillingate in •732; by the •74os they were well establishedin the
ExploitsBayarea.By mid-centurythere were somefour hundred settlersin
tiny communitiesscatteredalongthe north coast.Thesewhiteswere salmon
fishers,and from this basethey beganto enter into directcompetitionwith
the Red Indians for the resourcesof the land. On their annual migrations
downthe ExploitsRiverthe Beothuckstook salmon;sodid the whites,and in
the sameseason.The whitessoldthe feathersof seabirds slaughteredon
Funk Island,the very placeto whichthe Indianswent for their seasonal diet
of wild fowl and eggs.Even more valuableto the whiteswasthe fur trade,
whichled theminlandalongthe sameroutesthat the Indiansusedalongthe
ExploitsRiver and itstributaries.
Thus the period of withdrawalended and the final phaseof the Beo-
thucks'existencebegan.Their refuge had becomea sourceof profit. The
diversityof interestsavailablein the north meantthat thiswasthe only part
of Newfoundlandwhere year-roundemploymentin extractiveindustrywas
availableasa basisfor permanentsettlement.Salmon-catchers in the sum-
mer becamefurriers (fur-trappers)in the winter. They laid their trap-lines
acrossthe Beothucks'deer runs, thus disruptingthe caribouhunt. They
destroyedcampsites and storesof food, and stolethe Red Indians'stocksof
fur. They madeno attemptto opena trade,and the Beothucks,true to their
strategyof withdrawal,made no knownoverturesto openone. Travelling
through and living off the land, the furriers becamewisein its ways:they
learnedhowto identifyIndian trailsand campsites, to calculatethe ageof a
trackor thelengthof timea fire hadbeenabandoned.This knowledgemade
them dangerousenemies,asmuchat homein the interior asthe Beothucks
themselves. The salmon-feathers-furindustrythreatenedthe nativeswhere
theylivedat all seasons- in their huntinggrounds,on their migrationsto the
baysand river mouths,evento their voyageoveropenwaterto Funk Island.
The Beothucksresistedasbesttheycouldby takingthe trapsand converting
the iron to their own uses,by stealingfrom the tilts and cottagesand boats,
and by the occasional ambush.But their maindefencewasto remaininvisi-
ble,and it becameincreasingly difficultto hide from the furriers. This wasa
hard countryin whichto make a living. The profit of one group left little
room for the survival of the other. It made sound business sense to shoot an
Indian.

The most graphic descriptionof the relationshipbetweenwhitesand

Beothuckswasrecordedin a seriesof interviewsconductedby Lt Pulling,
in •79•. He heard talesof Indian ambush:eight men in a punt struckby
thirty arrows;ThomasRousellshotfrom a blind and beheaded;Thomas
Frith, a clerk,similarlydispatchedwhilepickingberries;a boyaboutto have
140 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

histhroatcut and savedat the lastmomentby hisfather.Theseattacksand

the pilfering of sails,nets,traps, and other durablesled to punitiveraids.
Eight whitesrevengedthe death of Rousell,travellingeightymilesbefore
findingan encampment.Accordingto their account,theylet the Indiansrun
away,all excepttwo women.They found a tin tea kettle,an iron pot, traps,
and nets.They ate the Indians'food, burnedthree canoesand three of the
four wigwamscoveredwith stolensails.That wasin February,with months
of winter yet to come.Severalveteransof that expeditionwent lookingfor
stolennets in the followingyear, 1791; they found an empty punt and
assumeditscrewhadbeenkilled.Discoveringa wigwam,theylet twowomen
run awaybut shotdowna manwhoemergedcarryinga child.Bothwereleft
to die.This deed,sothemurdererexplained,wasin revengefor the deathof
his father. That samesummerone of the principalemployersof the area,
John Peyton,led a groupwhosemembersweremostreluctantto talk about
what happened.Three days'travel up Main Brook broughtthem to their
quarry; they fired into the midst of the Beothucks- Peytonhad thirty-six
pistolballsin hisgun- but did not report their kill. They found a wounded
Indian lying in a wigwam;the man tried to defend himselfand Peytonbeat
hisbrainsout witha stolentrap.•2Thesestoriescovereda periodof onlytwo
years.
GovernorHugh Palliserwasthe first Britishofficialto commenton these
practices.In 1766 he informed the secretaryof statethat the 'barbarous
systemof killing prevailsamongstour Peopletowardsthe native Indians ...
whomour Peoplealwayskill, whentheycanmeetthem.'•a He hopedto find
a wayof makingcontactwith thesehidden peopleand offered a reward for
any taken alive. He proposedto welcomethe captivewith liberal presents
and return him to his band overwhelmed at the benevolence of the whites
and ready to open trade with them. But the furriers had no wish to see
governmentofficialsinterferingwith their tradingpracticesor sharingtheir
knowledgeof the interior.One smallboywasbroughtto the governor,and
he wasobtainedby the simpleexpedientof shootinghis mother; the child
wasof no use,Palliserwrote,'notevento geta wordof their languageout of
it.' As a result of this failure, Pallisercommissionedtwo brothers, George
andJohnCartwright,armyand navyofficersrespectively, to leadan expedi-
tionwiththeobjectof capturingsomenatives'in hopesof effectingtherebya
• 2 JohnBlandtoJ.P.Rance,• Sept.• 797, withenclosure, co • 94/39,ff 2 • 9-29, PublicRecords
Office,London(microfilm,PublicArchivesof Canada,Ottawa[P^C]).A slightlydifferent
version,entitled'The LiverpoolManuscript,'isin the Centre for NewfoundlandStudies,
MemorialUniversity,StJohn's,in photostat.Anothercopyof Pulling'sreportwassubmit-
ted in G.C.Jennerto Gov.William Waldegrave,28 Sept.• 797, but the documentwastoo
lengthyfor the clerkto transcribeinto the ColonialSecretary's Letter Books,•N2 / • / • 3,
298--9, PublicArchivesof Newfoundlandand Labrador[P^N•.], StJohn's.
•3 Palliserto Grafton, 3 • March •766, co •94/27, ff •78-•8o
 THE EXTERMINATION OF THE BEOTHUCKS 141

