by Alysa Dudley

Created on: June 29, 2009   Last Updated: July 31, 2009

Who were the Beothuk? They were a small native tribe living in the area we now call Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The question and the answer are stated in the past tense, because the Beothuk no longer exist.

Have you ever wondered why native Americans were called redskins? It is probably because the Beothuk People loved the color red. The Beothuk used a paint made from red ochre. They covered everything with it, including their bodies, faces, hair, clothing, and possessions.

The Beothuk are believed to be distant relatives of the Algonquin People. Archaeological explorations in Newfoundland have uncovered living sites and burial grounds indicating the Beothuk lived in Canada for almost 2,000 years.

Since the Beothuk spent much of the year living on the Atlantic coast, they were often the first people explorers encountered upon arrival. When the Vikings landed in North America, they were met by the Beothuk. John Cabot's expedition in 1497 also found the Beothuk living on the coast.

The Beothuk have been described as having black hair and dark eyes. They were of medium to tall height with broad faces, large eyes, and flat noses.

The Tribe moved as the seasons changed. In the summer, they lived on the coast where they could get fish, seals, sea birds, clams, lobsters, and mussels. In the winter the People moved to forests to hunt game, primarily caribou.

Approximately seven to ten families (35 to 50 individuals) made up bands of Beothuk. They lived in huts and lodges arranged in a circle, and they used crescent shaped birch-bark canoes. Graves have been found containing objects such as bows, arrows and knives, indicating belief in an afterlife.

Following the arrival of John Cabot at Newfoundland in 1947, the Beothuk way of life was threatened by Europeans. Some of the Beothuk were captured and sent to Europe as slaves, or displayed as curiosities. European fisherman took over Beothuk coastal lands to dry cod. The Europeans also cleared and burned the forests.

In the early 1600s Europeans started to successfully and peacefully trade with the Beothuk. Unfortunately, other Europeans were aggressive and killed many natives. French settlers even provided guns to another tribe, the Micmac, for the purpose of killing the Beothuk.

The Beothuk were forced to live away from the coast. Although their lack of contact with Europeans protected them from the diseases which swept through other tribes, without access to the coast the Beothuk faced starvation.

It is estimated that there were between 2,000 and 5,000 Beothuk in the year 1500. There may have been as few as 500 people in the tribe in 1600. Their numbers further declined as the years passed.

In 1823, three Beothuk women were found sick and starving. Only one, Shanawdithit, survived at that time. She lived for six more years in St. John's, and died of tuberculosis in 1829. She was the last of the Beothuk. The tribe was extinct.

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