Part 1
Read about the history of the Beothuk Institute looking back to its origin in 1827 and the connection to Shanawdithit.
by Desmond Canning
William Cormack, an industrious businessman, was extremely interested in the history of the Beothuk people. In 1822, he completed a journey across the island of Newfoundland in search of the Beothuk with a Mi’kmaq Guide, Joseph Sylvester.
Five years later in 1827 he along with a distinguished group of individuals, founded the “Boeothick Institution“. The first meeting of the organization was held on October 2, 1827 at the Courthouse in Twillingate. Its President was William Eppes Cormack. The purpose of the original Boeothick Institution was to consolidate community support for projects aimed at opening communications with Newfoundland’s Beothuk and saving them from extinction.
With the backing of the Institution Cormack, again with Indigenous guides from the Mi’kmaq, Innu and Abenaki First Nations, set out in Beothuk territory in search of the last remnants of the Beothuk Nation. Unable to locate any Beothuk, it was feared that they were on the verge of extinction. After several other failed attempts to locate any Beothuk in their territory, the Boeothick Institution shifted its attention to the care of Shanawdithit, a Beothuk lady residing with European settlers at Exploits Island.
The Boeothick Institution successfully conveyed Shanawdithit to St. John’s. Under the care of the organization, Cormack interviewed Shanawdithit, allowing her to tell the story of her people through conversation and drawing. Some of her drawings still survive and offer details about the Beothuk way of life. Without those drawings, our understanding of the Beothuk people would lack significantly. Sadly, Shanawdithit died of tuberculosis in 1829, her last year being spent under the care of the Beothuk Institute. With Shanwdithit’s death, it was clear the Beothuk were culturally extinct, and there was no further need for the Institution.