friendly intercoursewith them, in order to promote their civilization,to

afford them the meansof conversionto christianity,and to render them in
the end usefulsubjects to hismajesty.'The Cartwrightstravelledsixtymiles
along the ExploitsRiver, finding numerouswigwams,abandonedcanoes,
and deer fences;what they sawsuggestedthat the Beothucksnumbered
between4oo and 500.TMFollowingtheir return, a proclamationwasissued
enjoiningfriendshipwith the nativesand directingmagistrates to seizethose
guiltyof murder and sendthemfor trial in England.15
Official policytowardsthe Beothuckswasnow set.Their right to live had
beenrecognisedby proclamationbut, sincetheywouldnot showthemselves
voluntarily, they would have to be kidnapped into civilizationeither by
individualsactingfor a reward or through officiallysponsoredsearchpar-
ties.Neither planwasfollowedwithanyenergyor consistency, andit wasnot
until •8o3 that a Beothuckwomanwasactuallycapturedand broughtto St
John's.GovernorJamesGambier introducedher to a large gatheringat a
party, where sheshowedsomeinterestin the musicbut none in dancing.
'She squattedon the floor, holdingfast a bundle, in which were her fur
clothes,which shewould not suffer to be taken awayfrom her.' Still clutch-
ing the bundle, shewent shopping,and wasallowedto take whatevershe
liked. And then, as had been proposedlong ago, shewasreturned to her
peopletogetherwith the tokensof white generosity.William Cull of Fogo,
who had brought her in, receivedœ5ø for histrouble.16
The Beothuckswere not to be drawn out of hiding. A painting that
depictedIndiansand whitesexchangingfurs for blanketsand hatchetswas
left off by a navalexpedition,togetherwith sometrade goods.Surelythe
Beothuckswould understand? 17The British governmentagreed to a full-
scalesearch.William Cull was hired to reconnoiterand reported finding
largestorageshedson eachbankaboutsixtymilesup the ExploitsRiver.15Lt
David Buchan, R•, was ordered to winter at the mouth of the river, find the

•4 Palliserto Hillsborough,2o Oct. •768, co •94/28, ff 25-6. LtJohn Cartwrightto

Dartmouth,13Jan. • 773, with 'Remarkson the Situationof the Red Indians,'William
LeggeDartmouth Papers,•G 23, •,•, Series•, Vol. •6, P•,c;printed with variationsin F.D.
Cartwright,ed.,LifeandCorrespondence ofMajorCartwright, 2 vols.(London• 826), •,
3o7-25, and in Howley,ed.,Beothucks, 29-45. A secondexpeditionmetwith no greater
success; seeGeorgeCartwright,AJournalofTransactions andEvents.... 3 vols.(Newark • 792),
i, 3-5; Howley,46- 9.
•5 Reviewof Instructionsfor Gov.JohnByron,co •95/•o, at if4, 76-8
•6 Gambierto Hobart,23Nov. •8o3, co 194/43,ff •69-7o; Rev.LewisA. Anspach,AHistory of
theIslandofNewfoundland (London•8 •9), 245-6; Howley,ed., Beothucks, 63- 4
•7 Gov.John Hollowayto Castlereagh,2o May •8o8, co 194/47,ff 33-5; Howley,ed.,
Beothucks,66- 7. A 'Reproductionfrom descriptionof the picturepaintedfor Governor
Holloway'isthe frontispieceof Howley'sbook.
• 8 'Substance of theNarrativeof Wm. Cull of Fogo,'co • 94/49, ff • • 6- • 7; Howley,ed.,
Beothucks,
69-7o
142 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

Beothucks, and "induce them to hold a communication. '•sHe set out on • 2

January •8• with twenty-four marines,two guides- one of them the
ubiquitousWilliam Cull, and twelve sledgesof provisionsand presents.
After tendayshe dividedhisparty:half wereto staywiththesledges andhalf
wereto accompany him with suppliesfor four days.At 6:3ø on the morning
of 24JanuaryBuchan'sparty sightedthreewigwamsand achievedcomplete
surprise;theyopenedthe flapsand found dozensof frightenedBeothucks,
thirty-fiveadultsand as many children.Speechwasuseless;Buchanmade
friendly gestures,shookhands;the Indians offered food and the whites
exchangeda few personalitems for furs. After three-and-a-halfhours
Buchandecidedto go and fetchthe trade goodson the sledgestwelvemiles
back; four Indians agreed to accompanyhim and two of his own men
volunteeredto staybehindunarmed.Only oneof the four Beothucksstayed
with Buchanuntil he reachedthe sledges,andwhenthe expeditionreturned
to the campon the followingday they found it deserted.All spenta restless
night there and in the morning placedblankets,tin pots,and shirtsin each
wigwambeforeleaving.After two-thirdsof a mile on the returnjourney the
lone Beothuckran off, and Buchandiscoveredthe naked headlesscorpses
of histwomen stretchedout on the ice.The expeditionbeata fearful retreat,
conscious of their small size and the unknown hundreds of Indians that
mightbe all aroundthem.They reachedtheAdonison 3øJanuary,restedfor
a month, and wentoff on a secondsearch.They retracedtheir routebut this
time found no Beothucks. 2ø
The Red Indians resumedtheir hidden waysand the evidencefor their
continuedexistencelay in the continuinglossof traps,fishingnets,sails,and
tacklefrom the settlements.There were, presumably,more reprisals.Fol-
lowinga particularlydaring raid on John Peyton'sestablishmentin •8•8 a
punitiveparty overtooksomefifteen Indians,capturedone woman,and
killed her husbandwhen he tried to resueher.2• The captive'sname was
Demasduitbut shewasdubbedMary March to commemoratethe monthof
her capture.Shewasplacedin thecareof theRevJohnLeigh,ministerof the
Societyfor the Propagationof the Gospel,at Twillingate.Leigh,hopingfor
help from the society,tookher to StJohn'sto be trained asan interpreter.•
•9 EleventhInstructionto SirJ.T. Duckworth,co •94/49 at ff 87-9o; Duckworthto
Castlereagh, 24July•8 •o, ibid.,ff 24-5; proclamations, 24July,• Aug. •8 •o, ibid.,ff 26-7,
• • 3- •4; Howley,ed., Beothucks, 7 •; Duckworthto Buchan,26July • 8 • o, c•2 / •/2 •, 29-3 o,
•,^•4I.;Duckworthto B uchan, • Oct. • 8 • o, co • 94/49, ff • • 5- • 6
2o Buchan'snarrative,• 2-3oJan., 4-•9 March •8 • •, paperendorsed'Mr. Buchan'sNotes,'co
•94/5o, ff •53-88; TheTimes,London,27 Nov. •8• •; Howleyed., Beothucks, 72-9 • , •o4.
Buchan'ssketchmapof River Exploits,co • 94/5o, Map c859
2• Howley,ed.,Beothucks, 9 • - • 29, hasa veryextensive accountof thisevent.
22 LetterofRev.JohnLeigh,• 2July •8 •9, beforeCommitteeof thesPg,sPgFv, Vol. 32, •4o-4
(microfilm,v^c).The societywasappalledat Leigh'stangentialinvolvement in an actof
violence:Leighto Rev.AnthonyHamilton,nd [ • 82o],beforeCommitteeof svg,ibid.,
342f-342g.
 THE EXTERMINATION OF THE BEOTHUCKS 143

