Beothuks

Mr. Pastore backs up his argument mainly using archeological evidence. He states that during the time of Beothuk-European co-existence there was very little documented on paper. Mr. Pastore uses evidence unearthed at Beothuk camps such as scavenged European irons1 from seasonally abandoned fishing villages to substantiate his writings. The author states in his article that the Beothuk people were a coastal based unit. Again evidence of this has been unearthed at various archeological sites in Notre Dame bay and Trinity bay. The author believes that the Beothuk people relied on seasonal stocks such as salmon, caribou and seals to meet the necessities of life. The

problem that arises from this “bond” to the sea is that what happens when this “ bond” is broken. Well, the author states that the early Europeans broke this bond and drove the Beothuk inland or away from them. The Europeans were settling in the coastal area therefore for the Beothuk to remain away from them they had to go inland. Inland to a region that was harsh and could not provide the food and necessities that the Beothuk people were used to. Mr. Pastore again backs this up with evidence of archeological sites where spruce root was used instead of caribou sinew was used to repair clothing. This showing a group of people that was desperate for supplies.2 Another factor, which this article does not elaborate on but affected the Beothuk people was the fact that the European settlers and the Beothuk had been embroiled in hostilities. These hostilities, starting around the 1720’s were a turning point in the Beothuk history because during this decade they also entered into serious conflict with the Micmac Indians. The Micmac had dislodged them from the area of St. Georges Bay, south coast and other various regions on the west coast of the island. This again decreased the Beothuk territory.4 Beothuks were also killed by brutal settlers and fisherman (not mentioned in this article)

Some topics in this essay:
America Beothuk, Notre Dame, Georges Bay, Newfoundland Pastore, Overall Pastore, Acadiensis Reader, England France, beothuk people, , Ralph Pastore, Beothuk World”, portion island newfoundland, article beothuk, evidence unearthed, pastore evidence, late history, european settlers, fishing villages, portion island, archeological sites, coastal regions,