In the second half of the 18th century, several governors, officers and private individuals became concerned about the ill treatment of the Beothuk and suggested ways that would promote a more humane attitude towards them. In 1768, Governor Hugh Palliser sent Lieut. John Cartwright, RN (Royal Navy), up the Exploits River to meet with the Beothuk to bring about friendly relations; Governor John Byron (1769) and many of his successors issued proclamations ordering settlers and other native groups to live in harmony with them. George Cartwright, having accompanied his brother John on the expedition up the Exploits River, proposed (1784) the establishment of an Indian reserve in Notre Dame Bay and the appointment of an Indian agent to enforce the law. He also thought that the distribution of presents might entice the Beothuk into trade.

Lieut. George Christopher Pulling, RN, who had heard of brutal crimes against the Beothuk, suggested two years later that a naval vessel be stationed in the Bay of Exploits as a base from which to send peace missions into Beothuk country. In 1792, Chief Justice Reeves pleaded with the authorities in Britain to protect the Beothuk by enforcing the present laws against offenders. A few years later, Governor Waldegrave proposed to combine peace missions to the Beothuk with a survey of the coast (to minimize expenses), or to capture a Beothuk and release him (or her) with presents and a message of good will. But the Secretaries of State for the Colonies in Britain were not interested in either of these schemes and without their permission and financial support, the hands of the governors were tied.

Eventually a reward was offered to any one who would capture a Beothuk; the idea was that the captive should be treated with kindness and sent back to mediate better relations with his (or her) people. Presumably, this plan was chosen because it did not entail the employment of naval ships or troops and thereby avoided expenses to government. But when captives were taken - three children between 1768 and 1791 and one woman each in 1803 and 1819 - it was done at the cost of Beothuk lives; this surely led to a deterioration rather than an improvement of relations. Also, not one of these captives was returned to their people to convince them of the good will of the English.

In the winter of 1811, Governor John Thomas Duckworth attempted to make peace with the Beothuk by sending a party of Marines under the command of Lieut. David Buchan to their settlement at Red Indian Lake. Although the encounter began in what Buchan believed to be a friendly atmosphere, it ended in tragedy when the Beothuk became suspicious of his motives and fled. To conceal their whereabout they killed the two Marines who had remained with them. Another expedition that ended in death was the capture of Demasduit by John Peyton Jr, a local merchant of Exploits, and his party, in 1819. In this encounter her husband, Chief Nonosabasut and his brother were shot dead. Although Governor Hamilton had intended to send Demasduit back to her people, she died before this could be achieved.

By the 1820s, all efforts by the English to improve relations had failed. Plans were often based on the wrong premises and, as Capt. Buchan later said, "there appears to have been always a fatality in everything that was undertaken."

Believing that he could reverse this trend, William Epps Cormack, a young entrepreneur with scientific interests, decided to search for Beothuk survivors in the interior.

William Epps Cormack, 1796-1868. Born in St. John's, William Cormack was the first European to journey across the interior of the Island. On September 5, 1822 Cormack's expedition departed from Smith Sound, Trinity Bay and arrived in St. George's Bay on November 4th of the same year. Courtesy of the Centre for Newfoundland Studies Archives, Memorial University of Newfoundland Library, St. John's, Newfoundland. (37 kb)

In the fall of 1822 he set out on a walk across the island together with a Mi'kmaq guide, Joe Sylvester. Although they did not meet any Beothuk, Cormack did not give up on his plan to rescue the remnants of the tribe from extinction. To solicit community support and funding he founded the Boeothick Institution on 2 October 1827, while at Twillingate. The purpose of the institution was to open a communication with "the Red Indians of Newfoundland," to promote their civilization, and to procure an authentic history of this native group. Many prominent citizens subscribed. Cormack subsequently set off with three native guides to explore the area around the Exploits River and Red Indian Lake but found the country deserted. As a last resort a native search party was sent to the region of Notre Dame and White bays under the auspices of the Boeothick Institution. No Beothuk were encountered and it was feared that they were on the verge of extinction.

Miniature of "A female Red Indian of Newfoundland" by William Gosse, 1841. This is believed to be a portrait of Shanawdithit. Reproduced by permission of Ingeborg Marshall. From Ingeborg Marshall, A History and Ethnography of the Beothuk (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, ©1996).

To preserve as much information about them as possible, the captive woman, Shanawdithit, was transferred from Exploits Island, where she had lived in John Peyton Jr's household since her capture in 1823, to Cormack's home in St. John's. With the help of sketches, Shanawdithit informed Cormack about the recent history of her people and about some of their cultural practices; she also provided a list of Beothuk words and phrases. In January 1829, when Cormack's business ventures failed and he left Newfoundland, Shanawdithit was taken into the home of Attorney General James Simms. Having suffered from pulmonary tuberculosis for some time, Shanawdithit's condition worsened and she died on 6 June 1829 in a St. John's hospital. The Boeothick Institution ceased to exist.

On 2 October 1997, after a lapse of 170 years, this institution has been revived as the Beothuk Institute. Its mandate is to arrange for the erection of a bronze statue of a Beothuk woman to commemorate the Beothuk people and establish an education committee to develop a better public awareness of the Beothuk and other aboriginal peoples of the province.

Maquette for a statue of a Beothuk woman. Newfoundland artist Gerald Squires honours the spirit of the Beothuk. Reproduced by permission of Gerald Squires. (20 kb)

The idea to create a statue came from Newfoundland artist Gerry Squires, who had a vision of a female Beothuk figure in the Bay of Exploits and as a result of this experience wanted to honour the spirit of her people in this way.