The governor,however,decidedthat 'everyfeelingof humanity'required

her immediatereturn to her family? There weredelays,andit wasnotuntil
late in •8•9 that Buchan,fortuitouslybackin Newfoundlandwaters,was
able to make the return journey. Demasduit'shealth had been failing fast,
and shedied aboardthe sloopGrasshopper on 8 January •82o, 'seizedwith a
sort of suffocation.'Buchansetout with fifty men, suppliesfor forty days,
presents,and Mary March in a coffin 'handsomelycoveredwith red cloth
ornamentedwith coppertrimmingsand breastplate.'Their approachwas
obviously watched,for theyfoundsignsof hastyretreatin their path.When
Buchanreacheda spotcloseto hisearlierdiscoveryof the Beothuckcamphe
left the coffinsuspendedsix feet high in a specialtent containingpresents
anddisplayingthe UnionJack.24
Publicreactionto thecaptureof Mary Marchshowedthat for the firsttime
'feelingsof humanity'were no longerconfinedto visitingBritishofficers.
This newconcernreflectedthe factthat by • 8 • 9 Newfoundlandwasbecom-
ing a communityin its own right and no longer a mere appendageof the
cod-fishery:whathappenedon the islandwasbeginningto be perceivedas
the responsibilityof thosewho lived there. For the first time in an Indian
killing,judicial processwasfollowed.Leigh, who wasa justiceof the peace,
had the murder of Demasduit'shusband,Nonosabuit,presentedto the
GrandJury. They found that the act had beencommittedin self-defence,
but at the same time asked for more information; Chief Justice Forbes
suggested thatnewevidencebelaidbeforethenextassizes. It wasnot, but an
importantgesturehadbeenmade?5Anotherinnovationwasthe holdingof
a town meetingat St John'sthat resolvedto undertake'the openingof a
friendly communicationwith the Native Indians.' There was also a real
effort to learn somethingof the RedIndiansand their language;it wasfrom
Demasduitthat whitesfirst heard the name 'Beothuck.'Leigh compileda
vocabularyand taughtMary March someEnglish,so that shewasableto
consult with those who tried to return her home? The mere fact that she
wasreferred to by her ownnameshowedthatsomeat leastrealizedshewasa
personandnotjust a curiosity.All thisisin markedcontrastwiththe attitude
towardsthe womanbrought in by William Cull: then there had been no
e3 Ordersto CaptainGlascock,
RN,3June 1819,GN2/1/3o, 156-9, PANL;Howley,ed., Beo-
thucks,llO--11, ll] List 1
•4 Instructionsto Buchan,8 Aug., • Sept.1819,GN•/I/30 , •60--•, •99-3o•; Howley,ed.,
Beothucka,• 1(3--18,l• 1--(3;Buchanto Hamilton, 1oMarch 18•o, co •94/63, ff64-78; 4J une
18•o, ff 79-80
•5 'Resultof the Enquiryinto Peyton'saffair with the nativeIndians,' •5 May 18•9, cr•/l/30,
1•5-6; Hamilton to Glascock,3June •8•9, ibid., 156-9; Howley,ed.,Beothucka, 1o5, 111.
Hamiltonto Forbes,•6June 1819,Forbesto Hamilton, •9June 1819,GN•/1/30, 180--1,
PANL

•6 Howley,ed., Beothucka,
1o8;HerculesRobinson,'PrivateJournalkepton board•.M.s.
Favourite,18•o,'RoyalGeographical
Society,Journal,
•834, •o7-•o, portionsin Howley,
ed., Beothucka,
1•7-9
144 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

