Demasduwit
Encyclopedia
Beothuk
The Beothuk were one of the aboriginal peoples in Canada. They lived on the island of Newfoundland at the time of European contact in the 15th and 16th centuries...
woman, one of the last of her people on the island of Newfoundland, Canada.
She was born near the end of the 18th century. The Beothuk were openly hostile to Europeans, and violent conflict between the two groups were common. The conflicts usually took more Beothuks than Europeans which led to their decline. These new settlers also had taken up residence in the coastal areas which hindered the Beothuks access to food resources near the coast.
In the fall of 1818, a small group of Beothuks had taken a boat and some fishing equipment at the mouth of the Exploits River
Exploits River
The Exploits River is a Canadian river in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It flows through the Exploits Valley in the central part of the island of Newfoundland....
. The governor of the colony, Charles Hamilton
Charles Hamilton (governor)
Sir Charles Hamilton, 2nd Baronet was a British naval officer and governor of Newfoundland.Hamilton was born in Britain in 1767. He began his naval career at the age of nine on his father's ship, the Hector. He attended the Royal Naval Academy at Portsmouth from 1777 to 1779...
, authorized an attempt to recover the stolen property. On March 1, 1819, John Peyton Jr. and eight armed men went up the Exploits River to Red Indian Lake
Red Indian Lake
Red Indian Lake is located in the western interior of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The downstream end of the lake drains into the Exploits River. This winds through the interior of the island and eventually exits into the Atlantic Ocean through...
in search of Beothuks and their equipment. A dozen Beothuk fled the campsite, Demasduit among them. Bogged down in the snow she exposed her breasts, a nursing mother, begging for mercy. Demasduit was captured, Nonosbawsut
Nonosbawsut
Nonosbawsut was a leader of the Beothuk people. Family head of and partner of Demasduwit, born Newfoundland, Canada. Sometimes referred to as Chief Nonosbawsut, his stature within the last remaining Beothuk would better be described as that of a headman or leader.Nonosbawsut was one of a group of...
, her husband and the leader of the group, was killed while attempting to prevent her capture. Her infant son died a few days after she was taken.
Peyton and his men were absolved of their murder by a grand jury in St. John's, the judge concluded that, "..(there was) no malice on the part of Peyton's party to get possession of any of (the Indians) by such violence as would occasion bloodshed."
Demasduit was taken to Twillingate
Twillingate, Newfoundland and Labrador
Twillingate is a town of 2,448 people located on the Twillingate Islands in Notre Dame Bay. It is located off the northeastern shore of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It was incorporated on September 30, 1965. The town is about north of Lewisporte and...
and for a time lived with the Church of England priest, the Reverend John Leigh. He learned that she was also called Shendoreth and Waunathoake, but he renamed her Mary March, after the Virgin Mary and the month in which she was kidnapped.
Demasduit was brought to St. John's
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, and is the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 192,326 as of July 1, 2010, the St...
and spent much of the spring of 1819 in St. John's, brought there by Leigh and John Peyton Jr. While there, Lady Hamilton
Henrietta Hamilton
Lady Henrietta Martha Hamilton was the wife of Sir Charles Hamilton, Governor of Newfoundland, and is best known for her miniature portrait entitled Mary March. The painting is a watercolour on ivory of Demasduit and it was painted in 1819 at St. John's while she lived with her husband during his...
painted her portrait.
During the summer of 1819, a number of attempts were made to return her to her people, without success. Captain David Buchan
David Buchan
David Buchan was a Scottish naval officer and Arctic explorer.-Exploration:In 1806, Buchan was appointed as a lieutenant in the Royal Navy, and from about 1808 to 1817 he operated in and around Newfoundland...
was to go overland to Red Indian Lake with Demasduit in November, the people of St. John's and Notre Dame Bay
Notre Dame Bay
Notre Dame Bay is a large bay in Newfoundland, Canada. To the south it adjoins the Bay of Exploits.The name, French for Our Lady Bay, dates to at least 1550, and is possibly a French translation of an earlier Portuguese name....
having raised the money to return the Beothuk to her home. She died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
at Ship Cove (now Botwood
Botwood, Newfoundland and Labrador
Northwest: Point LeamingtonNorth: Northern ArmNortheast: Bay of Exploits, Burnt Arm, LaurencetonWest: Division No. 6, Subd. CBotwoodEast: Bay of Exploits, Division No. 6, Subd. A...
) aboard Buchan's vessel, the Grasshopper, on January 8, 1820. Her body was left in a coffin on the lakeshore, where it was found by members of her tribe and returned to her village in February. She was placed in a burial hut beside her husband and child. There were only thirty-one of the Beothuk remaining at that time.
Demasduit's niece, a young woman named Shanawdithit
Shanawdithit
Shanawdithit , also noted as Shawnadithititis, Shawnawdithit, Nancy April and Nancy Shanawdithit, was the last known living member of the Beothuk people of Newfoundland, Canada. Also remembered for drawings she made towards the end of her life, Shawnawdithit was in her late twenties when she died...
{1801-1829}, was the last known Beothuk
Beothuk
The Beothuk were one of the aboriginal peoples in Canada. They lived on the island of Newfoundland at the time of European contact in the 15th and 16th centuries...
.
A song, Demasduit Dream, recorded by Newfoundland band Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea
Great Big Sea is a Canadian folk-rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year-old Irish, English, and French heritage...
, describes this incident.
The Mary March Provincial Museum in the town of Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador
Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador
Grand Falls-Windsor is a town of 13,558 people located in the central region of the island of Newfoundland in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The town is the largest in the central region, the fifth largest in the province, and is home to the annual Exploits Valley Salmon Festival...
, is named after her. In May, 2006, a group of local grade 2 students, led by student Connor O'Driscoll, helped collect more than 500 signatures on a petition to rename of the museum to reflect Demasduit's real identity, rather than the name she was given after her capture.
See also
The novel "River Thieves" by Michael Crummey explores this part of Newfoundland history (cf).