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Shanawdithit (c. 1800-1829)
The last known Beothuk, Shanawdithit became the source of much of what is known about her
people, who had all but been wiped out by disease and clashes with white settlers by the
early
1800s.
She was one of a small group of surviving Beothuk who scattered into the interior
following the
death of Nonosbawsut and the capture of Demasduit in 1819.
She witnessed several of the final documented encounters between her people and
Newfoundland
settlers. In the spring of 1823, after her father died when he fell through the ice while
trying to
escape a group of hunters, Shanawdithit, her sister and their mother, weakened by hunger,
surrendered to trapper William Cull.
The three women were taken to St. John’s, then back to Exploits, where it was hoped
they would
be able to assure the remaining Beothuk of the government’s desire to establish
friendly relations.
Only Shanawdithit survived the year.
Brought back to St. John’s in 1828, Shanawdithit worked as a servant before being
taken in by
explorer William Cormack, who recorded much of what she told him about her people’s
customs
and beliefs. She provided several informative drawings depicting the traditions of the
Beothuk and
died of tuberculosis the following summer.
October 25, 1999 issue of The Evening Telegram newspaper, St. John's
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