judicialenquiryinto the circumstances of her capture,nobodyhad tried to

learn her tongue,no onehad botheredto giveher a namelet alonethink of
establishing a societyto reachher people.
Feelingsof humanityhad cometoo lateto savethe Beothucks,for the last
scenes of their life wereaboutto be playedout. In June •823 theGrandJury
of St John's returned a true bill againstthe furriers JamesCarey and
StephenAdamsfor the murder of two Red Indiansat BadgerBay. Only
Carey stoodtrial; he wasthe solewitnessto the eventsand pleadedself-
defence.Forbes,in hischargeto thejury, 'pointedout particularlythat it is
Murder to Kill an Indian' unlessthere weremitigatingcircumstances. Was
the act necessary for the accused's
safety?He claimedto havefired out of
fear, andhisguilt'couldnotexceed Manslaughter.' The jury returneda verdict
of not guilty?7
Within a week of this trial John Peyton,Jr., brought three Beothuck
womento St John's.They had been seizedby Carey and Adams,William
Cull, and other furriers? One of the women,the youngest,the only one
accordeda name, wasin perfectlygoodhealth:Shanawdithitwasto be the
last of the Beothucks. The Rev. William Wilson saw all three of them in the
street:'The ladieshad dressedthem in Englishgarb,but overtheir dresses
they all had on their indispensabledeer-skin shawls;and Shanawdithit
thinkingthelongfront of herbonnetan unnecessary appendage hadtorn it
off and in itsplacehad decoratedher foreheadand her armswith tinseland
colouredpaper.'Sheenjoyedherselfchasingtheonlookers,laughingasthey
fled.Wilsonshowedher hiswatch,and,in approvedsavagefashion,shewas
amusedat itstick; 'but whena blacklead pencilwasput into her hand and a
pieceof whitepaperlaiduponthe table,shewasin raptures... in oneflourish
shedrewa deerperfectly.'29After twoweeks'lodgingat thecourthouse,the
womenwere sentbackwith presentsunder the careof Peyton.He left them
off at CharlesBrookon • 2 July? They wanderedbackto the settlementat
ExploitsBayand Peytonbuilt them a tilt on hisproperty.Shortlythereafter
the two older womendied, and Shanawdithit,renamedNancy,wastaken
into the Peytonhousehold.If the Rev.John Leigh had still been alive she

=7 The Kingv JamesCarey,in theSupremeCourt,StJohn's,=o-=3June • 8=3,co • 94/66, ff

73-7
=8 Ibid.; otheraccounts in Howley,ed.,Beothucks,•69-7o, •79-8•; Buchanto Hamilton, •o
June •8=3, co •94/66, ff63-4; Peytonto Buchan,•8 June •8=3, ibid.,ff 68-9; Buchanto
Peyton,i.d., ibid., ff 69-7o
=9 Rev.WilliamWilson,Newfoundland andit•Missionaries
(Cambridge,Mass.•866), 3 • =- •4;
Howley,ed.,Beothucks, • 7 •-=. Buchanwasalsoimpressed, sendingtwoof herdrawingsto
Wilmot Horton at the ColonialOffice, =4 Nov. •8=4, co •94/68, ff =49-5o
3ø Buchanto Peyton,=8June •8=3, co •94/66, ff 7o-=; Peytonto Buchan,=3July •8=3,
c•/•/33, •oo-•, •,^•L; Howley,ed., Beothucks, •73. Peytonreceivedœ5• . •5.4 for his
troubles,co •94/66, f •43.
 THE EXTERMINATION OF THE BEOTHUCKS 145

might have gone to live under his roof, as had Demasduit,and Leigh's
enquiringintelligencewouldhaveeliciteda greatdealof usefulinformation.
Peytonwasnot interested.What little informationdid leak out wasstartling
enough: Shanawdithitclaimedthat there were no more than fifteen of her
peoplealivein the earlywinter of •823; three had sinceperished,three had
beencaptured,leavingnine Beothucksall told.s•
After the nativesof Newfoundlandhad passedoverthe edgeinto extinc-
tion a determinedeffort wasmade to rescuethem.John Inglis, bishopof
Nova Scotia,made a tour of the furthest cornersof his diocesein • 827 and
met Shanawdithitat Peyton'shome. She told him some very interesting
stories:that shehad beenin the campsurprisedby Buchanin • 8 • •, aswere
all her people;that the marineshadbeenkilled whenoneof them refusedto
give up hisjacket and both ran away.Inglis realizedthat Shanawdithitwas
too importantto be left a mere servant.He thoughta new attemptshouldbe
madeto reachthe survivingRed Indians,with Shanawdithitasan interpre-
ter. Moneyfor thisventurecouldbe soughtby subscription bothin England
and Newfoundland. $2
BishopInglis sent his ideasto William Epps Cormack,a man who had
alreadyestablished himselfas an authorityon Newfoundland.Born in St
John's,Cormackhad receiveda thoroughlymodern educationat Edin-
burgh Universityin botany,geology,and mineralogy;and, further, he had
accessto the outsideworldthroughtheEdinburgh PhilosophicalJournaledited
by hisold tutor, ProfessorJameson.The journal had publishedCormack's
accountof hiscrossing Newfoundlandby land in • 822, the firstsuchexplo-
ration by a white; he had recordedthe topography,climate,minerals,flora
and fauna, but had found none of the elusive native Indians. His educated
mind couldnot acceptthat a wholeracemight havebeenexterminated,and
he was convinced that Shanawdithit came from but one band of a still
numerous tribe. as

Spurred by Inglis's suggestions,Cormack decided to do somethingto

prove his theory.He established the BeothuckInstitutionat Twillingatein
October •827, for the purposeof 'opening a communicationwith, and
promotingthe civilizationof the Red Indiansof Newfoundland.'$4The first
taskwasto discoversomeBeothucks with whomto communicate, andbythe
end of the month Cormack was off on the search. He travelled as far as Red

3 • R.A. Tucker to R.W. Horton, 99June •895, co •94/7 •, ff 395-8; Howley,ed., Beothucks,
•74-5
39 Journal,9,4July •897,JohnInglisPapers,PublicArchivesof NovaScotia,Halifax; Inglisto
Cormack, •o Aug. •897, Howley, ed., Beothucks, 9o5-6
33 W.E. Cormack,NarrativeofaJourney across theIslandofNewfoundlandin • 822 (StJohn's
•856); Howley,ed., Beothuck•,•3o-68,939-7; CormacktoJohn Barrow, 99July •893, co
•94/66, f 3•3; Cormackto Bathurst,i.d., ibid.,f 3•5
34 RoyalGazette, StJohn's,•3 Nov. •897; Howley,ed., Beothucks,
•8•- 7
146 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

