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CA-K423Indigenous peoples & reconciliation

Shanawdithit and Beothuk knowledge

A statue of Shanawdithit at Boyd’s Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador, photographed in 2013.
A statue of Shanawdithit at Boyd’s Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador, photographed in 2013. Shanawdithit (Boyd's Cove, NL) · Kaye Duncan (Flickr: Oh Kaye) · Photo source · Photo licence: CC0. Resized for display; item previews may be cropped. The image remains under the licence shown.
Factual accuracy review: No recorded challenge

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Shanawdithit was one of the last documented Beothuk of Newfoundland. Seized by English settlers in 1823, she never regained her freedom, but she taught her captors much of what is known about the decline of her people; with the help of her sketches she described encounters between the British and the Beothuk, including the capture of her aunt Demasduit. She died in St. John’s in 1829.

Scope & context

Shanawdithit as described in her designation, not Beothuk history as a whole (see CA-K408).

Sources behind this record

1
Shanawdithit National Historic Person ↗

Parks Canada (Directory of Federal Heritage Designations)

Importance; plaque text