Smudge

Today we travelled north about 30 miles to the Beothuk Interpretation Centre Provincial Historic Site at Boyd's Cove. The last Beothuk died in 1829 and the story of how these people thrived in Newfoundland is pieced together by historians and archaeologists and told in this Centre. Here is a brief description of the Beothuk people at Boyd's Cove.

Boyd's Cove was first visited by Palaeoeskimo peoples some time between 2100 and 2700 years ago. These people did not stay long, however, and centuries later, the site was sporadically occupied by Indian peoples who were the ancestors of the Beothuk. By about 1200 years ago, these prehistoric Beothuk were occasionally camping at the site and their descendants, the people that are now called Beothuk, continued that occupation in larger numbers and for longer periods of the year.

Native peoples were drawn for a number of reasons. The site has a good beach upon which to draw up canoes.  The site is located on top of a glacial moraine, a 6 metre deposit of sand, coarse gravel and boulders left behind by an ancient glacier. This meant that Native peoples who camped on the site were assured of a good, dry camp ground, for when it rains the water quickly drains through the glacial till leaving the ground surprisingly dry.

The Beothuk may also have been drawn to the site because when they lived here, between about 1650 and 1720, it was located in an area between a French migratory fishery to the northwest and an English fishery to the southeast. Boyd's Cove was a safe haven between two areas of the Newfoundland coast that were visited by European fishermen during the warmer months of the year.

When these fishermen went back to their homes in Europe for the winter it is thought that Beothuk from Boyd's Cove visited those fishing premises and picked up nails, fish hooks and other objects lost and abandoned by the fishermen. With impressive skill, the Beothuk worked these iron objects into arrow heads, awls, hide scrapers and spear points.

Those spears and arrows were used to kill the caribou, the bones of which were found in large numbers at Boyd's Cove. It is thought that the caribou was very important to the Beothuk who may have shown their respect for the spirit of the animal by holding a feast similar to a ceremony still held by the Innu of Labrador. That feast is called a makoshan and it involved grinding up the leg bones of the caribou, boiling them, skimming off the grease, pressing it into cakes and eating them. Such a feast was often held in a special large dwelling called a shaputuan. At Boyd's Cove, one of the excavated houses is oval in shape and much larger than most of the others. It contained a long hearth or campfire, filled with bone mash. This is exactly what the archaeological evidence of a shaputuan should look like. 

Life was good for the Boyd's Cove Beothuk. They dug large, shallow pits into the ground and erected sturdy bark-covered wigwams in them. Archeologists have found the remains of eleven of these warm, comfortable dwellings. It is believed that the site was occupied by a band of 30 - 40 people until perhaps 1720 or so, when Europeans began to occupy nearby areas of the coast. 

While the Beothuks were able to coexist with, and probably to benefit from, a migratory fishery the beginning of year-round settlement in the 17th century meant the onset of drastic change. The Beothuk withdrew from European contact. Lacking the contacts with traders, missionaries and Indian agents that were characteristic of the mainland experience, the Beothuk became increasingly isolated. 

After the middle of the 18th century, as the growth of English settlement increased, the Beothuk were increasingly denied access to the vital resources of the sea. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Beothuks were reduced to a small refugee population attempting to subsist on the inadequate resources of the interior. Although a succession of Newfoundland governors had, since the middle of the 18th century, attempted to establish friendly contact with the Beothuks, it was probably too late to change a pattern which had existed for perhaps 250 years. Shanawdithit, the last known Beothuk, died in St. John's, of tuberculosis, in 1829.

This is Christine, an Interpreter at the Centre who provided us with the above information and spoke to us about the exhibits.

Stone arrowheads and spear points.

We paused and ate our lunch in this beautiful picnic area on the grounds of the Centre. Notice the Bay through the trees.

Dr. Pastore, who did the archaeological work at the site, believes that some of these stone points may have been "training tools" for the younger Beothuk. The shafts for these arrow pouts would have been two feet shorter than those used by adults.

Diorama of the the Beothuk people. They used red ochre mixed with animal fat and covered their bodies, clothing and belongings in red. This custom had a spiritual and a practical aspect. Spiritual because red was connected to blood and life, and practical because it would protect the skin from the sun and from insects. Covering the skin in red began at birth and continued even after death. Even the remains, bones, were covered in the ochre. 

An artist's depiction of what Boyd's Cove camp might have looked like.

There was a special program at the Centre today.  Saqamaw Mi'sel Joe, Chief Misel Joe, of the Micmaw people, took a group of about 12 of us on a hike to show us the medicinal use of some of the local plants and trees.

Along the trail to the site is this bronze sculpture, "Spirit of the Beothuk People", by renowned Newfoundland artist Gerald Squires.

Another view of the sculpture as seen from the trail.

After returning to the Centre, after the tour with Chief Misel Joe, we made talismans or tokens to hang in the Spirit Garden at the Centre as a way of showing our respect and connection with the Beothuk people.

Frederick tying his talisman to a tree.

Frederick's, red, and mine, green. There is a mussel shell, a strip of cloth, a piece of birchbark on which we wrote our thoughts or feelings, and a feather all held together with sinew.

Chief Misel Joe preparing burning sage for a smudge. We were asked not to take pictures of the ceremony.

Totally different - on the drive back we passed a fish & chips place that had this huge lobster out in the front by the road.  It must have been at least twenty beet long.