Indian Lake, finding many tracesof the Beothucks,includingthe graveof

Mary March. He passedthrougha deadlandand spent'severalmelancholy
days... surveyingthe remainsof whatwe nowcontemplatedto havebeenan
unoffendingand cruellyextirpated race.' Even so, he continuedto hope,
surmisingthat a few survivorsmight have moved south of White Bay or
down to the southwest of the island. But it was not to be, and two further
searchpartiesfailed to find any survivors.
as
The institution'sother main purposewasto train Shanawdithitto actasan
interpreter.Resolution• 5 of the inauguralmeetingstatedthat sheshouldbe
placedunder the institution's'paternalcare'and be educatedat itsexpense.
The institutionhaving moved to St John's,its January •828 meetingre-
solvedtobringher theretoo.Shearrivedon 2oSeptember,stayeda fewdays
with Cormack, and was then lodged with CharlesSimms,member of the
institutionand actingattorneygeneral.Cormackfound her commandof the
Englishlanguageto be very poor, but as sheimproved and gainedconfi-
dence in her new surroundingshe was able to compile a vocabularyof
Beothuckwords.However, Cormackrealizedthat there wasno longer any
point in training her as an interpreter and concentratedon her artistic
talents.The result was a seriesof drawings,five of them basicallysketch
maps and the rest depictionsof wigwams,storehouses,tools, and various
kindsof preservedfood. The mapstold the storyof Buchan'sexpeditionof
•811, of the capture of Mary March, Buchan'sreturn with the body,
Shanawdithit'sown capture, and one hitherto unknown double murder
about the year •816. Cormackwasable to follow the demiseof the Beo-
thucks,from seventy-two in two campsin 1811to thirty-onein onecampin
1819;in that year their numberswere reducedto twenty-sevenand by the
springof •823 only thirteen were left. At that point Shanawdithit'sknowl-
edgeof her people,all knowledgeof the Beothucks,ceased.Sheherselfdied
of consumption on 6 June 1829at the ageof twenty-three?
Cormack'sinaugural addressto the BeothuckInstitution identified two
villainsresponsiblefor the exterminationof the Red Indians: not the En-
glish,but the Frenchand Micmacs.'Abouta centuryand a half ago,'he said,
without offering any proof, the French put a bountyon Beothuckheads;
someBeothucksfound two severedheadsin a Micmaccanoeand, pretend-
ing to know nothingof the crime, invited the Micmacsto a feastand there
35 'Mr. Cormack'sJourney in searchof theRed Indians,'Edinburgh NewPhilosophical Journal,
Jan. •828, 4o8-•o; 'Reportof Mr. W.E. Cormack'sJourney,'ibid., March •829, 3•8-•9;
Howley,ed.,Beothuck•, •88-97, • •6-•9; Cormackto Peyton,•8 Oct. •8•8, Provincial
ReferenceSection,PublicLibrary,StJohn's
36 W.E. Cormack,'Historyof the Red Indiansof Newfoundland,'Howley,ed., Beothucks,
•-9, •3 •-•, •38-49; Cormackto Inglis, •oJan. •8•9, ibid., • •o; seealso •86, •97. Her
obituaryappearedin the PublicLedger,StJohn's,• • June • 8'•9; NewJoundlander, StJohn's,
• • June •8•9; TheTime•,London, •4 Sept. •8• 9
 THE EXTERMINATION OF THE BEOTHUCKS 147

killed them all. From then on there wasopen war, and sincethe French
suppliedthe Micmacswith guns,the Beothuckswith their bowsand arrows
were doomed. It was only after this warfare had shatteredthe Beothucks
that the Englishstartedshootingthem.This wasa verycomfortingexplana-
tion,asit relegatedthe Englishto the minorroleof finishingoff whatothers
hadbegun.Moreover,the Frenchwerestillpresentin Newfoundland,much
to the disgustof the Englishresidents.France had acknowledgedBritish
sovereignty in • 7 • 4, but shekeptthe exclusiveuseof longstretches of coast
for her fisheriesuntil • 9o4. Any storythat involvedher in evil doingswould
be veryacceptableto Cormack'saudience.The tale wassedulouslyrepeated
to suchdiversepeopleasthebishopof Nova Scotiaand a visitingCambridge
don? The storyreceivedwidecurrencywhenOttawah: LastChiefoftheRed
IndiansofNewfoundland appearedin twentydouble-columnedpennyissues
in Roscoe'sSeriesin London in •848. The work wasreprinted in Philadel-
phiaandeventranslatedinto German.In spiteof thetitle'sreferenceto 'last'
the storydealtwith the earlyseventeenth
centuryand the destructionof the
Beothucksby the Micmacs.Tales of Micmachostilityhave been repeated
ever since. a8
The Englishof Newfoundlandhad sufferedmuchmore from the French
and Micmacsthan theyeverhad from the Beothucks,and Cormack'saccusa-
tion hasthat measureof poeticjusticeaboutit. The Micmacshad survived
the first phaseof white contactand learned to accommodatethemselvesto
the newcomers'trade goods,firearms,and brandy. They had made their
peacewith the Frenchmissionaries and amalgamatedChristianritualswith
their own.They had learnedto livewith whitesettlers,the AcadianFrench
scattered in small numbers across Nova Scotia. There had been much
intermarriagein the seventeenthcentury and there was an awarenessof
closebloodties;an 'almostsymbioticrelationshipof mutual toleranceand
supportgrewup betweenthe twocultures.'a9This strengthwasto servethe
Micmacswell as they establishedthemselvesin Newfoundland;it was a
strengththe Beothucksnever knew.
The Micmacshad beenoccasional visitorsto Newfoundland,along with

37 Howley,ed.,Beothucks,
182-4;Journal,2July 1827,JohnInglisPapers;J.B.Juke,Excursions
in andaboutNewfoundland
in theYears• 839 and• 84o, 2 vols.(London1842),•, 128.The fact
thatBishopInglisheardthe storyfrom Peytona yearbeforeCormack'saddressindicates
that theidea mayhaveoriginatedwith Peyton.
38 E.J.Devereux,'The BeothuckIndiansof Newfoundlandin Factand Fiction,'Dalhousie
Review,197o,35o-62. Storiesof Micmachostilityreceiveda form of officialsanctionwhen
theywererepeatedin theGeographicBoard,Canada,Handbook ofIndiansofCanada
(Ottawa 19•2), 61-2.
39 AndrewH. Clark,Acadia(Madison1968),361.For a surveyof theeffectof initialcontacton
theMicmacsseeCalvinMartin,'The EuropeanImpactonthe Cultureof a Northeastern
AlgonquianTribe,' William& MaryQuarterly,
Jan. 1974,3-26.
148 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

MountaineerIndians and Eskimosfrom Labrador, for hundredsof years.

