The language of Newfoundland's first people, gone in 1829 with Shanawdithit, the last of her nation.
Died
1829 CE
Dead for
197 yrs
Last speaker
Shanawdithit, 1829
Cause of death
Conquest
Replaced by
English
The Obituary
Beothuk was spoken by the Beothuk people, the original inhabitants of the island of Newfoundland. Decimated by European settlement, disease, starvation, and conflict, the nation dwindled to a handful of survivors in the early 19th century. The last known Beothuk, a woman named Shanawdithit, died of tuberculosis in St. John’s in 1829, and the language died with her. Only a few short word lists remain, some taken from Shanawdithit, leaving its classification uncertain and its sound forever lost.
Worth remembering
Nearly all that survives of Beothuk are a few word lists, several recorded from Shanawdithit herself.
Its relationship to other languages, even neighbouring Algonquian ones, has never been firmly established.
Gallery
Sketch by Shanawdithit (last known Beothuk) depicting the 1819 capture of Demasduit by British soldiersPublic domain
Sources
Beothuk was the language of the Beothuk people of Newfoundland, extinct with the death of Shanawdithit in 1829. Wikipedia
Shanawdithit, the last known Beothuk, died of tuberculosis in St. John's in 1829. Wikipedia
Beothukan may be related to the Algonquian family, though some authorities consider it an independent language; the classification is unresolved because only a few short word lists survive. Encyclopaedia Britannica
A graveyard tradition: leave a stone to show you came, and remembered.
Buried nearby — by shared fate or a neighbouring lifespan.
