(BAY uh thuhk)
Location: Newfoundland
Language Family: Beothukan (a separate language, perhaps slightly related to the Algonquian language)
The Beothuk inhabited all of present-day Newfoundland. Their name probably means something like body or belly. The Beothuk were known as the red people, because they painted themselves red.
SETTLEMENTS
The Beothuk spent most of the year in camps along the rocky seacoast of their homeland. They often hunted near the Exploits River, which ran halfway across the island. They sometimes traveled to Funk Island, 40 miles off the northeast coast of Newfoundland. Their settlements consisted of their houses which they called mamateek, storehouses, and huts for steam baths.
ORGANIZATION
The Beothuk village usually had three or more wigwams, with as many as three families living in each wigwam. There was a leader for each wigwam, who also was considered to own the wigwam. There was also a leader for each group or village of Beothuks.
Though there was no formal organization among villages, the separate groups would quickly join together in time of crisis. Ordinarily, they saw no reason to guard their villages, which were easily taken over when European settlers arrived.
HOUSES
In summer, the Beothuk lived in cone-shaped wigwams. Several upright poles were leaned against each other in the form of a cone. The poles were covered with large, overlapping sheets of birchbark. The birchbark was held in place by more poles laid on top of the sheets.
The insides of the wigwams were neat and well organized. High shelves held dried food. Beds were made by digging shallow pits in the floor and lining them with animal pelts. The doorway opening to the wigwam was closed off with caribou skins. There was a central fire in each wigwam with a smoke hole directly above to let out the smoke.
Winter wigwams were sturdier. They had eight sides. Each side was a four-foot high wall of sticks packed with dirt. On top of these walls was a cone-shaped roof made of poles covered with pieces of birchbark. The winter wigwams were each big enough to house 12 to 15 people. The packed dirt on the walls gave extra protection from the cold. There was a central fire and smoke hole.
The Beothuk also built storehouses. These were cone-shaped, made with a pole frame covered with caribou skins. Inside were drying racks and storage pits lined with bark. Salmon, game, and even canoes were stored here.
Steam baths were built inside of small huts made of poles and covered in skins. Water was poured on very hot stones to create the steam. The Indians believed that the steam bath purified the body.
FOOD
The Beothuks fished in the coastal waters, gathered food in the woods, and hunted animals and birds. They saved large amounts of food for the winter. They trapped birds and small animals, and hunted large game with spears. Seals, and sometimes small whales, were harpooned. Shellfish, lobsters, and other small sea creatures were taken at the seashore. Roots and the inner bark of certain trees were eaten. Birds' eggs made up part of their diet. Sometimes the Beothuk would make the 40-mile trip to Funk Island and return with their canoes filled with birds' eggs, which they boiled and ate, or saved for later.
Their primary food source in winter was the caribou. A main activity was capturing the great herds of caribou that trekked across the land in their winter migration. The caribou were trapped inside long fences that were shaped like a 'V.' Then the animals were speared. The meat was either frozen by packing it in bark packs and placing it in snowbanks, or smoked and stored in storage pits and in the storehouses. It could also be boiled or roasted over an open fire. Deer also were hunted and cooked in the same way.
CLOTHING
The most striking thing about the Beothuk was that they appeared to be red. They mixed powdered red ocher (a natural mineral) with oil or grease and spread it all over their bodies and in their hair. Their equipment and clothes were also red, probably because the red color rubbed off onto everything they touched.
Rectangular cloaks made of two caribou skins sewn together were worn by both men and women. Sometimes a collar of otter or beaver skins was added. Both collar and cloak were fringed. Moccasins with laces, leggings, mittens, sleeves, and hats were all worn.
The outside of the clothing was oiled with the ocher mixture to protect against weather. The Beothuk wore pendants carved from bone as necklaces. Occasionally, they placed feathers in the hair as decoration.
TOOLS
Birchbark canoes were used for transportation on the open ocean. They were made of a wooden frame covered with birchbark. A distinctive feature of the Beothuk canoe was that the sides rose up into a peak. The bow and stem were also sharply pointed. Temporary canoes, used for inland water travel, were made of caribou skins.
Sleds were used to transport heavy loads such as deer and caribou carcasses. Spears, axes, knives, and clubs were used in hunting and in war. The blades were of stone or bone. Bows were made of ash or fir wood, and arrows were made of pine. The arrow tips were chipped from stone or bone.
Awls made of bone were used to punch holes in wood and leather. Birchbark was used to make containers, pots, and dishes. Animal sinew and flexible roots were used as rope and cord, and for making animal traps. Caribou antlers were carved into combs. Pieces of iron write (a mineral) were struck together to create fire.
RELIGION
The Beothuk believed in a Great Spirit. They carved wooden figures as symbols of the spirits. The people believed that they themselves originally sprang from some arrows stuck into the ground. They also believed that a person's spirit lived on after the person died. The Beothuk had special burial places on the coast.
Source: Northeast Indians, 1999, p1, 2p