The French first employedthem againstwhite settlersin •7o5: 'Je les ay
Envoy• deux lois sur les CostesAngloises,'GovernorSubercase informed
his minister;'Ils ont donnasaux Ennemisune terreur qu'il n'estpasjamais
de croire.' The Micmacswere so indiscriminatein their slaughterthat
Subercase's successor, Costebelle,
tried to rein them in, threateningto deny
them brandyunlessthey fought'alafrangaise.' They promisedtheywould
do so,but the attemptto introducehumanewarfarewasunsuccessful, andso
were Costebelle'ssubsequentefforts to ship the Micmacsback to Cape
Breton.Only the collapseof the Frenchpositionat Placentiaand Port Royal
put an end to the scourge.4ø
In •72o a few Micmacssettledat St George'sBayon the southwest coastof
Newfoundland. They kept in touch with the Catholic priestsand French
tradersof Cape Breton.The situationchangedin 1763with the finalexpul-
sion of France from Acadia, the return to her of the islands of St Pierre and
Miquelon,and a shift in the limits of the French fishingshoreso that St
George'sBay lay within its bounds.In •765 someMicmacslanded on the
Newfoundlandcoastnear St Pierre, and GovernorPalliserwasoutragedto
learn that they carriedpassports
from the Britishcommanderat Louisburg
whohadbeen,apparently,onlytoo gladto getrid of them.The nextyearit
was the turn of Lieutenant-Governor Francklin of Nova Scotia to write
Palliser;alarmedat the pagan-Christianmix of the St Anne'sDayfestivities,
he reported that Micmacswere assemblingin large numberswith 'Holy
Water Relicts,Books& other Articles'of the Roman faith and requested
Palliserto preventthem communicating with the missionaries
at St Pierre.4•
But therewasno stoppingthe Micmacs;therewere •75 of themon the coast
in the Bay of Despairarea, and there they remained,trading with French
merchants? From then on there was a circuit from Cape Breton to St
George'sBay to Bay of Despairand thenceto St Pierre. When the British
reoccupiedthat islandin 1793theyfound that the Indiansfrom St George's
Bay were comingthere regularlyto havetheir childrenbaptised;further,
wrote the British commander,the 'Politicalhumanity'of the French had
paid handsomedividendsin ensuringthat the Micmacsbrought the pro-
duce of their winter hunt to them for sale?

40 Subercase to ministerof marine, 22 Oct. 1705; Costebelleto minister,8 Nov. 1706, 1o Nov.
17o7,ArchivesdesColonies,Paris,Ameriquedu Nord, c•c, iv, ff 195-226, v, ff 3o-7o,
118-55 (microfilm,Mc l, PAC)
41 Palliserto Lt Col. Pringle,22 Oct. 1765,ON2/1/3,345;Francklinto Palliser,ll Sept.,1766,
•N2/•/4, 4o, PANL
42 Palliserto Lordsof Trade, 2• Oct. •766, co •94/27, ff287-92; Palliserto Shelburne,5 Dec.
•767, ibid., ff 32o-•
43 Enclosurein Major P.F.Thorne toJohnSullivan,25June • 793, co • 94/43, ff 26•-4;
Thorne to Dundas26 May 1794,co •94/4 • , ff 8o-2; 'Factsrespectingthe Fisheryat the
 THE EXTERMINATION OF THE BEOTHUCKS 149

English officialsregarded the Micmacswith grave suspicionbecauseof

thesecontactswith the French.The Micmacs,havinglosttheir accustomed
market with the French for the duration of the war, were forced to trade
with the English;they thus becamemore visible.They were apparently
acceptedby the furriers on an equalfooting,for there is not one storyof a
white firing on a Micmacencampment,possiblybecauseit waswell known
that the Micmacs would shoot back. Officials took a sterner line: in 18o8
GovernorHamilton tried to stopthe Micmacsfrom crossingNewfoundland,
not onlybecausetheytookfur 'at improperSeasons' but alsobecauseof their
presumed hostilityto the Beothtlcks.The same alarm was soundedby
Governor Keatsin 1815 when he wrote that the 'thriving and populous'
Micmac settlementsat St George'sBay 'would prove fatal to the Native
Indians of the Island.'44 These chargesprobablyderived from George
Cartwright'sunsupportedassertion,publishedin 1792, that the Micmacs
were the implacableenemiesof the Red Indians.45Officialsincludedthat
accusationasone in a long listof complaintsagainstthe Micmacsand on that
basisthe notionthatMicmacsdestroyedBeothucksbecamethe conventional
wisdomof the day.
Micmacfolkloredoesspeakof hostilitytowardsthe Beothucks: onceupon
a time bothpeopleslivedin harmony,and then twoboysquarreledoverthe
killing of a squirrel;the Red Indian boywaskilled, histribe tried to revenge
his death and wasdefeated.This storyis so similarto the one explaining
Micmachostilitywith the Iroquois that it may simplybe one variant of a
generalhostilitylegendtold to satisfya persistentwhite.46But there canbe
no doubt that the Micmacsregardedthe Beothucksas an inferior people.
One communicativeMicmac,who stoppeda river boatby firing his musket
into the air, wasaskedif the Red Indians, like himself,looked up to God?
'No; nolookee up cor•: Killeeall men dat dem see.Red Indians no good.''Do
youunderstandthe talkof theRedIndians?' 'Oh,no;menottalkee likeedem:dem
talkeeall samedog,"Bow,wow,wow/"' The Micmac'appearedso much of-
fended at our last question,that we did not think it prudent to renew the
dialogue.'47Someof thiscontemptcameout in identifyingwith the whites'
Islandsof St.Pierreand Miquelon,'in W. H. Milesto Addington,•o Oct., • 802, co •94/43,
ff 239-42. There wereabout200Micmacslivingat St George'sBayin • 797, Ambrose
Crofton to Waldegrave,•oJan. •798, co •94/4o, ff •7-34.
44 Hamiltonto Castlereagh,8 Nov. • 808, co 194/47,ff 6 •-9; Keatsto Bathurst,•o Nov. • 8 • 5,
co •94/56, ff •o5-• 4
45 Cartwright,Journal,I,
46 Comparethestoriesin FrankG. Speck,Beothuck andMicmac (NewYork •922), 27-9, andin
W.D. and R.S. Wallis,TheMicmacIndiansofEasternCanada(Minneapolis •955), 449.
47 Lt EdwardChappell,Voyage ofHis Majesty's ShipRosamond toNewfoundland andtheSouthern
CoastofLabrador (London•8 • 8), 71; Howley,ed.,Beothucks,288.Chappellmaynotbe the
mostreliableof reporters,but it isunlikelythat thisexchangeissimplya figmentof his
imagination;thenextquotationcorroborates hisaccount.
150 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

bravado:'I seeRed Indian I shoothim all the sameas one dog.'4sThe

Micmac,Noel Boss,wasreputedto havekilled99 Red Indians,and Shanaw-
dithit had the scarsto showthat he narrowly missedmaking her his hun-
dredth victim;but a Micmaclong after recalledthat Bosshad alwaysbeen
readyto givea helpinghand to the Beothucks.There wereseveralstoriesof
the kindnessshownby Micmacsto those who were, indisputably,their
inferiors. The Rev. Silas Rand of the Micmac Mission in Nova Scotia re-
corded a legend showinghow the Micmacshad long tried to prove their
friendshipto the timorousBeothucksbut had only beenableto convinceone
woman and save her from starvation?
It is highly unlikely that the Micmacsplayed any significantpart in the
destructionof the Beothucks,either at the biddingof the Frenchor on their
own account. The French did not use that part of their fishing shore
contiguouswith Red Indian territory and wouldnot havesufferedfrom the
pilfering and other annoyances that might haveled them to offer a bounty
for dead Beothucks.Nor did the Beothuckschallengethe Micmacs'self-
interest.Their point of arrival in Newfoundland wasdistantfrom Beothuck
territory,their huntinggroundswere in the south,their wholeorientation
wastowardsthe French of Cape Breton or, later, St Pierre and Miquelon.
Moreover, the natural flow of the rivers in the Micmacs'area is southerly,
and it would requireconsiderableportagingtojourney north to the centre
of the island. Some Micmacs were to be found in the north: William Cull took
twowith him on hisexpeditionfrom ExploitsBayin •8•o. But there are no
reportsof familiesor huntingpartiesof Micmacsin that area.Cormackmet
numerous Micmacs on his traverse of the island in •822, but he was follow-
ing a southerlyroute. He found the remainsof a Micmaccanoeon the shore
of SerpentineLake, surmisedthat it had beenbroughtup from the Bay of
Despairalongthe Cod Roy River, and that thiswasa route to the centreof
the island.John Peyton,Jr, knew of an access:he claimed that the Red
Indians usedto point out a tributary of the ExploitsRiver by which the
Micmacs came north. Since the Beothucks, he said, called the Micmacs
'Shannock' - bad Indians - he named it Shannock Brook (now Noel Paul's
Brook)? There is no doubt that the Micmacscould have gone north had
theywishedto do so,but the fact remainsthat there wasno reasonwhy they
should.And if by chancethey had gone,they would not have found Beo-
thucksenoughto kill in any quantity.
In reviewingthe reasonsfor the destructionof the Beothucks,Cormack

48 Quotedin JamesDobieto Sir G. Cockburn,lO Sept. 1823,CO•94/66, ff 324-9

49 Howley, ed., Beothucks, 181,279, 284-6
5ø Ibid., 69-7o, •46, •7o. The namesCormackusedandthe naturalfeatureshedepictedin no
waytallywiththoseon present-day maps,sothatit isimpossible
to evaluatehissurmise.
Cormack'smapisamongthe end papersof TheEdinburgh PhilosophicalJournal,
• 8•4.
 THE EXTERMINATION OF THE BEOTHUCKS 151

did admit that 'the terror of the ignorantEuropeanhas[sometimes]

goaded
him on to murder the innocent. 'a• The misdeeds of the whites were linked
with the greaterculpabilityof the Micmacsfrom the first,but at the present
day the responsibilityfor exterminatingthe Beothuckshas been laid
squarelyon the settlers.This interpretationisexemplifiedby an articletitled
'The people who were murdered for fun,' which citesas evidencereports
that 4oo Beothuckswere massacredat Bloody Lake, another •oo at Red
Indian Lake, and so on.a2These assertionswere offered without support,
and it goesagainstall probabilitythat there were ever enoughBeothucksin
one placeat one time to be slaughteredon this scale,or, indeed,enough
whitesto perpetratethe deed.
Indian killing occurredaspart of the whites'drive to usethe resourcesof
the ExploitsRiver areaand asa defenceagainstintrusionson their isolated
and scatteredsettlements. The Rev.Leightestifiedto the universalfear of
the nativesand the fact that the whiteshabituallywentarmed: in the twenty
yearsbefore • 823, he said,onlythreeRed Indianshadbeenkilledby whites,
yet eight settlershad beenmurdered and three badlywoundedin the same
period.Leighwasassoberand impartiala witnessascouldbe desired.asYet
killingan Indian wasdefinitelya sourceof pride. The manwho'hasshotan
indianvalueshimselfupon the feat, and failsnot to speakof it in the mad
hoursof drunkenness,' notedJohnCartwright.•4As the rum flowed,sothe
storiesmusthavegrownby competitiveexaggerationfrom isolatedencoun-
tersto wholesalemassacres. The storiescollectedbyJ.P. Howleyin the • 88os
showthat a commonfate for the first settlerin any givenlocalitywasto be
killedby the Red Indians,sometimes under the guiseof friendship.Indian
killing wasusuallypresentedin the contextof revenge,with the avenger
seekingout the guiltyparty.•a
Folkloreconcerningthe Beothucksisstillbe be gatheredin the outports.
It isstillbloodyin content.SandyCovehasthe storyof MichaelTurpin, who
wasout swimmingwith William Murray when attackedby Red Indiansin a
canoe.Turpin waskilledand beheadedon a rockthat bearshisnameto this
day; Murray escapedthanksto a womanworkingin a gardenwho pointeda
spadeat hispursuersasthoughit werea musket? An old man livingnear St
5 • Howley, ed., Beothucks,
183
5• Harold HotwoodinMaclean'sMagazine, •o Oct. •959; seealsohisNewfoundland
(New York
•969), 7•-8. The BloodyBay storyis basedon three linesin Howley,ed., Beothucks,
•69.
53 Testimonyin King v JamesCarey,StJohn's,•o-•3 June •8•3, co •94/66, ff73-7
54 Cartwright,'Remarks,'Journal, I
55 Howley,ed., Beothucks, •65-8 •, passim.
56 Msc-77/64- • 3, •5-•6; also7o-•4, •3, Memorial Universityof NewfoundlandFolklore
Archives[MtY•LA].MS69- •9, 8o hasit that a littlegirl wasbeheadedon the rock,whichis
stillstainedwith her blood.Evidentlythe storieswereinventedto explainan unusually
reddishrock.The Turpin legendisthe onlyone at MtY•.A to be recordedin Howley,ed.,
Beothucks
(•68).
152 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW

Philipsrecalledthat the brother of one of Buchan'smurdered marinestold

his grandfatherthat in the year followingthe expeditionhe and his five
brothers
loaded
a boatwithartilleryandgrapeshot,sailed
uptheExploits
River, and massacredthe Red Indians they found. Comfort Cove remem-
bers its first resident,John (William?)Cull, who shot many Indians: his
grandfatherand uncle had been killed at Comfort Island, and Cull himself
hadbeenoneof thefewmenin thepartyto escapewithhislife. OnedayCull
andsomefriendsleft a loadedmusketon theground,primedto fire.After a
whilesomeBeothuckscamealong;theypickedup the gun and it wentoff.
Terrified, they ran away,only to be shotdown by Cull and hismen from
ambush. A resident of Brown's Arm heard about the Indians from his aunt,
wholivedto be • • 2: sheusedto keepa chainwhichsherattled to scarethem
off, for theythoughtthenoisewasgunfire.He toldof an ambushbywhitesat
CharlesBrook:'deyopenedfire, anddeylevelled,nothingalive,nothinggot
ashore,men,womenandchildren,twasbarbarousyouknow.And deysunk
everythingright where twastoo. Dey clearedawayall, datsall wasdere
seein CharlesesBrook at dat time ... So dere wasno Injuns hearedtalk of
dereafter. '57

Despitethesetalesof slaughter,commonto all North Americanfrontiers,

the decreasein the Beothuckpopulationover a period of three hundred
yearswasunspectacular.From 2oooin • 5oo to seventy-twoin •8 • • is an
annual rate of declineof •.o• per cent, far lessthan the 1.5 per cent that
Cookfoundtobe the normfor theNew EnglandIndianswastedbyendemic
diseasesalone.5sWe mayassumea rapidlossof populationasa resultof first
contactdiseases followedby a periodof recoveryand stabilisation, with the
Beothuck people adapting to new, smaller, hunting grounds. Renewed
contactswith the whitesin the mid-eighteenthcentury brought not only
deathby gunfirebut alsofreshexposureto disease.Epidemicswerespread
amongstthe populationsof neighbouringGreenlandand Labradorin this
period as a result of white contact.s9Endemic diseasewas taking its toll
amongstthe Beothucks,for all the captivewomen had tuberculosis at the
time theywere taken,exceptShanawdithit,and shedied of it at an earlyage.

57 MS72-69, 5-6; MS75--207,20--9;MSC-320/66--95,3, MUNFLA.

The onlylegendthathasbeen
checked outreferredtothreebrothersnamedPardy,killedbytheRedIndians:a visittothe
localgraveyardrevealeda headstonerecordingthat the threedied in a blizzardon 97
February•79 •. 'A Burin LegendaboutBeothucks,'
EveningTelegram, StJohn's,•6 April
• 969
58 Cook,'Significanceof Disease,'
5o2,printsa fbrmulafor establishingtherateofdecline.My
figurewasreachedby correctingthat equationto read log pi = log Po- tk, wherePoisthe
populationin the baseyear,pi populationin theith year,t istimeelapsed,andk therateof
populationdecline.I am indebtedby my colleague RichardUnger for adviceonthispoint.
59 RobertFortuine,'The Healthof theEskimos atthetimeof firstcontact,'
Bulletin
oftheHistory
ofMedicine,197•, 97- • •4
 THE EXTERMINATION OF THE BEOTHUCKS 153

Buchan'svisitin 1811 may havebeen the final calamityfor her weakened

people.She told Cormackthat in the secondwinter following,twenty-two
out of seventy-two died, 'and the third year alsonumbersdied of hardship
and want.'The fact that shethoughtit worthy of note that Demasduitwas
married four yearsbefore bearing any children may point to an unpre-
cedenteddeclinein fertility?
The strategyof withdrawalmay haveprolongedthe life of the Beothuck
people,but the success of the Micmacsraisessomequestionaboutitsvalidity
as a responseto the white presence.Could it be that the Beothucksdied
becausethey did not have enoughcontactwith the whites?There wasno
missionary to pleadfor their souls,no traderanxioustobarterfor their furs,
no soldierto arm and usethem asauxiliariesin his wars, no governmentto
restrain the settlers.The presenceof all these white intruders served to
strengthenthe Micmacs.Perhapsthosesameintruderscouldhavesavedthe
Beothucks from extinction.

6o Howley, ed., Beothucks,

•7